Cheating Incomprehensibly
I do understand that eyes glaze over en masse when you turn to the subject of twin party slates as applied to mixed proportional representation/single member constituency voting systems…but hey, it’s not my fault. It’s the government that chose this particularly exotic mechanism to manipulate the vote on Dec. 4th.
Trying not to get technical, I’ll just say that the “Twins” – Las Morochas – are a pretty dubious mechanism that allows the largest single party to greatly increase the number of seats it gets in parliament under our current, complicated voting system. The method seems plainly unconstitutional, since it’s designed to circumvent the constitutional guarantee of proportional representation. But this hasn’t stopped CNE from allowing the government to use it, or the opposition from defensively retaliating by coming up with a “Twin slate” of its own.
Well, the Supreme Tribunal has agreed to hear a case on the constitutionality of the twins. CNE says if the Twins are ruled unconstitutional, the election will have to be delayed. We’ll have to see…
Caracas Chronicles is 100% reader-supported.
We’ve been able to hang on for 22 years in one of the craziest media landscapes in the world. We’ve seen different media outlets in Venezuela (and abroad) closing shop, something we’re looking to avoid at all costs. Your collaboration goes a long way in helping us weather the storm.
Donate
