From posting on social media to rallying on West University Avenue, UF students in Gainesville are actively showing their support for a recount in the Venezuelan presidential election that took place Sunday.
Miguel Machado, a 21-year-old UF journalism junior, traveled to New Orleans over the weekend to vote at the nearest Venezuelan embassy, but his vote was not recognized.
Ballots recorded outside Venezuela were not counted, according to published reports.
An announcement made Sunday night by Tibisay Lucena, the president of Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, declared Nicolas Maduro, a successor picked by the late President Hugo Chavez, the victor with 50.66 percent of the vote.
Henrique Capriles, the opposing candidate, received 49.07 percent.
“The country is split in half,” Machado said.
Following Sunday’s election, Capriles asked for a recount of the votes.
Andrea Carroz, a 19-year-old UF journalism sophomore, said she was disappointed by the election results and the way the votes were handled.
She said the moment Lucena announced the election decision was irreversible, Venezuelans suspected the election had been tampered with.
Carroz has been using Twitter and other social media sites to express her concerns about the situation.
“I’ve been ranting like crazy,” she said.
Carroz has seen pictures online of ballot receipts being burned by government officials who support Maduro’s victory.
In a statement released Monday, Sen. Marco Rubio said, “I am troubled by press accounts of fraud and electoral misconduct including uncounted votes.”
He urged the Venezuelan government to conduct a “full and transparent audit of the results.
“The Venezuelan people should know that the democracies of the Western Hemisphere are watching the electoral review process closely and will seek to hold accountable any individual determined to have disrupted the peaceful conduct of free and fair elections,” he said.
Maria Carolina Di Bonaventura, president of the UF Venezuelan Student Association, said about 60 students gathered Monday on the corner of Southwest 13th Street and West University Avenue to rally in support of a recount.
The organization raised money to pay for trips to New Orleans after Hugo Chavez’s death March 5 and the announcement of an election for a new president so local Venezuelans could vote at the Venezuelan embassy, Di Bonaventura said.
The club provided seven bus tickets to students without asking about political affiliation.
Di Bonaventura said she’s seen a trend with people in the U.S. asking for a recount.
“If you’ve moved to the United States,” she said, “you’re most likely not in accordance with the government over there.”
