Independent Venezuelan elections monitoring group, Observatorio Electoral Venezolano, has made public an online database for research on Venezuelan elections. Below is a translation of their press release.
Dear Friends,
The Observatorio Electoral Venezolano (OEV) has been working on gathering information on electoral processes from the past century and has compiled numerous databases and several guides for handling this information. With the aim of providing easy access to this large volume of information, the OEV has developed an online dynamic system that will allow for the analysis of electoral information from different perspectives. We based this new system on an older, less advanced version, previously developed and presented by the now defunct NGO Ojo Electoral. Today we are publicly launching the new Sistema de Información Electoral (SIE), which will offer a reliable and easy way to handle information sources for anyone interested in Venezuela’s electoral issues.
The main source for the data presented in the SIE is taken from the official provider of electoral results in Venezuela: the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE). Those interested now have free access to the SIE through the official web page of the OEV.
The SIE covers all elections since 1958, with greater detail provided from the 1998 Presidential Elections to the April 14th elections of 2014. It includes several variables (electoral population, voters, abstention, votes by tendency, etc.) dis-aggregated by state, municipality, parish, socioeconomic level, size of electoral center, size of city, dominant political tendency, etc. Information before 1998 is also provided, although with less detail and flexibility of analysis.
The SIE offers the option of creating personalized charts and graphs according to the search performed. This allows for freedom of analysis of electoral facts and phenomena according to diverse interests. Also, through theme maps users can access precise geographically-differentiated areas such as states, municipalities, parishes, and voting centers, with all the data attached to those areas. The SIE includes more than 500 Google Maps in PDF.
The web page is free and open for users to download every database in the system.
A lot of work and effort has gone into the construction of this valuable tool; it is likely, however, that some defects and flaws may still exist. We therefore ask that users evaluate the SIE, report any problem to us, and provide us with suggestions for improvement.
The OEV offers this tool to all those interested in following and analyzing Venezuelan electoral issues. We hope you will find this system useful.
Sincerely,
Observatorio Electoral Venezolano
Translated by Hugo Pérez Hernáiz
