Venezuela’s Opposition Primary Election Results Suspended

This decision comes despite an agreement signed between the government and the opposition allowing each side to choose their candidate for next year’s election.

A volunteer counts ballots after Venezuelans voted in a primary to choose a unity opposition candidate to face Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in the 2024 presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Oct. 22, 2023. Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters

Venezuela’s high court on Monday suspended the results of an opposition primary election and ordered organizers to hand over documents, including voting records, despite the government’s previous agreement to hold free elections.

The court ruled the opposition’s Oct. 22 primary election—which was meant to let voters choose an opposition candidate to run against socialist leader Nicolás Maduro next year—may be in violation of the law.