Little-known paper sheets are key to declaring victory in Venezuela's election

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela was tense on Tuesday as incumbent President Nicolás Maduro and the country’s main opposition coalition both claimed that they had won Sunday’s presidential election.

The national electoral authority proclaimed Maduro the winner. The opposition, represented, by Edmundo González said it has evidence to the contrary.

Electoral authorities installed more than 30,000 voting machines, and by law the opposition had the right to have representatives at all voting centers. But not all were allowed in Sunday or were ousted before polls closed.

After the polls close, Venezuela’s electronic voting machines can print sheets tallying all the votes each counted. Experts say the best way to clear up the dispute is to release those sheets. But the National Electoral Council has not done so.

Here’s a look at what has been said and what is known:

The main discussion is coming down to the sheets. In case of any dispute, one way of solving it is by checking the tallies the government has against what the opposition parties have.

The electronic machines provide every voter a paper receipt that shows which candidate they chose. Voters are supposed to deposit their receipts at ballot boxes before exiting the polls.

After polls close, each machine prints a tally sheet showing the candidates’ names and the votes each received. Party representatives stationed at polling sites throughout election day get a copy of the tally sheet, and electoral authorities keep another one.

But the ruling party wields tight control over the voting system, both through a loyal five-member electoral council and a network of longtime local party coordinators who get near unrestricted access to voting centers. Those coordinators, some of whom are responsible for handing out government benefits including subsidized food, have blocked representatives of opposition parties from entering voting centers as allowed by law to witness the voting process, vote counting and, crucially, to obtain a copy of the machines’ final tally sheets.

On its website, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council traditionally posts vote counts for every machine. It has never posted images of the tally sheets.

The president of the council, Elvis Amoroso, said Monday that Maduro got 51.2% of the votes, or more than 5.1 million votes. González garnered 44%, or more than 4.4 million votes, he said.

Amoroso said the other 8 presidential candidates got a combined total of 4% or more than 462,000 votes.

He said those numbers were based on a review of 80% of the tally sheets. He did not show the sheets.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado said on Monday that González got more than 6.2 million votes and Maduro got more than 2.7 million votes.

Machado did not offer totals for the other eight candidates.

She said those numbers were based on a review of 73.2% of the tally sheets. She did not show any tally sheet but she directed voters to a website where they can use their ID number to look up an image of the sheet that corresponds to the machine where they voted.

The National Electoral Council does not have the obligation to post the tally sheets on its website — which has been down since Monday. But the opposition, electoral experts and some foreign governments disputing the official results are urging the sheets’ release.

On Monday, Machado announced the opposition had created a searchable website with images of every tally sheet that opposition poll representatives were able to obtain. Machado said the information was also being shared with the international community.

Voters line up outside a polling station that reads in Spanish "Vote" during the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Electoral officials tally votes after polls closed for presidential elections in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

An election officials tallies votes after polls closed for the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Alejandra Rivas votes during presidential elections in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Voters line up outside a polling station during the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, left, and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez hold up vote tally sheets during a protest against the official presidential election results declaring President Nicolas Maduro the winner in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, two days after the election. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez ride atop a truck during a protest against official presidential election results declaring President Nicolas Maduro the winner in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, two days after the vote. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez holds up vote tally sheets from the top of a truck during a protest against the official presidential election results declaring President Nicolas Maduro the winner in Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, two days after the election. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, left, and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez hold up vote tally sheets from the top of a truck during a protest against the official presidential election results declaring President Nicolas Maduro the winner in Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, two days after the election. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Electoral officials tally votes after polls closed for presidential elections in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Seth Jarvis scored with 18.6 seconds remaining and the Carolina Hurricanes won their third consecutive game by defeating the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Thursday night.

Sebastian Aho and Brent Burns also scored for the Hurricanes, whose last three victories have each come by one goal. Pyotr Kochetkov made 32 saves.

Morgan Geekie scored both goals for the Bruins, who have lost three straight. Joonas Korpisalo made 20 saves.

Jarvis' winning goal was a reprieve for the Hurricanes, who had a potential go-ahead goal with 1:15 wiped out by video review because of an offsides call.

Bruins: The Bruins racked up a variety of scoring opportunities, but didn’t convert often enough. Boston used a lineup that included call-ups Patrick Brown, Ian Mitchell, Riley Tufte and Vinni Lettieri from Providence of the AHL, with a total of 17 NHL games played this season entering the night.

Hurricanes: Jarvis — whose 24 goals tie Aho for the team lead — had his second in seven games. It was far from smooth for Carolina, which had 11 fewer shots than Boston. That was the team’s largest shot deficit in a game since November.

Kochetkov stopped Boston scoring leader David Pastrnak, who was alone in front, on a point-blank save in the second period when the Bruins appeared poised to seize momentum.

The Bruins, who had only 21 shots on goal in Tuesday’s home loss to Nashville, held a 23-12 edge in shots less than 14 minutes into the second period as they were setting the tone.

Boston goes to Tampa Bay on Saturday. The Hurricanes are home Sunday vs. Winnipeg.

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Boston Bruins' Mark Kastelic (47) has his shot go wide of Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov (52) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes' Taylor Hall (71) battles Boston Bruins' Parker Wotherspoon (29) for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Boston Bruins' Pavel Zacha (18) controls the puck and skates around Carolina Hurricanes' Jaccob Slavin (74) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes' Mikko Rantanen (96) concentrates on the puck as Boston Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (70) looks on during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Boston Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (70) clears the puck away from Carolina Hurricanes' Eric Robinson (50) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes' Jordan Staal (11) battles for the puck with Boston Bruins' Charlie Coyle (13) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov (37) has his shot poked away by Boston Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (70) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Boston Bruins' Morgan Geekie, center, celebrates after his goal with teammates during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes' Brent Burns (8) celebrates his goal with teammate Taylor Hall (71) as Boston Bruins' Cole Koepke (45) skates away during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes' Seth Jarvis (24) loses control of the puck to Boston Bruins' Charlie Coyle (13) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes celebrate after a goal by Seth Jarvis during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes' Seth Jarvis (24) celebrates his game winning goal against the Boston Bruins during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)