CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The statement that upended Venezuela came 24 hours after polls closed in the presidential election.
With the reassuring tone of someone who has consistently been considered an underdog, opposition powerhouse Maria Corina Machado announced that her coalition had gathered more than two-thirds of vote tally sheets from polling centers nationwide, and that they show President Nicolás Maduro had lost his reelection bid.
The tally sheets known as actas — printouts measuring several feet that resemble shopping receipts — have long been considered the ultimate proof of election results in Venezuela. Opposition members knew they had to obtain as many of them as possible to refute the unfavorable election outcome they expected electoral authorities to announce.
Months of preparations and thousands of volunteers participated in the herculean task.
Their effort earned Maduro and his loyal National Electoral Council global condemnation, including from close regional allies, and fueled the anger of Venezuelans fed up with their nation's cascading economy. In response, the government called for opposition leaders to be arrested, capping an election season marked by repression and irregularities.
This account of the opposition's effort is based on public statements, as well as interviews with party representatives, volunteers and others involved, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government retribution.
Tens of thousands of volunteers participated in training workshops nationwide in recent months. They learned that under the law they could be inside polling centers on Election Day, stationed near voting machines, from before polls opened until the results had been electronically transmitted to the National Electoral Council in the capital, Caracas.
Organizational discipline was key to their success because the ruling party wields tight control over the voting system. Polling places are guarded by soldiers, civilian militia, police and loyalists of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela.
On Sunday, officials attempted to block opposition volunteers from voting centers, and in some places, they succeeded. But elsewhere, the volunteers were unshakable, and once inside voting centers, they did not leave, in some cases until after 11 p.m.
“They took courage with their law in hand, with the polling station manual in hand, and they managed to enter,” Machado said Sunday, before the polls closed. She called party representatives and other volunteers “the heroes of this process.”
The 90,000 party representatives were taught to obtain a copy of the tally sheets — printed from electronic voting machines after polls close — before the results were transmitted to the council.
“Our representatives have the right to their tally sheet,” Machado said. “No representative leaves their voting center without the document in hand.”
The volunteers were also trained to use a custom-made app to report voting center irregularities such as opening delays or power outages, and to scan a QR code printed on every tally sheet.
Venezuelans have used electronic voting machines for about two decades. The machines record votes, provide a paper receipt for each voter and — after polls close — print copies of the tally sheets, whose length has led to the nickname, “chorizo,” or "sausage' in Spanish.
The tallies show vote totals broken down by candidate, the QR code and the signatures of party representatives, an employee of the electoral body and poll workers who are drawn by lot to participate.
Every party representative is entitled to a tally sheet, while another copy is placed in an envelope and delivered to the National Electoral Council headquarters.
Infighting and disorganization had consistently limited the ability of government opponents to secure and safeguard the tallies in previous elections. But Machado said the opposition had obtained more than 70% of sheets. That number would eventually grow to over 80%.
The QR code scans gave a team of campaign workers immediate access to voting results, which they tabulated Sunday night and Monday.
The National Electoral Council has not yet shared the tallies on its website, which has been down since Monday. While it is not obligated to post images of the tally sheets, it has previously shared each sheet's totals.
The council on Monday reported that Maduro received 5.1 million votes, while Edmundo González, representing the Unitary Platform opposition coalition, earned more than 4.4 million. Council President Elvis Amoroso on Friday provided updated results from 96.87% of tally sheets, gave Maduro 6.4 million votes and Gonzalez 5.3 million.
Eight other men vied for the presidency, including Enrique Márquez, a former member of the electoral council, who decried the official results and lambasted authorities for the lack of transparency.
“Most of our witnesses … were prevented from accessing the voting centers,” he told reporters. “Those who were able to enter witnessed the process and waited for the tally sheets, but they were not given to them as required by law and its regulations. Not only does it violate the law, it generates obscurity, opacity, lack of transparency.”
The opposition, electoral experts and foreign governments questioning the official results, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, both Maduro allies, who have urged him to make the sheets public.
Securing the “chorizo” from each of the 30,000 voting machines was only half the battle. The campaign needed to get them all fully scanned using equipment especially designed to copy the tally sheets.
That's when yet more volunteers came into play. If the party representatives did not feel safe or were unable to reach the places where the scanners were housed, volunteers met the representatives, grabbed the sheets and transported them via motorcycle, car, bike and even boat to the appropriate locations.
By the time National Electoral Council President Elvis Amoroso was shown on television handing Maduro a document certifying his victory, the opposition had scanned more than half of the tally sheets. Hours later, Machado and González stood before reporters and announced the numbers that shook the country: The vote tallies show González received roughly 6.2 million votes versus Maduro's 2.7 million. The scanned tallies were also uploaded to a searchable website, and anyone who voted could use their government identification number to check out the tally sheet belonging to the machine they used to vote.
The government then claimed that the electoral council's website had been hacked. National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez insisted Maduro was the indisputable winner and called his opponents violent fascists. He called for Machado and González to be arrested.
Maduro has faced a cascade of criticism ever since. International observers say they were unable to verify the results. Regional allies urged the government to publish the complete vote tallies. On Thursday, the U.S. government congratulated González on his victory.
“At least 12 million Venezuelans peacefully went to the polls and exercised one of the most powerful rights given to people in any democracy: the right to vote,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the processing of those votes and the announcement of results by the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) were deeply flawed, yielding an announced outcome that does not represent the will of the Venezuelan people.”
Electoral officials tally votes after polls closed for presidential elections in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, July 28, 2024. (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 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, 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)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dangerous winds returned to Southern California on Tuesday as new wildfires broke out and a pair of major Los Angeles-area blazes burned for a third week, while officials made preparations to protect scorched neighborhoods from toxic ash runoff ahead of potential rain this weekend.
Forecasters cautioned that gusts could peak at 70 mph (113 kph) along the coast and 100 mph (160 kph) in mountains and foothills during extreme fire weather that's expected to last through Tuesday afternoon.
The National Weather Service warned of a “ particularly dangerous situation ” across Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego counties due to low humidity and powerful Santa Ana winds. Gusts will ease later in the day, but windy conditions are expected into Thursday.
Fire engines and water-dropping aircraft positioned across the region allowed crews to swiftly douse several small blazes that popped up over the holiday weekend, said David Acuna, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.
“Our concern is the next fire, the next spark that causes the next wildfire,” Acuna said Tuesday. He said another worry was that the two major blazes, the Palisades and Eaton fires near Los Angeles, could break their containment lines.
Evacuations were ordered Tuesday when the Friars Fire broke out near a San Diego mall and flames ran up a hillside toward residences, Cal Fire said.
Meanwhile, evacuation orders were lifted for the Lilac Fire in the Bonsall area of San Diego County, which burned at least 85 acres (34 hectares) of dry brush after threatening structures, the agency said. Nearby, crews fully contained the 17-acre (34-hectare) Pala Fire.
As a small number of residents were allowed to return to the devastated Pacific Palisades area, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order Tuesday to expedite cleanup efforts in burn areas and mitigate the environmental impacts of fire-related pollutants. She ordered crews to remove vegetation, shore up hillsides, install barriers and reinforce roads ahead of possible rain this weekend that could create mud and debris flows.
“This is to prevent additional damage to areas already ravaged by fire, and also to protect our watershed, beaches and ocean from toxic runoff,” Bass said during a news conference.
Bass also warned that winds could disperse ash and urged Angelenos to visit lacity.gov to learn about ways to protect themselves from toxic air during the latest Santa Ana wind event.
There's a 60% to 80% chance of a small amount of rain for Southern California starting Saturday, with most areas likely getting not more than a third of an inch (0.8 cm), said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist for the weather service's LA office. However up to an inch (2 1/2 cm) of rain could fall during localized thunderstorms, which would be a “worst-case scenario” if it's enough to trigger debris flows on scorched hillsides, he said.
“But even if the rain doesn't materialize this time, it could be a good practice run for those communities because this will be a threat that they’ll have to deal with for months or years," Kittell said Tuesday.
Los Angeles firefighters on Monday quickly extinguished a small brush fire near the iconic Griffith Observatory in a sprawling park overlooking the city. A man suspected of starting the fire was taken into custody, LA police said. Fire crews also quickly extinguished a small blaze near Tujunga and another one along Interstate 405 in the Granada Hills neighborhood that temporarily closed northbound lanes.
Southern California Edison said it had preemptively shut off power to more than 61,000 customers in five counties to prevent winds from toppling electrical equipment and sparking new fires. The utility said it was considering precautionary shutoffs for an additional 251,00 customers.
Authorities urged residents to review evacuation plans and prepare emergency kits, and be on the lookout for fires and report them quickly.
The low humidity, bone-dry vegetation and strong winds come as firefighters continue battling the Palisades and Eaton fires, which have killed at least 27 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures since they broke out Jan. 7. The Palisades Fire was 61% contained and containment of the Eaton Fire reached 87%.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff flew to Los Angeles Monday after attending President Donald Trump's inauguration and met with firefighters, volunteers and victims of the Eaton Fire in Altadena.
“We just came out to thank (firefighters), to thank the community and just remind folks that we're all in this together,” Harris said. She said their home in Pacific Palisades was still standing.
Trump, who criticized the response to the wildfires during his inaugural address, has said he will travel to Los Angeles on Friday.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said the devastation left by the fires underscores the need for partnership between the state and federal governments.
“I look forward to President Trump’s visit to Los Angeles and his mobilization of the full weight of the federal government to help our fellow Americans recover and rebuild,” Newsom said in a statement.
Associated Press radio reporter Julie Walker contributed from New York.
San Diego firefighters knock down a small brush along a hillside over the Mission Valley Shopping Mall in San Diego on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
FILE - Resident Pauly Harter, right, pulls his son Gavin on a cart during a walk Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
FILE - Nancy Belanger pours water on a neighbor's fire-ravaged property in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Residences destroyed by the Eaton Fire line a neighborhood in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Residences destroyed by the Eaton Fire line a neighborhood in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A woman search inside a destroyed home by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
FILE - Josh Lederer wears a mask to protect him from fumes as he retrieves his children's clothes from his fire-ravaged property in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Residences destroyed by the Eaton Fire line a neighborhood in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A lone home stands among residences levelled by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Residences destroyed by the Eaton Fire line a neighborhood in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Residences destroyed by the Eaton Fire line a neighborhood in Altadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
FILE - Jerome Krausse pushes his mother-in-law in a shopping cart as they evacuate from their home in the Pacific Palisades after a wildfire swept through their neighborhood in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
A firefighter pulls a hose while trying to keep the Lilac Fire from spreading near the Bonsall community of San Diego County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A firefighter battles the Lilac Fire near the Bonsall community of San Diego County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A firefighter sprays water while battling the Lilac Fire near the Bonsall community of San Diego County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighter Joshua Cari sprays water while battling the Lilac Fire near the Bonsall community of San Diego County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighter Joshua Cari sprays water while battling the Lilac Fire near the Bonsall community of San Diego County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighters battle the Lilac Fire along Interstate 15 near the Bonsall community of San Diego County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighter Joshua Cari sprays water while battling the Lilac Fire near the Bonsall community of San Diego County, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Vehicles drive along Interstate 15 as the Lilac Fire burns along a hillside in Bonsall, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Firefighters walk up a ridge to battle the Lilac Fire in Bonsall, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Firefighters stand along a ridge as they battle the Lilac Fire in Bonsall, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Two firefighters roll up a fire hose during the Lilac Fire in Bonsall, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Vehicles pass through smoke from the Lilac Fire in Bonsall, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Firefighters battle the Lilac Fire in Bonsall, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Strong winds carry embers as firefighters work to extinguishe a brush fire in the Winchester community of Riverside County, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A firefighter extinguishes a brush fire as strong winds carry embers in the Winchester community of unincorporated Riverside County, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Homeowner David Marquez, left, holds a metal detector as he shows recovered metal items found with his father, Juan Pablo Alvarado, right, inside the walls of their multi-generational home in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Joel Parkes, a teacher with the Los Angeles Unified School District returns to his destroyed home in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Joel Parkes, a teacher at Los Angeles Unified School District returns to his destroyed home in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Joel Parkes, a teacher at Los Angeles Unified School District, left, returns to his home with his wife in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Homeowner David Marquez, left, holds a metal detector as his father, Juan Pablo Alvarado, right, and a friend look for the remains of gold jewelry and other silver items inside the walls of their multi-generational home in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Debris from a destroyed home is seen as a newly built ADU (accessory dwelling unit) stands behind after surviving the Eaton Fire, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)