Alleged Empty Elections in Venezuela: Deserted Streets, Silent Ballot Boxes, and Public Rejection

Elections in Venezuela: Empty Polling Centers

Reports of Deserted Streets During Voting Day

Opposition Called for Abstention Over Allegedly Fraudulent Elections

Venezuela experienced an election day on Sunday marked by silence, widespread abstention, and public disillusionment.

Far from the usual bustle of election days, images that reportedly bypassed regime censorship showed apparently empty polling centers and motionless streets.

A country that, for the most part, chose to stay home.

So reported Infobae.

Venezuela: Elections with Empty Polling Centers

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The regime of Nicolás Maduro called for regional and parliamentary elections.

According to the pollster Meganálisis, only 3% of registered voters participated during the early hours.

Abstention became a form of protest, encouraged by opposition leader María Corina Machado.

This came in response to a process considered by some as illegitimate.

Empty Ballot Boxes in Venezuela Elections, Resistance on the Ground

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By six in the morning, there were no PSUV horns or red-flag brigades mobilizing voters, Infobae reported.

Instead, silence dominated. Warning tape blocked the entrances to school polling sites, soldiers without voters wandered through empty courtyards, and the presence of armed officials contrasted sharply with the total lack of lines.

María Corina Machado, the leading opposition figure, had firmly urged citizens not to legitimize the process.

“Empty the streets, empty the polls—let them be alone,” she declared days earlier. And that is what happened. In Barinas, Táchira, and Bolívar, images of completely vacant voting centers spread across social media.

Elections Under Repression

#URGENT Diosdado Cabello confirms the detention of the opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa. pic.twitter.com/kfwpgmg2qn

– Luis Olavarrieta (@Luisolavarrieta) May 23, 2025

The day unfolded in a climate of tension. More than 70 arbitrary detentions were reported as part of “Operation Tun Tun.”

Among those detained was opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa.

The repression, total control of the National Electoral Council, and the elimination of international observers cemented what appeared to be a scenario devoid of democratic guarantees.

“This is not apathy, it’s resistance,” said a retired teacher in San Cristóbal. With the memory still fresh of the alleged July 28, 2024 election fraud—when Edmundo González was reportedly blocked from victory—millions of Venezuelans opted for active disengagement.

The Message Behind Empty Streets

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In Venezuela, electoral emptiness has become a symbol of resistance. Polling centers with no voters, murals with faded images of Chavismo, and soldiers guarding emptiness.

Sunday’s events left no doubt:

The regime can set up ballot boxes, but it cannot force legitimacy.

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