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![Electoral officials tally votes after polls closed for presidential elections in Caracas, Venezuela, July 28, 2024. (AP)](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/photos/Ballot_Box_Venezuela/36e0a57a14dbcbd9e3c4a53e5d71cbd7.jpg)
![Electoral officials tally votes after polls closed for presidential elections in Caracas, Venezuela, July 28, 2024. (AP)](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/photos/Ballot_Box_Venezuela/c0bde5e7fb854313c1a029916e1024ae.jpg)
Electoral officials tally votes after polls closed for presidential elections in Caracas, Venezuela, July 28, 2024. (AP)
This video doesn’t show men stealing ballot boxes from Venezuelan voting sites, they’re AC units
If Your Time is short
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Venezuela’s electoral authorities on July 29 declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of the nation’s 2024 presidential election. The opposition is questioning the results.
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A viral social media video claiming to show men stealing ballot boxes is wrong. The men are carrying air conditioning window units, not boxes of ballots.
Venezuela’s electoral authorities declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of the country’s presidential elections, but opposition candidates have questioned the integrity of the results.
Social media posts claim that a video shows people stealing ballot boxes from local election sites. The footage shows masked men rushing out of an orange building, carrying large, white, square objects.
"UNDEMOCRATIC: In Punta Cardón, Falcón State, Venezuela, it is reported that several masked men stormed a local voting station and stole the ballot boxes transporting then to an undisclosed location afterwards," a July 28 X post says, using "then" when it probably meant "them."
A July 29 X post says: "Venezuelan Gangs Under Control of Dictator Nicolas Maduro Continue Raiding Voting Polls & Stealing the Ballot Boxes in an Attempt to Overthrow the 2024 Venezuelan Presidential Election."
Spanish-language posts shared the same video and made similar claims.
But these posts misidentify what the men are carrying. They’re toting air conditioning units; the video shows that the objects have vents on the sides and a gray back.
Screenshot of X post from July 28, 2024.
The official ballot boxes in Venezuela are light brown and have the National Electoral Council logo — the letters "CNE" (for Consejo Nacional Electoral) and three lines (yellow, blue and red), which represent the Venezuelan flag’s colors.
Our Sources
Facebook post, July 28, 2024
Facebook post, July 28, 2024
X post, July 28, 2024
X post, July 29, 2024
X post, July 28, 2024
Instagram post, July 29, 2024
Instagram post, July 29, 2024
NYT, Venezuela Reported False Election Turnout, Voting Company Says, Aug. 2, 2017
OEV, 1. La tecnología electoral venezolana, accessed July 29, 2024
NYT, Venezuela’s Autocrat Is Declared Winner in Tainted Election, July 28, 2024
U.S. Department of State, Secretary Antony J. Blinken And Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko Remarks to the Press, July 29, 2024
Instagram post, July 29, 2024
AP, Ex-diplomat, political newcomer, grandpa. That’s Edmundo González, Venezuela’s Maduro rival, July 28, 2024
X post, July 29, 2024
NBC News, Venezuelans clash with police as both Maduro and the opposition declare election victory, July 29, 2024
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This video doesn’t show men stealing ballot boxes from Venezuelan voting sites, they’re AC units
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