Ana Vanessa Herrero

I clued into this election after it happened, and I could not stop reading about it. This was a plan to document the country's entire voting record. It was extraordinary. The plan was called 600K, 600K. For the network of 600,000 people around the country, the opposition estimated they would need to be in place on election day. I wanted to see inside this election, inside the opposition's plan.

I wanted to know how the opposition did what it did and how they did it so fast. In an era of chronic, virulent misinformation and mistrust, they pulled off a giant convincing. So I talked to an organizer of 600K. You won't hear his voice.

I wanted to know how the opposition did what it did and how they did it so fast. In an era of chronic, virulent misinformation and mistrust, they pulled off a giant convincing. So I talked to an organizer of 600K. You won't hear his voice.

Police have been stopping people on the street, looking in their phones, to see if they've been to protests or have expressed doubt about the official election results. The organizer told me he went into hiding after the election. Now he's left the country. He said, Some of the plan was carried out in secret. Other parts were done in plain sight.

Police have been stopping people on the street, looking in their phones, to see if they've been to protests or have expressed doubt about the official election results. The organizer told me he went into hiding after the election. Now he's left the country. He said, Some of the plan was carried out in secret. Other parts were done in plain sight.

600K was set up to work essentially like a giant relay race, and instead of a baton, people would hand off a piece of paper. Every voting machine in Venezuela prints out a long, narrow sheet of paper at the end of the voting day. Looks like one of those epic receipts from CVS or Rite Aid, but on special paper.

600K was set up to work essentially like a giant relay race, and instead of a baton, people would hand off a piece of paper. Every voting machine in Venezuela prints out a long, narrow sheet of paper at the end of the voting day. Looks like one of those epic receipts from CVS or Rite Aid, but on special paper.

And the receipt shows a tally of all the votes made on that specific machine for each candidate on election day. Those receipts, the voting tallies, are called in Spanish actas, A-C-T-A, acta. And the first runners in the relay race to get the acta in hand would be the witnesses. In Venezuela, each candidate is allowed, by law, to have an accredited witness at each voting machine in the country.

And the receipt shows a tally of all the votes made on that specific machine for each candidate on election day. Those receipts, the voting tallies, are called in Spanish actas, A-C-T-A, acta. And the first runners in the relay race to get the acta in hand would be the witnesses. In Venezuela, each candidate is allowed, by law, to have an accredited witness at each voting machine in the country.

Not just in each voting center. At each voting machine. Over 30,000 machines. Some voting centers have only one machine. Some have more. The witnesses can't see people's votes. They just keep an eye on the process. And then at the end of the voting day, each witness is legally entitled to get a printed copy of the acta, the voting tally, from their voting machine.

Not just in each voting center. At each voting machine. Over 30,000 machines. Some voting centers have only one machine. Some have more. The witnesses can't see people's votes. They just keep an eye on the process. And then at the end of the voting day, each witness is legally entitled to get a printed copy of the acta, the voting tally, from their voting machine.

The 600K plan was each opposition witness would get their akta and hand it off to someone else, the next person in the relay. That person opens an app the opposition created and then scans a QR code that's on the akta. The QR code contains all the results from that voting machine, and the app would send those results to the opposition's national command.

The 600K plan was each opposition witness would get their akta and hand it off to someone else, the next person in the relay. That person opens an app the opposition created and then scans a QR code that's on the akta. The QR code contains all the results from that voting machine, and the app would send those results to the opposition's national command.

Then another person in the relay would take the acta, the physical sheet, to a secret location. There were over 100 in the country. Once the runner got to that place, they would hand the acta off to the person there, who had a whole setup. A laptop, a scanner, Starlink internet access, and a little generator. Like for camping, the organizer said.

Then another person in the relay would take the acta, the physical sheet, to a secret location. There were over 100 in the country. Once the runner got to that place, they would hand the acta off to the person there, who had a whole setup. A laptop, a scanner, Starlink internet access, and a little generator. Like for camping, the organizer said.

He said we needed electricity that can't be turned off and internet access that can't be blocked. The person with the scanner would run the ACTA through the scanner, and the image of the ACTA would be uploaded to the website the opposition had set up, where anyone could see it, along with the vote totals from that ACTA. Then the acta itself, the long piece of paper, would go into a box.

He said we needed electricity that can't be turned off and internet access that can't be blocked. The person with the scanner would run the ACTA through the scanner, and the image of the ACTA would be uploaded to the website the opposition had set up, where anyone could see it, along with the vote totals from that ACTA. Then the acta itself, the long piece of paper, would go into a box.

The box, when it was full, would be kept at another secret location. There were layers of support for each part of this relay all around the country, organized by state, city, parish, and voting center. The organizer said every process had a person responsible for it, with defined work and the tools to make it work.

The box, when it was full, would be kept at another secret location. There were layers of support for each part of this relay all around the country, organized by state, city, parish, and voting center. The organizer said every process had a person responsible for it, with defined work and the tools to make it work.

The organizer said even inside the plan, no more than 10 people knew all the parts of it. He said they mapped this out, 600K, based on lessons learned from counting votes in previous elections.