Image caption Venezuela’s Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena said there were many irregularities in the petition Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) has ruled that 1.3 million people who signed a petition for a referendum to oust President Nicolas Maduro will need to turn up at regional electoral offices to confirm their identity. Voters will have five days from 20 June to have their signatures checked. The opposition says the CNE is working in tandem with government to slow down the process. It blames the government for the country’s serious economic crisis. The petition was handed over to the electoral authorities on 2 May. The opposition said it had the signatures of 1.85 million voters backing a recall referendum, many more than the 197,000 needed at this initial stage. The CNE said there were 1.97 million signatures. Mr Maduro’s government said there was widespread fraud in the process. It said […]