to official documents like passports and national ID cards ( cédulas ). The Evolution: From Tascón to Maisanta

While officially framed as a tool to "verify fraud," the list was widely used by the government and state-owned companies to: who had signed the petition.

The list originated in during a signature-gathering drive for a recall referendum against then-President Hugo Chávez. Luis Tascón, a member of the National Assembly, obtained the names of the over 2.4 million citizens who had signed the petition and published them online.