Caracas, May 17 (RHC-teleSUR)-- In Venezuela, the commission overseeing the referendum process against President Nicolas Maduro reports that tens of thousands of names that were submitted belong to people who are not alive.

The head of the commission supervising the process leading up to a potential referendum to recall the Venezuelan president -- initiated by the right-wing opposition -- said Monday that nearly 190,000 of the signatures belong to the deceased.

Jorge Rodriguez, who was appointed by President Maduro and also heads the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, told reporters: “They said they delivered 1.85 million signatures.  However, almost 190,000 of them were deceased people."  Rodriguez said the Venezuelan opposition submitted fake signatures in pursuit of “a coup d'etat against President Nicolas Maduro.”

Constitutional jurist Maria Alejandra Diaz said in an interview with teleSUR that it will now be “very difficult” if not “impossible” for the opposition to hold a recall referendum this year.

The process leading up to a referendum will take at least 170 days, in her estimation, which means the third week of January 2017 is the earliest one could be held.

Any registered voter, including the head of state, can file a complaint over irregularities uncovered during this process, she added, meaning a referendum could be pushed back even further.