Because one can get a Venezuelan passport and register to vote only by virtue of possessing a Venezuelan identity card and since the Venezuelan government has been accused by the media and the opposition of naturalizing substantial numbers of foreigners for electoral purposes, many Venezuelans accused the government of a lack of a plan to ramp up the security of the "cédula de identidad" along with other Venezuelan vital documents such as birth certificates as part of a strategy by the Chávez regime to continue the practice of naturalizing foreigners for electoral purposes. The government has announced that a new "cédula de identidad" will be available to all citizens somewhere around the first quarter of 2011. This proposed ID is indeed a polycarbonate bankcard-sized document with biometric and RFID technology. It resembles the analogous card that has been in place in the Venezuelan biometric passports since 2007. However, the release of this new card to the public has been delayed on several occasions and as of October 2018 there are no news as to when it will be available.