'People are afraid': poll workers opt out in record numbers over Covid-19 concerns
4 in 10 Barcelona voters will be sent to new polling stations on February 14
4 in 10 Barcelona voters will be sent to new polling stations on February 14
More than 800 placards put up at polling stations as politicians condemn police violence
Officers certify that emptying polling stations is impossible
Citizens have slept in centers and organized activities to guarantee that voting stations are not sealed off by police
Some notices start arriving despite the major anti-referendum operation by the Spanish Guardia Civil
The trial over the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014, which took before Barcelona’s High Court former Catalan President Artur Mas amongst other members of the Government continues. This Tuesday, after Mas and former Catalan Ministers Irene Rigau and Joana Ortega’s testimony, the judges are analysing the role of the Catalan Ministry for Education in the non-binding consultation and several education inspectors and high school directors have testified on this matter. The magistrates aim to find out whether the cession of educative centre as polling stations on the consultation day constituted a crime. The Public Prosecutor has accused Mas, Ortega and Rigau of disobedience and breach of trust for allegedly ignoring the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) ban over the 9-N symbolic vote.
The figure is 3.4 points higher than it was at the same hour, 14.00 (CET), on the day of the 2011 General Elections. The Catalan region with the highest rate of participation so far is Barcelona, with 57.6%, followed by the Girona region with 54.9%, Tarragona with 54.6% and Lleida with 52%. In the whole of Spain, 58.3 % of the electorate have already cast their vote, a figure which is slightly higher than in 2011 (57.6%). Journalists from nearly 600 media outlets are accredited and will be following Election Day in the main parties’ headquarters.
More than 5.5 million Catalans are entitled to vote this Sunday in the 27-S elections, which have repeatedly being described as the most important since democracy was restored in Spain. 2,681 polling stations have set up around Catalonia and citizens will be able to cast their vote from 9am until 8pm this evening. "The Election Day started without any remarkable incident” stated the Catalan Minister for Public Administration, Meritxell Borràs and added that the queues at some polling stations were due to “the interest that this elections have awaken”. 5,510,798 people are entitled to vote in Catalonia, 4,124,321 of which will do so in Barcelona region, 800,962 in Tarragona, 756,156 in Girona and 438,000 in Lleida.