Two hours after the set time but after 11 am today, the 9,139 polling stations installed in the 2,763 polling stations have been constituted on the occasion of the autonomous elections of Catalonia. A balance of 100% confirmed by the Minister of Foreign Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency, Bernat Solé, who has not missed the occasion to thank “everyone for the responsibility and civic commitment” shown.
In total, there are 5,624,044 Catalans called this Sunday to vote to choose the 135 deputies of the Parliament from a total of 69 candidates, in which they will be the most atypical elections to be held in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Several voters queue up to exercise their right to vote at the Colegio Verd de Girona
The anticovid protocol established by the Generalitat prevents voters from waiting their turn inside the voting centers, for this reason, there are many who must wait in the street in long queues.
The long lines are one of the images of the day like this one that has been formed in an electoral college in Sant Cugat
To minimize the risk of contagion, the Government has established three recommended -not compulsory- time slots to go to vote: from 9.00 to 12.00 for risk groups; from 12.00 to 19.00 voters who are not at risk or are in quarantine, and from 19.00 to 20.00 those infected, close and suspicious contacts, who will have permission to bypass confinement carrying a certificate of displacement.
Voters in the time slot reserved for seniors
In the last time slot the members of the polling stations will use personal protective equipment (PPE), while in the rest of the time slots they will be provided with gloves, masks and goggles and protective clothing.
Setting up tables at the Mercat del Ninot in Barcelona
Within the polling stations, one-way circuits have been established to avoid the crossing of people, only the person who has to vote can access the voting center, unless they need assistance, and the access and exit points will be independent , which will be duly signposted.
Voting in the Sant Antoni market in Barcelona
In addition, outdoor or street spaces have been set up to minimize the number of people inside the polling stations, which will probably cause more queues than usual to go to vote.
Accesses to the Sant Antoni market in Barcelona
The protocol approved by the Generalitat establishes that constant ventilation and a distance of two meters between election months and 1.5 meters between polling station members, between voters, and between polling stations and voters must be guaranteed in the voting centers. , and there will be health security managers to ensure compliance with the measures.
Each center has heads of health security
Five Femen activists protested this Sunday at noon against the Vox candidate for the Catalan elections, Ignacio Garriga, upon his arrival at his electoral college in Barcelona.
Femen has tried to boycott the vote of the Vox candidate
The women, bare-chested, have chanted slogans such as ‘It’s not patriotism, it’s fascism’ and ‘Voto a Garriga, foto fascista’ although they have finally ended up being reduced by the Mossos d’Esquadra.
Agents have blocked activists’ access to the electoral college
A total of 14,200 agents of the Mossos d’Esquadra and local police control security during election day. It is the largest device ever organized for an election, so that for the first time there will be a binomial of agents all day in each school.
Image of the Center for Operational Coordination of Catalonia
22.59% of the Catalans called to the polls this Sunday have voted until 1:00 p.m., which is 12 points less than in the first advance of participation in the Catalan elections of December 21, 2017, when at the same time 34.69% of the census had voted.
A mosso d’Esquadra helps a woman in a wheelchair to enter the Center Cívic Nord electoral college
Not even the politicians have been spared from prevention measures. This is the case of the PSC candidate and former Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, who has undergone temperature control before entering the electoral college.
Illa has voted at the La Roca del Vallés Cultural Center
Voting by mail has reached the highest figure since the first regional elections of 1980, with more than 265,000 votes cast by this system, which also represents an increase of 277% compared to the 2017 elections.
A postal worker arrives with the votes at the Sant Pere Sant Pau pavilion in Tarragona
The electoral boards have received a total of 34,000 allegations from people who refused to be part of the polling stations in Catalonia, of which some 22,000 have been accepted.
The Generalitat has set up tables in the Tarragona bullring, where there have hardly been any queues
The members of each polling station, who have been offered an antigen test, have had their temperature taken, which should be below 37.5 degrees. In addition, they have been provided with four masks for renewal throughout the day, 1 face shield, 1 FFP2 mask and single-use gloves for the time of the count, as well as enough hydroalcoholic gel for frequent use throughout the day. .
Inside the polling stations, constant ventilation has been guaranteed
At 7:00 p.m., the members of the polling stations have donned the EPI suits to give way to the voting strip for people infected with or suspected of being infected with covid.
The members of the polls put on the PPE when they start to vote infected
The members of the polls put on the PPE when they start to vote infected
EPI Catalan elections
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