Electoral board rejects volunteer pool and backs substitutes being relocated to other polling stations

If not enough people turn up to man a polling station, the substitutes from other polling stations may be relocated to ensure the vote goes ahead. This is the general criterion dictated by the Central Electoral Board (JEC). After each of the zone boards established their own alternatives, the JEC decided to unify criteria and give a clear order: volunteers are not allowed, but on the other hand, substitutes from other poll stations that have been set up can be relocated. Thus, JEC responds to a request of the Provincial Electoral Board of Tarragona, which asked to establish a joint method for the whole Catalan territory. The final position of the JEC comes after last week the Electoral Board of Barcelona recommended all its branches discard the creation of a volunteer pool and consider the option of relocating substitutes as the most viable way. The JEC agrees with its position and establishes that substitutes will have to wait until 10 am -the deadline for forming the poll stations- to know if they have to be relocated to another poll station in the same centre or to another "nearby" one. It does not specify, however, if substitutes may be relocated to other towns, and simply asks them to vote first thing and wait in case they are finally needed.

The JEC, however, makes it clear that the possibility of creating volunteer pools is excluded. This veto means some territories have to close the lists they already created after the electoral board of their area required it, since, until now, all the electoral referees had absolute autonomy to decide. The Electoral Board of Cervera, for example, required last week all municipalities in its area to open a volunteer pool, despite knowing that it is not a method provided for by law. Then, sources of the electoral body explained to ARA that the volunteers would only be a last resort and that they hoped that no one would appeal against this measure.

Prevention with the elderly

In its resolution, the JEC indicates that the process that is legally foreseen if there are people missing to constitute the polling stations will remain in force: first the substitutes will be appointed if presidents or members are missing and, afterwards, "the people who will have to constitute the polling station will be freely designated. This means that some of the voters who are present in the premises may be called up". The JEC calls for extreme caution in these cases, especially taking into account any health issues the voter may have and their age. This is partly because older and vulnerable voters have been asked to vote first thing in the morning.

48 hours later

If finally none of the alternatives allows the polling station to be constituted, the JEC also informs in its resolution of the process what the law foresees: "If in spite of the use of these criteria a polling station could not be constituted at 10 am, the Zone Electoral Board will summon a new vote at this polling station, within the following two days, fixing immediately to the door of the station the new summons and proceeding ex officio to the appointment of the members of this table". This scenario is considered very unlikely, since last week the director of Electoral Processes and Participation, Ismael Peña-López, assured that 99% of poll stations had enough members.

Although the forecasts of the Catalan government are not alarming, the executive has opened the door to the results of the elections not being published until 48 hours after the elections. They have done so by means of a reform of their computer programme that allows them to stop the recount in the event that a considerable number of polling stations are still to be set up. In spite of preparing for this scenario, the Minister for the Presidency of the Generalitat, Meritxell Budó, said on Tuesday that there would be definitive results on the same night of the elections

The optimism of the Govern contrasts with the number of people who have already requested to be exempted from electoral duty. According to the last update on Tuesday, there are already almost 28,000 designated people who have filed objections and represent more than a third of all those chosen by lot, although it is not yet known what percentage of allegations have been accepted. It was known on Tuesday that the Electoral Board of Manresa rectified and exempted the neighbour of Callús who had to be at a polling station despite his chronic cancer. He was a first substitute and after the resolution of the JEC which seeks to relocate substitutes, he would have had many more chances of ending up on duty all day. And all this with only 60 hours left until the elections are held.