The Government is prepared not to publish the 14-F results until Tuesday, if there are problems at the polling stations
In the event that a large number of polling stations are not constituted, an agreement will be reached with the Central Electoral Board and the parties to postpone the count for 48 hours
More uncertainty surrounding 14-F. The Government explained on Sunday that in the event of difficulties in constituting the polling stations, it is considering the possibility of not making the electoral results public 48 hours later, the limit established by law. This was explained on Sunday by the Director General of Participation and Electoral Processes, Ismael Peña-López, who said that the Government would decide on Sunday, in conjunction with the Central Electoral Board and the parties, whether or not to make the results public at night, depending on the percentage of polling stations that had not been set up. In statements to RAC1 radio station, he indicated that if the volume of polling stations that have to be formed on Monday or Tuesday is significant, voters will have incentives to make "a much more tactical vote" if they already know the provisional results of the elections.
The decision whether or not to publish the results would be taken on Sunday at 10 a.m., which is the deadline for the constitution of the polling stations, once it is known how many have not been set up. In the event that some votes are finally postponed to Monday and Tuesday, the government would also receive the provisional electoral data from Sunday night, but would not add them up to avoid leaks. Peña-López, however, has admitted that it is "difficult" to stop information, and has given as an example the possibility that a party representative takes pictures and the parties know the results before the administration. In fact, the report issued by the Directorate General of Participation and Electoral Processes already pointed out that "it is impossible not to disseminate the provisional results" once some polling stations have already counted the results.
For all of these reasons, the Director of Participation and Electoral Processes acknowledged that the failure to set up a significant number of polling stations would be a "major problem".
Antigen tests for polling station members
Regarding the antigen tests to be carried out on polling station members, Peña-López explained that the presidents, voting officers and first substitutes will be summoned on 9, 10, 11 and 12 February to go to their primary healthcare unit in order to take the test. He acknowledged that the fact that there is so much rotation causes many difficulties, and will try to send them a message to their phones. In case they do not receive it, those who have to be part of the polling station or are first substitutes can call the CAP directly.
As for the people who are being appointed to cover those who will not be able to constitute the polling stations, he acknowledged that they may get the notification the day before the election, on Saturday 13 February. "We are working with the Health Department to see how far we could stretch and force the health system to cover these eventualities", Peña-López said, who has indicated that it is because of these issues that the Government defended the suspension of the 14-F Elections Day.
