Spain Hindering Vote Abroad

ERC (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya – Republican Left Party) and SI (Catalan Solidarity for Independence) denounce that Catalans abroad cannot vote because of all “the obstacles” set up by Spanish Embassies and Consulates.

 

Catalan politicians have denounced that Catalans abroad cannot vote because Spanish Embassies and Consulates are making it nearly impossible to do so. European representative Oriol Junqueras said that they had received lots of complaints by phone and through the Internet regarding the different obstacles the Spanish Embassies are putting to Catalan voters. The ERC leader also emphasized that his party wants to guarantee that all Catalans are able to exercise their right of voting freely, and criticized the attitude by Spanish Embassies and Consulates.

 

Last Monday other parties also denounced that several groups of Catalans living abroad will not be able to vote on the next November 25^th election because of all the obstacles put in place by Spanish Embassies and Consulates, who make up excuses, tell voters that there are some documents missing, or even worse, that it is not worth it to vote for such unimportant election. This is happening in many countries all over the world. Complaints are arriving from Canada, the United States, Germany, Sweden, and China. This shows that they are not just isolated cases of just one Ambassador or Consul, but that those are the instructions given to them by the Spanish Government in order to not let Catalans vote.

To denounce this situation Catalan pro-independence Parties have registered a report at the Spanish Government Office in Catalonia addressed to both Spanish Ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs asking the Spanish Government to guarantee Catalans abroad the right to vote in the Parliamentary November 25^th elections.  The report also says that they hope all these obstacles disappear and all Catalans can vote if they want to. Th report concludes that if these obstacles persist, they will be brought to the international courts.

According to the Spanish Electoral Law, article 139.8, if a government employee hinders the right to vote by mail, they are committing an voter fraud, punishable with six months to two years of prison.

After the call on Twitter by @helpcatalonia, we received lots of emails from all over the world in places like Austria, Brazil, Australia, Amsterdam, Mexico, Belgium, and Puerto Rico. These are desperate Catalans because of all the obstacles set up by Consuls and Ambassadors to stop them from voting,  and furthermore asking for some help because they have been told they will not be able to vote.

In the meantime, the Spanish government's low-level, illegal tactics to hamper the democratic process keep on coming.

                                                                                                 French version HERE. 

Souce: directe.cat