In the two weeks of the electoral campaign for the municipal elections e regional of 28 May the topics of debate on which the candidates should have confronted each other, such as the salutethe housing issue and the mobility sustainablehave faded into the background. If in the first week And has been the protagonist, in these last seven days there has been talk of nothing but the numerous cases of electoral fraud in voting by mail, which have multiplied in various Spanish municipalities called to the polls. Up to now, about ten investigations have been opened in different territories: Melilla, Zamora, Huelva, Almeria, Murcia, Alicante e Santa Cruz of Tenerife. The scandal mainly involves two parties, the socialist party and the Popular Partywith arrests among the ranks of candidates.
Voting by mail
In Spainunlike in Italia, postal voting is possible. From 4 April to 18 May it was in fact possible to request vote by mail for the municipal and regional elections of 28 May. How does it work? Once you have received the ballots corresponding to each party, the voter must insert the ballot paper of the party he wants to vote in the envelope sent to him (in the event that he decides to vote blank, he must not insert any ballot paper). Once this process is complete, the envelope must be dropped off at a post office or sent by certified mail at least three days before election day. Election day, post office (Spanish Post) send to polling stations corresponding electoral envelopes, which are placed in the ballot boxes at the end of the voting and before the ballots. Proof of identity is required to vote by mail. However, no identification is required when depositing ballots at the post office or mailing, and anyone can deposit another voter’s ballot. This is one of the main problems that increases the risk of possible electoral fraud.
Dozens of investigations opened and many arrests
The scandal of the alleged electoral fraud it started at Melillawhen on May 8 they were stolen dozens of ballots which the postmen were delivering to voters and which were subsequently cancelled. After the theft, suspicions grew as a abnormal increase from the voting requests by mail. Thanks to an investigation by National Policeone discovered mafia plot which led to the arrest of a dozen people – now placed in probation – including an adviser to the party’s autonomous city government Coalition for Mellilla. As he explains The country“vulnerable” citizens were offered between 50 and 200 euros. Voters would have had to request their vote by post, presenting their identity document, and once they received the documentation they would have turned it over to the group in exchange for money. With the ballot papers in hand, then, the arrested would give their vote to the highest bidder among the parties. Following these scandals, the Central Electoral Board he communicated that the post offices of Melilla would also require the identity document to deposit the ballot.
A similar story was discovered at Mojácar (Almeria) and led to the arrest of 7 peopleamong which two PSOE candidates. In this case, voters were required to personally deposit their ballot at the post office, after checking that the ballot inserted was from socialists. A Huelva – tells ElDiario.es – it was instead just the socialist party to report the People’s Party and the municipality of Villalba del Alcorled by the People’s Party, who would have directly managed the request for votes by mail from various voters.
A Zamora il Psoe denounced the mayoral candidate of Zamora Yes of the municipality Moral of Sayago for allegedly manipulating mail-in voting by about 50 seniors of a residence. To Albudeite (Murcia) 13 arrests were made, including la mayoral candidate of the PSOE, and another candidate from the same party. Other investigations are underway Mazarron (Murcia) it’s at big stomach (Alicante): in these cases exponents of the Popular Party.
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Photo – All images accompanying this article are by Biel Alino/European Pressphoto Agency