Languish votes in the Catalan election (Take 2)

[The Larch]

Big news of today - even though they won't affect the winner of this election - was that a former treasurer of PP, currently in jail for corruption, directly implicated former Spanish president Mariano Rajoy on the party's shady dealings. Rajoy was already ousted as PM after a court found that the party "had benefited" from corruption, but he had not been indicted himself.

This comes at a moment where some polls have Vox gaining ground on PP, and are giving them a chance of finishing above them in the Catalan election. This would be the first time Vox placed over PP in an election, and it would be... not nice. As much as I loathe PP they are like a thousand times preferable to the far right cunts from Vox. Ok, maybe just a hundred times.

Well, it's not as if PP has ever been severely punished at the voting booths for its unabashed corruption, so...

[celedhring]

That's a bit unfair. They lost half their seats in the April 2019 election, their worst showing since the 1980s. I'd call that "severe punishment".

[The Larch]

That's a bit unfair. They lost half their seats in the April 2019 election, their worst showing since the 1980s. I'd call that "severe punishment".

But that was not because of their corruption, it was because of the rise of Ciudadanos and the arrival of Vox.

[celedhring]

That's a bit unfair. They lost half their seats in the April 2019 election, their worst showing since the 1980s. I'd call that "severe punishment".

But that was not because of their corruption, it was because of the rise of Ciudadanos and the arrival of Vox.

I'd say that their rise was helped by PP's corruption.

[The Larch]

That's a bit unfair. They lost half their seats in the April 2019 election, their worst showing since the 1980s. I'd call that "severe punishment".

But that was not because of their corruption, it was because of the rise of Ciudadanos and the arrival of Vox.

I'd say that their rise was helped by PP's corruption.

I don't think that was much of a factor myself. PP plumetted because it started to have serious competition for votes on the right wing, which it had monopolized until then.

[Iormlund]

Yeah, I'd say the apparittion of Cs (and Podemos) after the debt crisis shifted moderate voters away from PP (and PSOE). And then came Catalonia and the subsequent rise of Vox completing the pincer maneuver from the right.

So mostly the economy and nationalism, IMHO.

[celedhring]

Final tally of people that have requested to be excused from manning poll stations is 25% of all selected, the vast majority arguing health risks because of Covid. Even if all those didn't show up (which would earn them a nontrivial fine), there's enough people to move forward (the election board selected a boatload of understudies in advance of this happening, enough to cover 66% of people dropping out). There might be some delays on election day while understudies are moved around, which will in turn delay the results - although unlike some "other" () countries we should know who won the election before going to bed (coalitions are another matter altogheter...).

[celedhring]

Incidentally, this is the very first election I see party ads on Facebook. I've not followed all the controversies regarding Facebook and political messaging, but is that new? In Spain at least?

Also, we had a kerffufle between police and antifas yesterday when they tried to forcefully shut down a Vox rally. Not a pretty sight. As much as I hate those far right cunts, they are free to hold their rallies during an election.

[celedhring]

So, this is happening today. Polling stations have opened a bit later to sort out people not showing up due to Covid fears. This means results could be slightly delayed, but they will still be released tonight.

The average of polls show things not changing much  Separatists should be getting a slight majority - I get the feeling polls might be getting turnout wrong, though, and if it's severely depressed it should favor the independence camp. The SocDems will replace Cs as the largest unionist party - with a decent chance of winning the election but not being able to form a majority. Vox should get a good result as they will accrue a lot of the "FUCK YOU" anti-independence vote.

Anyway, the most salient matter - unless there's an upset - will be whether ERC (more moderate) or JxCAT (more radical) get to lead the government. ERC were leading the polls decisively, but they have ran a terrible campaign and have a charisma black hole as a candidate, so JxCAT have been catching up. It won't be a stable government in any case though, those parties despise each other. But they also agreed to sign a manifesto declaring they won't attempt to form a government with unionist parties so that's the meal we'll have to eat.

[celedhring]

Anyway, a last look at our candidates in the traditional election day group photo - social distance* edition. May the prettiest win.





*Not sure that's 1.5m though

[Sheilbh]

I have enjoyed Spanish Twitter on the latest "polls" that aren't polls about the points different colours have achieved because you can't report the poll. It's always one of my favourite things in Spanish elections

[celedhring]

Yeah, it's a silly law. I mean, it probably made sense in the 1980s where only few (wealthy) outlets could make polls, and it was believed they could be used to unduly influence voters, but everybody does polls now.

Turnout at lunch time is down significantly, but more in unionist cities than pro-independence ones. This is kinda what I feared so unless the trends change separatists might get a stronger majority.

Anyway, pic of the day will be the "zombie hour" (19-20h) which has been alloted for those infected with Covid/quarantined. All polling stations personnel has been provided with PPE.

[The Larch]

I have enjoyed Spanish Twitter on the latest "polls" that aren't polls about the points different colours have achieved because you can't report the poll. It's always one of my favourite things in Spanish elections

It's even funnier when instead of colours they use fruits and vegetables. 

"Tomatoes are up to 26%, while cucumbers fall to 12%"

[Sheilbh]

It's even funnier when instead of colours they use fruits and vegetables. 

"Tomatoes are up to 26%, while cucumbers fall to 12%"

Yeah. To be honest I've only seen colours this time round and only so many fruits. I wondered if that's because there are so many choice in the election while in national elections it's a bit easier.

Also on my Twitter Podemos is typically the aubergine emoji which is a choice

[The Larch]

It's even funnier when instead of colours they use fruits and vegetables. 

"Tomatoes are up to 26%, while cucumbers fall to 12%"

Yeah. To be honest I've only seen colours this time round and only so many fruits. I wondered if that's because there are so many choice in the election while in national elections it's a bit easier.

Also on my Twitter Podemos is typically the aubergine emoji which is a choice

Well, they're the purple party, after all. It's either that or beets.