Two million Catalunya residents vote – a third of the region's population
Monday, November 10, 2014 @ 2:28 PM
AN ESTIMATED two million residents in Catalunya voted yesterday (Sunday) in an unofficial 'public consultation' on independence, according to regional president Artur Mas.
It is not yet known whether the majority voted 'yes' or 'no', but the central government of Spain has already said it will not pay any attention to the results as the polling is 'not official' and is 'a farce' with 'no electoral census' and 'no proper State control'.
Despite considering the consultation 'invalid' and 'pointless', the central government has still been trying to stop it going ahead right up until the last minute.
Police were ordered to identify the volunteers manning the polling stations and 'who was responsible' for the election taking place, although Artur Mas, who cast his 'yes' vote, held up his hand and said he was the only person who could be held accountable for the consultation being held.
Judges refused to issue a court order forcing the polling stations to shut, as they were asked to do by centre-right party Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD).
Mas says attempts to stop what is little more than a non-binding public opinion poll are 'anti-democratic', but that he will continue to push for a full referendum.
As many as two-thirds of Catalunya's residents failed to vote, but yesterday was not the end of the story since, from today (Monday) for 15 days, postal votes will be accepted.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com