The electoral process at Barça does not stop despite the new restrictions imposed by the Catalan government to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The club continues to work on all the electoral machinery, and at the headquarters of the various pre-candidates the pace is accelerating to receive, during this week, the signatures needed to pass the cut and become full-fledged candidates. As long as the Procicat does not say otherwise, the planned timetable will be maintained: the new Barça president will be elected on 24 January.
The possibility of a postponement of elections has been speculated for days. However, as happened with the vote of censure, it all ends up depending on what the Procicat decides. Right now the situation is complicated but not critical, and around the government there is hope that with the new restrictions, announced this Monday, day D will be reached with the pandemic sufficiently stabilized to allow voting. Otherwise, you will have to wait a few more weeks.
Fear so that the elderly will not vote
The club established a protocol to decentralize voting and assigned each member, depending on their residence, a point to go to vote (in Catalonia it can be done in Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, Tarragona and Tortosa). However, municipal confinement prevents members who are not from any of these localities from being able to travel to vote, a fact that could be resolved with relative ease by adding an exception to the rule. Although, among the aspirants, the most worrying thing is that the pandemic will cause many people, especially the elderly, to stay at home and not go to the polls. According to the census, of the 110,000 voting members, 40% live in the city of Barcelona, while 52% do so in the rest of Catalonia – an important part of which is in the metropolitan area. Finally, the remaining 8% live outside Catalonia.
Barça will do what the Procicat tells them, and the Procicat will listen carefully to what they tell them both from the Generalitat and from the Department of Health. The Government’s message is to preserve the right to vote, but this will ultimately depend on the evolution of the pandemic. Next week, on Wednesday 14th, a new working meeting is planned between Barça and Procicat, in which the situation will be analyzed and, if necessary, new measures will be taken, which would basically consist of refining the voting protocol.
“We work thinking that the elections will be on the 24th, but it is essential to ensure that many people can vote, because they are the most important elections in the history of the club. Unfortunately, we do not control the pandemic and we do not know what will happen “, said Víctor Font, one of the nine who are running for president. There is doubt in all the campaign teams, but in general the thesis is imposed that it will end up going to the polls. “The Generalitat wants to preserve the right to vote. We should go back to data like those of April to prevent the vote “, they agree in commenting from two more candidacies.
More hurdles to collecting signatures
The government’s announcement to tighten restrictions came just at the start of a key week for the election, as pre-candidates are running out of days to collect signatures. For the most part, especially those who have it fairer to pass the cut, the measures have taken them with the changed pace. “If we can’t open the headquarters on the weekend, we can go home,” says one of the candidates. “The collection of signatures has already been resented, compared to other elections. Older people have a lot of reservations about going out. If mobility problems are added, everything becomes more impossible “, add those who already have some experience elections.
Knowing the number of signatures of each pre-candidate is complicated. It is one of the best kept secrets, which is not revealed until the last day, when they are delivered to the Camp Nou offices. Out of doors it sells optimism and confidence, but in inner circles they recognize that there are many more problems than expected. Even favorites to go through with a lot of solvency can end up crossing the barrier by their hair. Apart from the collection at the headquarters, the success of the company means that the volunteers who are spread throughout the territory comply with the forecasts and get the guarantees to which they had committed. This, however, will not be known until later this week. It is also unknown how many signatures will come from the supporters clubs, where almost all of them can be signed by more than one candidate.
Joan Laporta asked for the most tickets in the bucket, 60,000, followed by Víctor Font and Agustí Benedito (35,000). Behind, Jordi Farré (30,000), Toni Freixa and Emili Rousaud (25,000) and Xavi Vilajoana (20,000). Finally there is Lluis Ferández Alá (15,000), while Pere Riera did not provide this information. In total they need 2,257 valid endorsements to pass the cut.
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