“The Spanish Government has guaranteed a clean electoral process.” The Delegate of the Government, Sabrina Moh, appeared this afternoon at a press conference after the Central Electoral Board ratified the decision of the Zone Electoral Board to demand the ID or any valid document, when delivering her vote in the post office, and extended this measure to all post offices in the national territory when it comes to electoral documentation addressed to Melilla.
The head of the Government Delegation pointed out the work carried out in close coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, together with the State Society of Posts and Telegraphs, the Electoral Board and the “magnificent” work of the State Security Forces and Corps: “We have prevented the attempted fraud of the electoral process in Melilla.”
Moh has stressed that the Government of Spain has acted “quickly, effectively and forcefully” and that the mechanisms of the rule of law have worked. “The important thing about all this is that the citizens’ right to a clean and democratic process is guaranteed, which is what the Melillenses deserve,” he said.
The highest representative of the Government of Spain in our city has explained that, in the absence of the data of today - last day to request the vote by mail - Melilla has reached 20% of requests of the census, which implies more than 11,000 melillenses. A figure that has meant that between 10 and 11 members of the Assembly of Melilla would be elected before the ballot box opens on May 28.
A very striking figure, he pointed out, even more if compared to the sister city of Ceuta, which has a similar population, where the request is 3.3% or the national average, with 2.8%.
In this context, the Delegate pointed out that “the shadow of the suspicion of the purchase of votes has been present from the first moment”, which is why an investigation of the National Police is under way, with the collaboration of the Civil Guard.
Democratic normality
“Guaranteeing the rule of law and democratic normality has been the goal of this Government Delegation at all times,” he stressed. For this reason, he added, “we have carried out the largest deployment of Security Forces and Corps troops in history to guarantee democracy and a clean electoral process.”
He recalled that, after the removal of electoral documentation from postal workers, an individualized accompaniment was provided to all postal workers to ensure their safety. At this point he thanked the National Police, the Civil Guard and the Local Police for their work.
But, in addition, he has referred to the provision of police at the Post Office door, which this year, for the first time, has been joined by agents within the office itself who, in addition to providing security to workers and citizens, were entrusted with the identification of people who intend to deliver several votes as well as the list of votes he was trying to deliver.
In addition, controls have been implemented in Port and Airport and also on the border of Beni-Anvers to prevent votes from being taken to the peninsula through this route and, from there, such votes were deposited in a massive way and adulterated the electoral process.
At this point, Moh has very positively valued the decision of the Zone Electoral Board demanding personal identification through ID and the ratification and extension of the measure throughout the national territory by the Central Electoral Board for the votes for the city of Melilla.