The Central Electoral Board has returned responsibility for a possible extension of the electoral schedule due to the collapse of the Rodalies service and has reminded them that this would be an “exceptional” measure and that it could only be taken if it can prove the lack of alternative means to reach the polling station at the legally scheduled time.
Furthermore, the JEC recalls in a letter published this afternoon that the electoral law (Loreg) only provides for the extension of the electoral schedule only in the event of interruption of voting, due to lack of ballots or due to force majeure. And he warns that the suspension of the railway lines is known from early in the morning with enough time to look for alternative means of transportation.
The four provincial electoral boards of Catalonia have received throughout today the requests from ERC and Junts asking for the extension of voting hours in the Parliamentary elections, after the incidents and copper thefts that have caused the paralysis of Rodalies transport .
The provincial boards of Tarragona, Lleida and Girona had raised the demand to the JEC and that of Barcelona has requested a prior report from Renfe on what happened this Sunday at the Rodalies service.
These movements in the electoral boards come after ERC asked the electoral board to extend voting hours in the polling stations affected by the Rodalies outages. Specifically, they demanded that the Ministry of Transport be required to provide a report establishing at which points the impact is greatest and that, in the meantime, the voting day be extended by one hour in the schools of the municipalities through which the R1 lines pass. , R2 south, R2 north, R4 and R3.
Similarly, the Junts candidacy has also presented its brief, in this case asking that it be extended to all constituencies “for the same time it takes to restore the normal functioning of the Rodalies service, to ensure the exercise of the right fundamental of active suffrage of the entire population.”
A new episode of copper theft this morning at the Montcada Bifurcació facilities has caused an overvoltage and generally affects the Rodalies service.
Renfe and Adif have admitted that the situation is “very complex” and are working to reschedule the service during the day but in a “very limited” way. “The technicians are working, as they can give us operational capacity we will be able to reschedule, but in a limited way. Today is a very complicated day due to external causes and we recommend other means of transportation,” said Antonio Carmona, director of Rodalies.
María de Mar Ruiz, head of Communication at Adif, has confirmed that this is the most important damage in recent times due to a copper theft, since it has occurred at a very important communication hub.
