Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (EFE) his ballot due to difficulties that go far beyond the requested vote, the obstacle that has disappeared in this call.
Two out of three emigrants from the Canary Islands called to vote in the autonomous communities (68%) reside in Cuba (63,509) and Venezuela (47,200), countries where it has been welcomed that it is no longer mandatory to request electoral documents in advance to enter the the census. However, reality shows that, for a large number of those voters, voting on the 28th will be almost an act of civic heroism.
Mario Luis López, president of the Canarian Association of Cuba in Cabaiguán, one of the largest communities, sums it up for EFE: “There will only be two voting centers, both in Havana. We are 300 or so kilometers from the capital (334 km, about four hours by road). You have to imagine the difficulties that exist with transportation and fuel; Also, keep in mind the age of many of the people.”
The same message comes from Venezuela: two voting centers have been set up there, one in Caracas and the other in Valencia, despite the fact that “there are canaries in all the states of the country,” says Enrique Franco, president of the Hogar Canario Venezolano in the capital. .
However, in the two Canarian communities of reference in America, the suppression of the requested vote has not been received as a minor gesture. Enrique Franco stresses that, among the Canarians of Caracas, the fact that they were subjected to this prerequisite to vote was seen as an obstacle that “violated participation rights.”
“Of course, we applaud that it be suppressed, I hope that this decision increases the participation of those from the Canaries (abroad) in these elections,” said this spokesman.
All in all, he insists on demanding more voting centers distributed throughout the different states of the country, because limiting the physical act of depositing the vote in the ballot box to those who travel to Caracas or Valencia “restricts participation, he had realized that Venezuela is extremely wide (912,050 km2, almost twice the area of Spain) and there are canaries in all states”.
From the Canarian Association of Villa Clara, in Cuba, Paulino Paz, points out several more complaints: the problems with the mail service, which mean that “the ballots always arrive with little time.”
“In addition, only those who have Spanish citizenship receive ballots, when they represent less than half of the children of Canarians in our province,” explains Paz.
Although they represent 9% of the census, the influence of the emigrant vote in the elections in the Canary Islands has always been conditioned by the electoral system of this community, which has seven island constituencies (and each one with very different weighting in the ratio of inhabitants per deputy), to which an eighth was added in 2019, at the regional level.
To what extent do emigrants follow with interest what is going to be voted in their land on the 28th? It depends on each one, but in general they are informed of the affairs of the Canary Islands, of the parties that govern at all times and, even, of where the polls are going.
And then there are cases like those of the president of the Canarians of Cabaiguán, who explains himself as residing in his other land, Arucas (Gran Canaria): “The flower pact is now in government, which is PSOE, Nueva Canarias, Podemos and the Gomera Socialist Group. If they remain in that pact, they can have 34 to 36 deputies, as can happen among those who are in the opposition, the Popular Party, the Canary Islands Coalition and Citizens ”. EFE