Junts calls for a repeat vote for overseas voters due to "serious irregularities"

The political formation Junts, led by former president Carles Puigdemont, has filed a complaint before the four Provincial Electoral Boards of Catalonia requesting a repeat of the overseas voting process corresponding to the elections of May 12. According to Junts, "serious irregularities" compromising the electoral rights of citizens and the integrity of the electoral process have been detected. In their statements, Junts points out that the destruction of votes due to their alleged invalidity before the deadline to challenge them raises doubts about the cleanliness, correctness, legality, and impartiality of the electoral process, as well as the system that guarantees the political participation rights of Catalans residing abroad. Specifically, Junts denounces that in Barcelona, 1,922 overseas ballots have been destroyed, in Girona, 446 votes were not counted and destroyed, in Lleida, 320 votes suffered the same fate, and no figures have been provided for Tarragona in this regard. The Provincial Electoral Boards of Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona have made public the counts of overseas residents, without this tally altering the distribution of seats. However, Junts argues that the non-counting and destruction of votes represent a clear alteration of the electoral results and a violation of the political participation rights of voters and candidates. The political formation argues that the exclusion of these votes and their subsequent destruction is not due to errors by the voters, but to a presumed systemic error or even a violation of electoral law. According to Junts, this situation is aggravated by the fact that the votes were destroyed before the legal deadline for challenging them, depriving the affected individuals of an effective right to defense. Furthermore, Junts warns that these practices may conceal errors or irregularities in the counting process, making their identification and correction difficult. The lack of access to the destroyed votes, according to the formation, hinders adequate supervision and could compromise the legitimacy of the electoral process. In this context, Junts refers to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, which establishes the need to ensure transparent and fair electoral processes, respecting the rights of citizens. Therefore, the formation requests a repeat of the overseas voting process in the provinces of Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and demands the suspension of the proclamation of results until this new vote is carried out.