Direct Last minute on the 4M elections
Kilometric queues.
This is the image that has marked this 4M.
Many voters, anxiously waiting to cast their vote at the polls, had not witnessed a similar scenario.
"I've been here for 20 years and I've never seen this before," they
explained.
The lines bent the streets and blocks and when it seemed that the queues were advancing, they were again filled with new voters.
Madrilenians have not forgotten their electoral appointment this May 4 and that is being appreciated in the
increase in participation
compared to other elections. In the 2019 elections held in the Community, 64.27% of Madrilenians went to the polls, a lower percentage than calls from previous years.
However, the fact that this election day
is being celebrated on a working day
has led many voters to consider their presence in these long lines. "It is what has that the elections are not on Sunday," they commented. For work reasons, many young people have gone to schools at the recommended time for the elderly - between 10 and 12 hours - in the hope of reducing the waiting time and returning to work again. Although the panorama they have witnessed has been very different and with a few hours of waiting.
In all of them a feeling of illusion to get to the polls prevailed, although also of tiredness in the face of an electoral campaign that has been "very long" for them.
New and young faces stood out from the crowd in the queues.
Those who were just 18 years old joined this new experience for the first time.
However, his disappointment with the political situation is very clear and "few candidates pass."
SECURITY MEASURES
While waiting for their turn, each voter receives a surgical mask to be placed over their own, so that they have double protection at their entrance to the school. And it is that the pandemic and
the security measures have been other of the great protagonists
of these elections. For this reason, a large force of more than 11,000 policemen has been deployed, voting slots have been created and an anti-Covid security protocol has been established. The schools have an entrance and exit route, and the hydroalcoholic gel inside can only be accessed individually. On this day, it is expected to distribute about five million surgical masks, 124,000 FFP2 and up to 55,000 liters of hydroalcoholic gel.
Woman handing out surgical masks at the La Inmaculada-Marillac electoral college Elena González
Technology has also marked this 4M.
The Community has developed an application that allows information in real time on this day, and also on the influx of seats in each polling station.
Thanks to artificial intelligence, they have also had Sophia,
a human-like robot
that interacts with journalists and offers advances in participation and information on health protection or voting by mail.
CANDIDATES
Edmundo Bal and Pablo Iglesias
were the first to go to the polls. The Ciudadanos candidate has asked the Madrilenians "not to stay at home" so that participation is high. His game is played more than the rest: his own survival in the Community of Madrid. In the line of Bal,
Pablo Iglesias
- from United We Can - described this 4M at the polls as a "historic day" and was optimistic with the participation. His arrival at the school was scheduled for nine in the morning, but has been delayed by the long queues of voters.
The next to vote was
Isabel Díaz Ayuso
, who was received at the electoral college amid applause and ovations from the hoteliers in the area and shouts of "president" from some supporters.
After almost an hour in the ranks of the Joaquín Turina electoral college, in Chamberí,
Ángel Gabilondo,
PSOE candidate, has asked that citizens vote "with conviction" this May 4, a day that he has described as "the celebration of democracy" .
The most prominent episode of the day has occurred in the electoral college of the Vox candidate,
Rocío Monasterio,
who has attended with her husband, Iván Espinosa de los Monteros.
Five activists from the Femen collective have demonstrated at the entrance of the premises with bare chests.
The women have thrown pamphlets into the air shouting "to the fascists, not one step more."
Hence they have been reduced by the police.
After exercising her vote, the Vox candidate has condemned this action.
"Once again the friends of disorder have tried to corner those of us who are defenders of freedom", declared Monasterio.
Despite this incident, the rest of the election day has elapsed with absolute normality from nine in the morning, at which time the schools have opened their doors.
The only one who has not attended was
Mónica García
from Más Madrid, as she had already cast her vote by mail days ago to encourage electoral participation on a working day.
Under the excitement of the elderly, adults and young people there is a spark of uncertainty to know what will happen in the next few hours.
But while the hours passed in the queues, no one doubted the ballot that had been inserted in the electoral envelope.
Some prefer a change;
others maintain the current mandate.
Ahead, many hours of nerves and restlessness.
The emotion is served.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
Madrid's community
Autonomous elections
Elections in MadridAyuso will finally go to the debate of Telemadrid candidates
I am a mother, vote for me: Mónica García's electoral argument that irritates feminism
PoliticsRecelos in PSOE and PP for the decision-making power of Iván Redondo and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez in the Madrid campaign
See links of interest
Elections
Work calendar
Holidays Madrid
Home THE WORLD TODAY
Sabadell - Rayo Vallecano
West Bromwich Albion - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Torino - Parma
Seville - Athletic Club
Albacete - Alcorcón