More than 3.7 million Valencians will decide in key elections: Botanical or change

Since nine in the morning, a total of 3,731,984 Valencian men and women have been called to the polls to participate in regional elections that are expected to be very close and decisive.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
27 May 2023 Saturday 22:21
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More than 3.7 million Valencians will decide in key elections: Botanical or change

Since nine in the morning, a total of 3,731,984 Valencian men and women have been called to the polls to participate in regional elections that are expected to be very close and decisive. After eight years of left-wing governments (with a mestizo formula, first without Podem and, later, with Unides Podem already in the executive), the polls will decide whether this conjunction of forces is consolidated or there is a shift to the right led by the PP .

The popular are reluctant to say whether or not they will agree with Vox, although only a great result from Carlos Mazón would allow him to opt for a solo government. Some elections that, in addition to glimpsing if there is a change in the cycle in autonomy, seem key to territorial rebalancing before the appointment with the general elections at the end of the year.

With the surveys not at all explanatory, the voters must choose the 99 deputies (40 for Valencia, 35 for Alicante and 24 for Castellón) that will make up Les Corts Valencianes of the XI legislature. Until now, in the 40 years since the first regional elections were held, the management of the Valencian executive has been shared equally (20 years each block) by the left and right.

Participation may be one of the keys to the call. In 2015, there was a participation of 69.5%, while, in the 2019 elections, this rose to 73.7% (encouraged in part by coinciding with the general ones). Participation will also be decisive since it will mark, given the particularity of the Valencian electoral law, which parties exceed 5% and have representation in the regional chamber. With a 30% abstention, around 130,000 votes would be needed to have deputies.

Voters will also decide in the municipal ballot box the names of the 5,746 councilors of the 542 municipalities of the three provinces. The local elections are the great forgotten of this call where a national discourse has been imposed far from the day-to-day problems of many towns and cities. Also in the municipal battle it will be possible to glimpse if there is a change of cycle because, except in the case of the province of Alicante, the left governs the majority of large and medium-sized cities of the autonomy.

Yesterday, at the press conference prior to election day, the Minister of Justice, Interior and Public Administration, Gabriela Bravo, explained that the census of 3.7 million Valencians also includes the 125,664 people who reside outside our borders , as well as the 73,992 foreign citizens with the right to vote in the Valencian Community.

In this sense, the minister highlighted that, with respect to the 2019 general elections, there has been an increase in the census of 74,818 people.

Regarding voting by mail, Bravo reported that a total of 84,957 votes have been registered, of which 10,831 correspond to the province of Castellón; 26,114, to that of Alicante and 48,012, to that of Valencia.

To ensure the peaceful celebration of election day, the Government delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, reported this week that 10,027 members of the different security forces, whose cost for this day is assumed by the General State Administration, will provide service for guarantee the normality of election day.