The seven registered voters in the La Rioja municipality of Villarroya have completed voting in the general elections this Sunday in 26 seconds, 3 seconds less than their record for the municipal and regional elections on May 28. This is one of the anecdotes of the day. But there is more, like that of a man who has appeared at the polling station dressed as a diver or the bride who has exercised her right to vote dressed for the occasion.
The small municipality of Villarroya (La Rioja Baja) stopped the timer for the 2019 general elections in 32 seconds and 25 hundredths. Those 26 seconds would have been less if one of the voters had not dropped one of the ballots on the table before putting it in the ballot box.
The four Villarroya voters who have not been part of the table have had more pressure than ever to surpass their mark, since the three of the table vote last.
Because, unlike previous elections, as these elections are in summer, Villarroya is "full" of families who have a house in the town and come during the summer period from Logroño, Arnedo and other municipalities in La Rioja where the descendants of the municipality have emigrated.
For this reason, some forty people have gathered around the voting table, including many children, who have waited for the secretary, Clara Martínez, to give the signal for the president of the table to declare the voting open.
Right after, the four began the process, with an anecdote included, since the justice of the peace, Jesús Garrido, who had joked with the ballot papers before the voting began, dropped one on the table and lost a few seconds picking it up.
But even so, the clock has stopped in 26 seconds, a mark that exceeds the previous one for the general elections by six and the record of the municipal and regional elections on May 28 by three.
Just after closing the table, the secretary has communicated with the Government Delegation in La Rioja and has received authorization to conclude the elections in the municipality.
And once the voting is over, the party has begun, with all those who now reside in the town, even if they are not on the census, sharing coffee, pastries and preparing a meal of crumbs that will bring everyone together, once again, as in every vote, to put an end to the tradition of this Rioja municipality, considered the fastest in Spain to vote.
Beyond Villarroya, Amurrio (Álava) has also starred in another anecdote of the day. It is not known why, but at 10:15 a.m., the only table that remained to be set up in all of Spain corresponded to this town. It so happens that it is the hometown of Santiago Abascal, the candidate for these general elections for Vox. By the way, the latter had to return home when he was preparing to vote because he had forgotten his ID.
And in Madrid, specifically in the Chamartín district, the president of a polling station at the Nuestra Señora de la Consolación College has forced a middle-aged man to put on a T-shirt with the slogan "Que te vote Txapote" inside out in order to exercise his right to vote in the general elections this Sunday.
Last Thursday, the JEC indicated that it was forbidden to go to vote with an item of clothing with that motto and reminded voters that electoral propaganda cannot be carried out in schools and their surroundings.
Another image that has generated many reactions on social networks is that of Onyx, a drag queen who has put a note of color on election day. She has recounted the start of the day on her own Twitter profile, where she has explained that "the alarm has betrayed me" and was almost late for the constitution of the table. "I have made up in 45 minutes if I like to live on the edge." "To enjoy the party of democracy, we are celebrating," she closed in a message on her social networks.
There are people that this electoral appointment has caught them in the middle of vacations, and they have wanted to exemplify it without any nuance. This is the case of this man, who has appeared at the electoral college dressed in glasses and diving fins. Seeing is believing.
There are other citizens that the elections have caught them in the celebration of a special day. For sample, a button.
