The penultimate day of the electoral campaign in Extremadura, which this Sunday faces the first early autonomous elections in its entire history, was plunged into controversy from the morning, when the Popular Party denounced it to the media. … the theft in three post offices in the province of Badajoz. In one of them, that of Fuente de Cantos, the thieves had taken away the contents of the safe, where the postal votes of three villages in Extremadura were located. The PP was quick to provoke the shadow of a hard blow, speaking of a “coordinated strategy” and going so far as to say that democracy was “stolen”. From the president of Extremadura, María Guardiola, to the president of the party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
Once the bomb exploded, the Civil Guard confirmed that it was investigating the theft of three post offices, that of Fuente de Cantos and those of Torremejía and Santa Amalia, also in the province of Badajoz. La Benemérita even confirmed that a few days earlier, thefts had been recorded in the offices of Talavera la Real and Villafranco del Guadiana. That’s to say, five post office robberiesin the middle of the electoral campaign and in just one week. Thefts, the previous ones, that no one had reported.
After hours, the Armed Institute reported that the thieves had taken the entire contents of the Fuente de Cantos office safe. Concretely, €14,000 in cash and 124 well-kept postal votes. The PP quickly demanded that the Electoral Council open an extraordinary procedure to guarantee the right to vote for more than a hundred voters in Extremadura. “124 votes can give you or take away a seat,” said the popular Ester Muñoz in her ‘X’ profile. In fact, around noon, agents found the safe completely burned in an area near Talavera la Real, a municipality close to the capital Badajoz.
According to Benemérita herself, the safe had been breached with something similar to a “thermal lance”. The Civil Guard says that around there are burned documents “still under study” in case they could be the votes. However, in another statement, published directly by Correos, it is indicated that these documents are the result of the votes of 124 Extremadurans. Faced with this situation, the Provincial Electoral Commission of Badajoz launched an extraordinary procedure so that voters could vote again. La Poste has already contacted the people concerned to provide them with the documentation and correctly admit the votes.
The Civil Guard strengthens surveillance in offices
The first investigations, affirms the Civil Guard, point beyond a possible political or electoral interest. We speak of a “common crime”. It is assumed that not only the three thefts committed in the early hours of Thursday, but also the two previous ones, are linked to each other and to four others committed between October and November. This hypothesis, which is the main one used by agents, maintains that the motive for the theft is purely economic. The procedure is clear and very basic: the thieves enter the Post Office and look directly for the safe, if it exists. Furthermore, they did not make a distinction between offices as such and “auxiliary offices”, more common in small municipalities and which are essentially integrated into the postman’s residence. In fact, this is the reason why only Fuente de Cantos’ votes disappeared. Both in Santa Amalia and Torremejía, the votes are delivered to the technical office in Mérida.
The situation, which has generated a huge debate throughout the country, has led to measures being taken to guarantee the regularity of the electoral process next Sunday, which is also decisive for the next electoral calendar that will open in other autonomous communities. As ABC was able to confirm, the Civil Guard has decided to increase security in post offices, especially in large headquarters – normally located in cities – where a large number of votes gather. The sources of the investigation confirm that, via Groupwise, a message was sent requesting increased surveillance until the conclusion of the electoral process.
The first investigations by the Civil Guard spoke of a “common crime”
The “penultimate” bombshell of the campaign
The disappearance of 124 votes disrupted the closing of the electoral campaign in Extremadura, which ends today, Friday. Vox supported the demands of the PP, which demanded explanations and encouraged the shadow of electoral fraud, while the rest of the formations avoided the problem, avoid talking about the subject. All this, a little more than 48 hours before nearly 900,000 Extremadurians decide the future of the region at the polls. Popular candidate María Guardiola will win the elections, according to all polls, but she is still fighting for an absolute majority. The GAD3 survey for ABC gives him a range between 31 and 32 MPs. In the best case scenario, the PP would remain one position away from the absolute majority, which is 33.
The experts have not excluded that, in the home stretch, Guardiola could achieve the absolute, especially taking advantage of the historic debacle that they predict for the Socialist Party of Miguel Ángel Gallardo, who will be accused of prevarication and influence peddling, all linked to the hiring of Pedro Sánchez’s brother to the Badajoz Provincial Delegation that he presided over. GAD3 grants 19 to 20 deputies for the PSOE. This would be the worst result in the entire history of the autonomous community, which has been one of the great socialist bastions.
The controversy arises in full growth of Vox, which could double its five deputies
All while Vox is experiencing exponential growth, which will improve its results (7 to 9 seats) and which could, in the best case scenario, almost double its current five deputies. The right would total 55% of the votes. The best result for the right in Extremadura was obtained by Monago in 2011 with 47% of the votes. The region would face a significant sociological turnaround if the survey predictions were confirmed. Sociological turnaround that coincides with the moment of greatest distance between PP and Vox in Extremadura, with Guardiola and Abascal having entered into a melee in the middle of the campaign, with accusations of “machismo” on one side and pressures for “go through the hoop» on the other. If the polls hold, both will have to negotiate a future government in Extremadura.
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