UPDATE Spain: Turnout in Subnational Elections Remains Low

In the first five hours of election day on Sunday, only 36.69 percent of the citizens authorized to vote went to the polls to choose their municipal and regional representatives.

RELATED:

14 Incidences Counted In Andalucía, Spain Elections

However, this percentage implied a slight increase of 1.59 points compared to the 2019 subnational elections, when electoral participation reached 35.10 percent.

The voting centers remain open to receive some 35.6 million voters. Election day closes at 8:00 p.m local time. On Sunday, the assemblies of the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, in North Africa, and local councils in the Canary Islands will also be renewed.

It is expected that 1.7 million young people between the ages of 18 and 23, who represent 5 percent of the Spanish population, will go to the polls for the first time. The electoral authorities also foresee the participation of 414,000 foreigners residing in Spain.

“It is very important that we go to vote today in each and every one of our electoral colleges and that we do it positively,” Spain President Pedro Sanchez stressed.

Political analysts appreciate these subnational elections as a kind of rehearsal for the general elections, which must be held at the end of 2023.  

The ongoing elections will show if the Left, which currently governs in a coalition, will be able to keep support to stay in power. If the trend reverses, however, a pact between conservatives and far-right politicians will be the basis of the next national government.

On this occasion, the subnational elections were marred by various allegations of vote buying, something unusual since Spain returned to democracy over four decades ago.