The Iustitia Europa party has filed an appeal before the Supreme Court against its decision not to suspend the right to vote of the children of those naturalized under the so-called “grandchildren law” in the general elections of November 29, warning that their participation at the ballot boxes may have “effects on the outcome.”
Thus, it is set out by the attorney and president of the party, Luis María Pardo, in a submission to which Europa Press has had access, in which he challenges the ruling handed down this Monday by the high court, which rejected extending the suspension of the vote to the children of those naturalized under this provision of the Law on Democratic Memory.
In those proceedings, the Supreme Court stated that suspending the vote for the children of the “grandchildren” “is contrary to the requirements arising from the principles of legal certainty and electoral stability” and that, “for all these reasons,” the balancing of the interests at stake “must tip in favor of denying the request for precautionary measures, understanding that granting it could lead to serious disruption of the general interests.”
Pardo refers to the dissenting opinion of the magistrate Antonio Jesús Fonseca-Hernando in that order to underline that “the extension could be carried out by means of immediate requests and checks supported by the documentation available on the parents.”
“Once the elections have been held and the votes have been counted, the subsequent correction of the census may prove useless to remedy their effects on the outcome,” the lawyer emphasizes in his appeal.
That was “the harm that had to be confronted with the administrative difficulties invoked,” Pardo argues, “because it accepts that risk and, however, denies protection without justifying why the immediate requests, the successive checks and the custody regime already agreed upon did not allow avoiding it.”
The correction of the census may be “useless”
Along these lines, Iustitia Europa insists that “once the elections have been held and the votes have been counted, the subsequent correction of the census may prove useless to remedy their effects on the outcome.”
The party emphasizes that “the size of the group examined,” close to 190,000 people, “may prove decisive where the allocation of the last seat depends on narrow differences and, by that route, affect the composition of the Cortes Generales and the parliamentary majorities”.
"The determination of that risk requires knowing how many of the affected people appear in the applicable census and in which constituencies they are enrolled. Precisely for that reason, the lack of identification and breakdown reinforces the need for the requested checks," the written submission adds.
For Pardo, "the low percentage of participation recorded in previous calls cannot be ruled out in advance as to a relevant incidence on the result," since "the possible alteration would affect the political representation of the entire body of citizens, and its repair would be seriously compromised once the votes have been counted."
"Hence, the cautious assessment must take into account the possible provincial impact of the disputed registrations and ensure that the ruling maintains effectiveness over the electoral process to which it refers," concludes the president of Iustitia Europa.
Meanwhile, the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, has announced this Tuesday that his party will analyze in detail the resolution of the Supreme Court that rejects the suspension of voting for the children of those naturalized under the 'grandchildren law' and that they will seek from the high court "clarifications."