The former president of the Government Felipe González insisted this Wednesday that he does "trust the system" of voting by mail in Spain, although "it seems that no one trusts" this electoral mechanism, currently questioned by the leaders of PP and Vox.
The former socialist leader made these statements to journalists before participating in a tribute event to the former presidents of Aragón and Extremadura, Javier Lambán and Guillermo Fernández Vara, held at the Ateneo de Madrid.
González has lashed out at the political forces that present themselves as an alternative government for calling into question the guarantees of the electoral process. "I regret much more and feel much more that those who present themselves as alternatives tell me that they do not trust our system," he pointed out.
In his analysis, this institutional distrust could end up paralyzing the country. "If the electoral system and the voting system are being questioned by the potential alternative of the Government, they are going to put us in a dead end," he warned, calling on the political class to "get their act together" and respect the rules of the democratic game.
REQUEST TO THE CENTRAL ELECTORAL BOARD
González's statements come after the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, announced this Wednesday in Ceuta that his party will request the Central Electoral Board (JEC) additional measures to reinforce the guarantees of voting by mail ahead of the general elections on November 29.
This initiative by Feijóo before the arbitral body comes after the statements of several PP leaders who have expressed their concerns regarding voting by mail. The first to do so was the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who last Monday urged citizens not to resort to this system in the general elections and warned that the PP will be "watchful" for a possible "adulteration" of voter rolls.
Feijóo has also stated that he maintains his trust in the postal workers, but not in the leadership of Correos. In the same vein, the spokesperson for the Popular Group in Congress, Ester Muñoz, has claimed to "understand" the suspicions that citizens may harbor about voting by mail after the "maneuvers" of the head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez.
For his part, the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, has called to go to the polls and vote in person, also questioning the mail-in vote and assuring that "at this moment" he does not trust "absolutely anything," as he stated in an interview broadcast last Monday on "Antena 3".