A few hours before November 9, the ANC President said that "it is
impossible to 100% guarantee" that Catalan will be able to vote on
Sunday. However she wanted "to highlight that the Catalan Government,
the civil society and the town halls have done everything possible and
even more to allow citizens to express themselves" on November 9 about
Catalonia's independence from Spain. "If there is a place where people
cannot vote, it will not be because we have not done enough but because
the Spanish State will have impeded it", Forcadell pointed out.
Regardless of whether there will be ballot boxes or not at the end, "it is very important that on the 9th
of November we go to our polling stations and queue with our ballot in
our hands for the world to see our will", she stated. However, she
believes that Catalans will be able to vote and doing so will already be
"a success". "The success" will not be measured by the number of
participants but whether everybody has the opportunity to vote and that
all the polling stations can open" their doors, she told the CNA. "It is
a titanic challenge", she acknowledged.
November 9 cannot be compared to a regular electoral process
This is why she does not think that the final turnout can be compared
to the turnout of regular elections, neither to the massive
pro-independence demonstrations that took place in September 2012, 2013
and 2014. At the time "we did not have a State against us. It did not
file appeals and send threats" she reminded. Therefore "it would be
unfair to compare" the processes.
In fact, if Catalans can finally vote on November 9, she acknowledged
that conditions "will not be normal". "Firstly, the Spanish State will
make everything possible" to stop it, "until the very last minute", she
said. Secondly, "because the polling stations are not going to be the
regular ones, there is no pre-made census and letters have not been sent
to people explaining them" the voting instructions". She explained that
in the town of Granollers (in Greater Barcelona), for instance, there
will only be 3 polling stations when normally there are 30 of them.
In addition, she confirmed that the ANC will not put any ballot boxes
on the street to allow citizens to vote if a judicial order arrives and
impedes opening the doors of the polling stations. "Ballot boxes are a
very serious thing. They have to be watched" and they require "a legal
framework and logistics", she added. "We cannot put them [ballot boxes]
on the street because the moment you are doing this you are distorting
the sense of the vote and twisting democracy", she emphasised. However,
according to her, this last option would be the only consultation vote
accepted by the Spanish State, where the Catalan Government had nothing
to do with it and all accountability measures are totally absent.
"Fear" is one of the Spanish State's weapons
Finally, she ruled out the possibility of police taking away the
ballot boxes. However, if it finally happened, she totally rules out any
violent episode. "We will all stay calm and we will not allow ourselves
to be provoked", Forcadell stated. In addition, she asked citizens not
be afraid about participating on November 9's process, since "fear" is
one of the Spanish State's weapons used during the last few weeks, she
highlighted. "In the 21st century citizens cannot be
threatened or scared. We are in a democracy and in the European Union",
she stressed. "We cannot allow them to cut off our freedom of expression
and to threaten us", Forcadell concluded.
