The Police investigate a possible electoral fraud in Melilla for the purchase of thousands of votes by mail

The Government delegate in Melilla, Sabrina Moh, has indicated this Thursday that the National Police has an investigation underway for possible electoral fraud through the alleged purchase of 10,000 votes by mail. “We could be talking about a third of the representatives of the Melilla Assembly,” he explained, taking as a reference the number of voters in the 2019 elections.

The headquarters of the Coalition for Melilla appears burned after requesting the suspension of the elections due to an alleged “massive fraud”

Further

In an interview on TVE, the representative of the central Executive has asked for caution so that the police investigation is carried out until the end, adding that, “if true”, the alleged irregularities “can be around 20%” -seven times more than the national average – out of a total census of almost 55,000 voters. “There are 10,000 people who have requested the vote by mail which, out of a census of 55,000 voters, is very high.” Moh recalled that in 2019 there were some 34,000 people who voted in Melilla, which is why she has slipped that it could be said that “a third of the Melilla Assembly could be voting by mail right now.”

This Wednesday, the Zone Electoral Board (JEZ) agreed that mail-in voters identify themselves when casting their vote at the Melilla Post Office. The JEZ pointed to figures that are unsustainable and that suggest that there could be irregularities in the process, so that in Melilla the voter by mail will be required to identify himself by ID, passport or other valid document when delivering the certified envelope with the vote by mail for its referral to the table, in response to the request made by PP and Podemos in this regard, and with the vote against the Coalition for Melilla (CPM).

The Electoral Board, however, has ruled out suspending voting by mail in the autonomous city, since such a measure would require that there had been a relevant adulteration of the electoral process based on objective data. The JEZ did cite two relevant circumstances: the testimony of a citizen who affirms that several parties have offered him money for his vote; and the second, the criminal procedure for irregularities in voting by mail in the 2008 general elections, in which members of the PSOE and CPM, including their respective top officials, were sentenced for buying votes in exchange for a position in employment plans.

I hope that it can be stopped and that we can have a clean, transparent electoral process and that citizens can really choose which representatives they want

Sabrina Moh, Government delegate in Melilla

The Government delegate said this Thursday that she hopes that the electoral process will develop normally. “There is little left, but we have been working for a long time and I hope that it can be stopped and that we can have a clean, transparent electoral process and that citizens can really choose who the representatives they want are,” she added. She has also confirmed that there are border controls in case that vote by mail “can also leave Melilla.”

Suspicions and investigations into electoral fraud have been recurrent in different electoral processes in Melilla. The two main political parties in the Assembly, PP and CPM, have accused each other of being behind the alleged irregularities in voting by mail and the theft of electoral documentation from Post Office workers, which prompted the Security Forces to carry out escort work. Two days ago, the headquarters of the Coalition for Melilla appeared burned after requesting the suspension of the elections due to this alleged “massive fraud”.

“It would be committing a fraud”

“Right now we are in the middle of the investigation process to be able to clarify all the facts; if it were true, electoral fraud would be being committed ”, stated the Government delegate, who has shown her full confidence in the work of the National Police in collaboration with the Civil Guard and the Local Police.

Moh has asked for caution when asked if there are already identified people involved in this alleged electoral fraud and has recognized that “what makes the alarm bells go off”, more than the robbery by masked workers of the Post Office, are the massive requests of the I vote by mail in such an important number and with the increase that is taking place every day. She “Exceeds those of 2019, which were already the highest in the entire national territory. These figures made us think that something could be happening ”, she emphasized.

We estimate that this vote can also leave the city of Melilla and it is important to have all this under control

When asked if the circumstances for the development of elections on 28-M are given, the Government delegate has answered that “right now” they are in a “complicated moment”. “There is little time left for the development of the elections, but we have been working for an important time and I hope that it can be stopped,” she added.

In this sense, Moh has pointed out that the investigation “not only focuses on the territory environment”, speaking of facilities both inside and outside Correos offices, “but has also been implemented throughout the perimeter”, in reference to the port , airport and borders. “We estimate that this vote can also leave the city of Melilla and it is important to have all this under control so that the investigation can bear fruit”, he has intervened.