Candidates for the Board take the ballot boxes on a key day for the future of Andalusia

After weeks of intense campaigning and a day of reflection with friends and family, the day has arrived. This Sunday, May 17, the main candidates for the Presidency of the Junta of Andalusia have already exercised their right to vote at various points in the community, in a key day in which Andalusians are called to decide the political direction of the region.

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The Popular Party candidate for re-election, Juanma Moreno, voted at 11:00 at the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús school in Málaga, in the historic city center, where he was accompanied by his wife and two of his party colleagues, Carolina España and Elías Bendodo. Upon arrival, the popular leader was greeted with applause inside the classroom where the ballot box was located.

Moreno thanked the media presence after an “intense and hopeful” campaign and emphasized that “the day has arrived,” in a day he described as “open” and “great for exercising the right to vote,” except for the forecast of rain in some areas like Huelva. “Today citizens decide what they want for Andalusia in the next four years,” he stated.

The popular candidate asked Andalusians not to leave their vote until the last minute and to “make time” to fulfill this “citizen obligation,” while appealing to citizens to vote “freely for what is good for their lives.” He also highlighted the significance of these elections, which, in his opinion, are not only decided “in an Andalusian key,” but also “condition many other things.”

Moreno acknowledged that he faces the day with “good feelings” and perceives “a lot of enthusiasm around the project I lead,” although he warned that these are “very difficult” elections with “many challenges,” so “any scenario is open.” 

He also addressed a message to new voters, asking them to assume their right “with enthusiasm and responsibility,” reminding that young people “are the present and the future of Andalusia.”

After voting, the Andalusian president explained that he will spend the morning with his family before traveling to Seville, where he will follow the election night from the party headquarters starting at 20:00 hours.

For her part, the PSOE candidate, María Jesús Montero, voted at 11:11 at her polling station, located in the art classroom of the Colegio de Escuelas Profesionales Sagrada Familia Nuestra Señora de los Reyes, in Seville, near the Macarena neighborhood, where she arrived dressed in red.

Montero sent a “clear message” about the importance of the day: “It is a very important day to decide the future,” and called for participation so that citizens vote “with enthusiasm, joy, and hope.” “No one should stay at home,” she insisted, appealing for everyone to participate “with their criteria and opinion about what is good for Andalusia in the next four years.”

The socialist candidate warned about the weight of abstention in this type of regional elections and emphasized that it is “important that everyone feels part of the future that begins today.” 

Montero will spend the day with her family and closest circle, awaiting the closing of the polling stations at 20:00 hours, and she announced that she will maintain contact throughout the day with the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez.

Also in the Andalusian capital, the Por Andalucía candidate, Antonio Maíllo, voted around 10:00 at the Colegio Salesiano Santísima Trinidad, on María Auxiliadora street, in the San Julián neighborhood where he lives. The leader, also federal coordinator of Izquierda Unida and Latin teacher, admitted that “I am very early to vote. It is like a ritual,” he said while waiting his turn to deposit the vote inside the ballot box.

The Cordoban made a call to vote on this “great day” since on May 17 “Andalusia has to decide what it wants for the next four years.” The leader of the left-wing coalition asked for citizens’ trust in his project as it advocates for the “defense of the common good, security, and peace in life,” he said. 

On the other hand, he did not want to leave the school without thanking the volunteers who have worked during the last 15 days in favor of his candidacy. Today there are more than 6,000 Por Andalucía proxies spread across the region, an “extraordinary deployment that measures the importance of these elections.” 

The Vox candidate, Manuel Gavira, was the last of the main contenders to exercise his right to vote, at 11:30 at the San Vicente de Paúl school in Cádiz. He arrived smiling, accompanied by his partner and campaign team, amid applause from some present.

After casting his ballot, Gavira thanked “the media attention and support” during the day and emphasized that “today Andalusians have an opportunity for common sense to prevail in Andalusia,” betting on “a government that has clear priorities,” that “gets involved to get Andalusians out of the mess we are in,” he said. 

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The candidate defended the need for a “change” in the Junta, with an Executive that “gets involved in the problems” and stops being “a decorative figure,” aiming for Andalusia to stop occupying the “last places” in various indicators. “Andalusians have a lot at stake,” he insisted, while reiterating his call for a result that allows “a government that has clear priorities.”

Gavira also expressed gratitude to the public servants who make the election day possible and explained that he spent the day of reflection with his family, “especially calm,” although he acknowledged that “as the day progresses” the nerves will increase.

Throughout the day, he will visit various polling stations in the province of Cádiz before traveling to Seville, where he will follow the count with members of his party from all over Andalusia. The candidate pointed out that Vox maintains “the intention to grow,” aiming to “consolidate the political project” of the party and for Abascal, its national leader, to reach Moncola. 

The Adelante Andalucía candidate, José Ignacio García, voted in the Sala Paúl (located in the Casa de la Juventud) in Jerez de la Frontera around 10:30, accompanied by his mother and once again wearing a t-shirt with a message, this time with the drawing of a wicker chair, a typical element of the fair.

After exercising his right to vote, he thanked the media presence and noted that the day is unfolding with “normality, calm, and democracy.” In this context, he called for participation. “From Adelante Andalucía we call on the Andalusian people to participate, for people to vote in self-defense and for ordinary people,” he said.

García highlighted the historical value of suffrage by recalling that “for many decades many women and men gave their lives so that today we have this right,” so he insisted on the importance of going to the polls. “Today is the only day every four years when we are all equal. The rest of the year there are banks, media powers, businessmen… the people who pull the strings. Today we all have the same power and we must take advantage of it,” he added.

The candidate explained that he will continue the day visiting colleagues, militants, and volunteers before analyzing the results in the afternoon, and he claimed his political role: “I do my work as a militant, as someone who wants to transform Andalusia and leave the world in better conditions than we found it.”

Polling stations opened normally at 9:00 across Andalusia. It was at 09:46, according to official data, when 100% of the polling stations were constituted.  In total, 3,757 centers with 10,403 tables were set up across the 785 municipalities of the community.

According to the electoral census, 6,812,861 Andalusians are called to vote, of whom more than 6.5 million reside in the community and just over 302,000 abroad. In addition, more than 368,000 young people are participating for the first time in regional elections.

These figures are added to the 163,510 postal votes already accepted, which will be distributed throughout the day at the different polling stations within the planned logistical operation.

The day is unfolding under a broad security device and with the expectation of knowing the first participation data throughout the day, before the polling stations close at 20:00 hours.

In the first statement to assess the start of the day, the Minister of the Presidency, Antonio Sanz, highlighted the normality with which the electoral device was constituted, after thanking the collaboration of the town halls, the State Administration, and the staff of the Junta de Andalucía.

Sanz detailed that there are 4,379 representatives of the Administration activated in the different polling stations and that the 10,403 planned tables are in operation, without any being suspended, which allows covering 100% of the electoral census.

By provinces, Almería has 849 tables; Cádiz, 1,547; Córdoba, 954; Granada, 1,143; Huelva, 662; Jaén, 869; Málaga, 1,772; and Seville, 2,607.

According to him, the day is proceeding “without notable incidents and with total normality,” although some isolated incidents have been recorded in Seville, specifically at CEIP Azahares, in Sevilla Este, about which the Electoral Board has not provided further information.

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