2023 Spanish vote-buying scandal

Throughout the month of May 2023, during the campaign for the local elections in Spain, multiple cases of vote buying were uncovered in several municipalities in Spain. These cases involved a broad spectrum of political parties, among which the two major political parties the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the People's Party (PP) stood out.[1]

The scandal broke out when an increase of the postal voting for the Melilla Assembly election was detected and many mail carriers were assaulted while carrying the postal voting.[2] Following these events, some parties, such as Coalition for Melilla (CpM), The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV) and Vox asked the Central Electoral Commission (JEC) to suspend the election and to cancel postal votes.[3][4] On 23 May, ten individuals were arrested for their involvement in an attempted large-scale vote-buying fraud. Among those arrested were the son-in-law of Mustafa Aberchán, the leader of CpM; and Mohamed Ahmed Al-lal, who holds the third position on CpM's list and serves as a regional minister in the government of Melilla.[5] The latter was dismissed by the Mayor-President of Melilla Eduardo de Castro the following day.[6] Moreover, two individuals linked to the PP were also among the arrested.[7]

In the following days, a number of cases in other municipalities of the country broke out involving the whole political spectrum.[8][9] This led to the PP member Esteban González Pons accusing PSOE of a "widespread vote-buying scheme",[10] although most of the towns implicated in the scandal involved either the PP or its candidates.[11]

List of municipalities involved
Location of municipalities in which vote buying is being investigated
Location of municipalities in which vote buying is being investigated (Canary Islands)
Municipality Population Involved parties Ref.
Albudeite 1,390 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) [12]
Arona 82,982 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) [13]
Bigastro 7,130 People's Party (PP) [14]
Carboneras 8,210 People's Party (PP) [9]
Casares de las Hurdes 374 People's Party (PP) [15]
Córdoba 325,708 People's Party (PP) [16]
Finestrat 7,909 People's Party (PP) [17]
Jaén 113,457 People's Party (PP) [11]
La Gomera 21,798 Gomera Socialist Group (ASG) [18]
Mazarrón 33,700 People's Party (PP) [19]
Melilla 85,170 Coalition for Melilla (CpM) [2]
People's Party (PP)
Mojácar 7,527 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) [20]
Moraleja de Sayago 290 Zamora Yes (ZSí) [21]
Paterna del Campo 3,478 People's Party (PP) [9]
Valverde del Camino 12,721 People's Party (PP) [22]
Villalba del Alcor 3,316 People's Party (PP) [23]

See also

References
  1. "Spain rocked by vote-buying scheme ahead of local elections". Madrid/Melilla. EFE. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  2. "El voto por correo, escoltado y otra vez bajo sospecha en Melilla". Público (in Spanish). Melilla. EFE. 12 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  3. "CPM pide la suspensión de las elecciones en Melilla y Vox, anular el voto por correo por presunto fraude". El Confidencial (in Spanish). EFE. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  4. "Los Verdes impugnará las elecciones del 28M en Melilla por presunta "compra de votos" tras ataques a carteros" (in Spanish). Melilla. Europa Press. 13 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  5. Águeda, Pedro (23 May 2023). "Detenido un consejero de Coalición por Melilla y el yerno de su líder por el intento de fraude con el voto por correo". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  6. Madueño, J. J. (24 May 2023). "Cesan al consejero de Coalición por Melilla imputado en la compra de votos por correo". ABC (in Spanish). Málaga. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  7. Cembrero, Ignacio (24 May 2023). "La compra de votos en Melilla también salpica al PP con dos detenidos que le son afines". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  8. "La trama de compra de votos por correo no deja de aumentar: hay denuncias por fraude en al menos diez localidades" (in Spanish). La Sexta. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  9. Velasco, Marina (25 May 2023). "Todos los intentos de fraude electoral (y los bulos) que enfangan esta campaña". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  10. "González Pons acusa al PSOE y a Pedro Sánchez de "una trama generalizada" de compra de votos". elDiario.es (in Spanish). 24 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  11. Rozas, Rubén; Olmedo, Jesús; Garrido, José María (27 May 2023). "Jaén eleva a 12 los municipios en los que el PP ha sido denunciado por compra de votos: el 70% del total de España" [Municipalities where the PP has been implicated in vote buying increases to 12 with Jaén: 70% of the total number in all of Spain]. El Plural (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  12. Marraco, Manuel (25 May 2023). "Detenidos un alto cargo del PSOE en Murcia, la candidata a alcaldesa de Albudeite y otras 11 personas en otra trama de compra de votos". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  13. "CC, PP y Más por Arona denuncian una supuesta compra de votos en el municipio" (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Europa Press. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  14. Martínez, Emilio (25 May 2023). "El PSOE de Bigastro lleva al PP a Fiscalía por una supuesta compra de votos: "Nos han amenazado"". El Español (in Spanish). Alicante. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  15. Villanueva, Eduardo (25 May 2023). "La Fiscalía de Plasencia abre diligencias por el supuesto fraude electoral en Casares de las Hurdes". El Periódico de Extremadura (in Spanish). Cáceres. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  16. Rico, Jesús (26 May 2023). "Cuando el PP se ofreció a una residencia de Córdoba para tramitar el voto por correo de los ancianos" [When the PP offered a retirement home in Córdoba to transmit the votes of elderly residents by mail]. El Plural (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  17. "El PSPV acusa al PP de compra de votos por correo en Bigastro y Finestrat" (in Spanish). Europa Press. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  18. G. Vargas, Natalia (25 May 2023). "El juzgado de La Gomera investiga la gestión del voto por correo en el Cabildo". Canarias Ahora (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  19. Calvo, Erena (25 May 2023). "La Unión Independiente de Mazarrón denuncia al PP local por presunta compra de votos por correo". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  20. Águeda, Pedro (24 May 2023). "Siete detenidos en Mojácar por intentar comprar voto por correo, dos de ellos integrantes de la lista del PSOE". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  21. Barahona, Irene (25 May 2023). "Así se hizo el supuesto fraude electoral en la residencia de Moraleja de Sayago". La Opinión de Zamora (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  22. "La Junta Electoral apercibe al PP en Valverde del Camino por la gestión del voto por correo". Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  23. "El PSOE denuncia al PP en Villalba del Alcor (Huelva) por "fraude" en el voto por correo" (in Spanish). Huelva: Cadena SER. Europa Press. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
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