What will Catalonia's election on February 14 look like?

Measures were released on Tuesday by the civil protection crisis committee (Procicat) detailing how Catalonia’s February 14 election will take place.

Polling stations

Voting will not be held primarily in schools as usual. Procicat has suggested using pavilions or similar venues so that voters can have 2.5 square meters each to avoid crowding and keep to social distancing measures.

Venues will also have separate entrances and exits and will be cleaned regularly before, during, and after the vote.

Doors and windows will remain open all day long to aerate the locales. 

The polling stations should also each have at least two lines. One reserved for those more at-risk from coronavirus and one for all other voters.

Social distancing must also be maintained in the lines.

Venue layout 

A one-way system will be in place to avoid unnecessary social contact.

The voting tables will be two meters apart and disinfected regularly.

Hand sanitizer will also be made available to everyone at the tables where the ballot boxes are placed.

Voting and counting ballots

There are no specific time slots for Covid-positive voters stated in the Procicat report.

Election workers will not have to touch IDs and will wear gloves and face masks to count ballots. 

Those working, including accredited staff, will also take antigen tests before polling. 

They will also be wearing face shields and will have to have a temperature of under 37.5ºC, and no symptoms of coronavirus.

Postal voting

The Catalan foreign minister, Bernat Solé, said on Tuesday that mail-in ballots will be available to request online.