Abascal, leader of the far-right Vox, accuses Sánchez without proof of preparing electoral fraud: "He is capable of stealing the elections from us"

Santiago Abascal has again questioned the fairness of the elections without providing proof of fraud. The president of the far-right Vox used a rally in Ponferrada, León, this Tuesday to accuse Pedro Sánchez of preparing "traps" to retain power and to present the dispute over the vote of those naturalized under the so-called grandchildren's law as an electoral maneuver by the Government.

"He is capable of stealing the elections from us and he is capable of stealing the will of the Spanish people," he stated before his followers in the Plaza Mayor. Abascal assured that Sánchez is willing to govern against the will of the citizens and has promised that his party will ensure that the process is "clean" and "transparent", while announcing a campaign marked by irregularities that he attributes in advance to the PSOE.

The ultra leader has accompanied these accusations with a call to distrust polls and headlines. "I want to ask you not to trust any poll, not to believe any headline and that on November 29, no one stays home," he demanded in his first act of this pre-campaign in Castilla y León.

The census, under suspicion

Abascal has accused the PSOE of trying to introduce 180,000 people into the census who, he claims, should not participate in these elections. "Pedro Sánchez intends to replace a people he hates by giving the vote in elections to people who have never lived in Spain," he has even stated, linking the recognition of nationality to a supposed purpose of replacing the electorate.

The so-called 'grandchildren's law' is part of the 2022 Democratic Memory Law. It allows certain descendants of Spaniards born abroad to access Spanish nationality, including those who suffered exile. Those affected by the electoral controversy are citizens whose nationality has already been recognized.

The figure communicated to the Supreme Court is 163,020 registered in the external census, closed on August 1 for these elections. The court maintained on October 12 the precautionary suspension of their vote, with an exception for those who individually prove the required exile requirements. The dispute revolves around the interpretation of the law and the instruction that develops its application; the resolution is precautionary and the litigation remains open.

The Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, has appealed that suspension before the Constitutional Court and has requested urgent measures to protect the exercise of suffrage. Abascal has presented the intervention of the guarantees court as another "trap" and has accused the Government of dominating it "with the help of the Popular Party", which he reproaches for having facilitated that situation.

Against immigrants and unions

The other axis of the rally has been the promise to apply "national priority" if the far-right Vox proves decisive in forming a Government. In response to the sacrifices announced by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Abascal has expressly pointed to immigrants and trade union organizations. "If the next Government depends on Vox, the sacrifices will not be for humble people, but for those who have come in dinghies, the unions...", he proclaimed. He has also included political parties and those he describes as privileged among his objectives.

The speech included a warning about France and some places in Italy, whose situation he attributed to a supposed "coalition of the extreme left and Islamism". In the same act, Carlos Pollán, first vice-president of the Junta de Castilla y León and Minister of Deregulation, defended that national priority should guide all the activity of his party and used the image of the assault on borders to present foreigners as competitors of Spaniards in services and social aid.

Reproaches to the PP have coexisted with the possibility of an understanding between both formations for the Senate, whose formula was still pending concretization this Tuesday. "The PP has had many weaknesses during these years. We hope to fix this too," Abascal stated. The conversations come after the agreement of the PSOE with the parties of the Frente Amplio to run together for the Upper House.

In León, the far-right Vox is once again betting on Pablo Calvo to recover the deputy lost in 2023. Then he obtained close to 35,000 votes, but was left out of Congress, while PP and PSOE shared the four provincial seats, two each. León will once again elect four representatives on 29N. After Ponferrada, Abascal's agenda includes events in A Coruña, Avilés, Burgos and Ibiza.