Óscar Puente will continue to appear as number one on the PSOE ballot for Congress for Valladolid in the general elections on November 29, despite having resigned as a candidate. The Provincial Electoral Board has refused to remove his name because the resignation came after the proclamation of the candidacies.
The body has clarified that, if an elector crosses out the name of the former Minister of Transport, that ballot will not be considered null for that reason. The Board understands that the crossing out would merely reflect the situation of the candidacy after the resignation and that, in that case, the intention to vote for the PSOE would still be clear.
The decision responds to a request from the socialists, who had asked to remove Puente from the ballot to avoid confusion among voters. The Electoral Board has accepted his resignation, but has dismissed modifying the ballots once the list was officially proclaimed.
Therefore, the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, will be considered the new head of the PSOE list for Valladolid, although her name will still appear printed in the second position. The candidates below will advance one place for the purpose of allocating the seats obtained by the candidacy.
In the elections to Congress, a closed list is voted on and the seats obtained by each party are attributed following the order of its candidates. In this case, Puente's resignation will be taken into account for that distribution, even if his name remains on the ballot.
The clarification about the crossings out refers to this specific case. In general, the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime establishes the nullity of ballots in which names have been crossed out or the order of candidates altered. The Board has ordered to communicate to the polling stations the agreed criterion for Puente's name.
The former minister announced his resignation at the end of his appearance on Tuesday before the Permanent Deputation of Congress, where he gave explanations about the Urda railway accident, which left 69 people dead. After leaving the Government, he also resigned from heading the socialist candidacy for Valladolid.
