7 March, new date for the elections

The FC Barcelona Managing Commission in an ordinary meeting today has reached the following agreements: 

7 March, new date for the elections  

In line with the decisions of the Managing Commission, on  15 January and today, and after having been obliged to postpone the elections from their original date due to the restrictions imposed but the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Autonomous Government) because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Managing Commission has decided to hold the election for the Board of Directors on 7 March 2021, uninterrupted from 9.00am CET until 9.00pm CET simultaneously at the various election stations. 

The Managing Commission would like to underline the fact that the elections are affected by the exceptional circumstances brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and for that reason they will be organised following at all times the recommendations of the health authorities in order to protect the health and safety of the voters. 

Electoral calendar 

The postponement of the elections has meant a modification of the electoral process calendar that, in agreement with articles 40 and 54 of the Club Statutes, began on 16 December with the draw for the election of the members of the Electoral Board, in agreement with the electoral register approved on the following 30 December. As such, the electoral campaign in which the three candidates to the presidency proclaimed on 14 January will take part, will carry on until 5 March with a day of reflection on 6 March. 

Postal vote

After the Generalitat de Catalunya has modified the Sports legislature to allow for postal voting for sporting bodies, the Club has begun to take the necessary steps to allow this to take place. The incorporation of postal voting will be undertaken via 'Correos' (National Postal Service') and their network of offices and staff who make possible with the corresponding certificates secure voting for members residing in Spain and Andorra in line with postal voting in local and national elections. 

There will be two ways to vote by post: general, via the post office, and the option to vote from home, available for members over 65 years of age who request it, or those who cannot leave their residence for health reasons or mobility problems.

- Between 29 January and 9 February, members who choose the vote by post will have to inform the Club via a form that will be available on the Club's website from Friday 29 January. 

- The Club will reply detailing three aspects: confirmatiuon of the postal vote; the mannger of the vote (general or from home); that a postal invalidates voting in person. 

- The postal documentation, with the voting slips and corresponding envelope, will be delivered to home via the Correos with a certificate to confirm the voter's identity. 

- Members who have requested to vote from home will have to exercise their vote at the moment that Correos staff deliver the documentation with the voting slips and corresponding envelope. 

- Between 15 February and 26 February, members who chosen the general vote will have to deliver their vote to the Correos office. 

- The count, both of votes in person and those sent to the Club by post, will take place once the electoral day of 7 March is over and the results will be made public once known. 

Polling stations 

The plan for the current restrictions around Spain to be maintained until the date of the elections (restrictions of mobility within municipalities, curfew), makes it impossible for the polling stations initially planned outside of Catalonia (Madrid, Seville, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca) to carry out their original function: to allow resident members of those autonomous communities and those adjacent to vote. 

Therefore, given the circumstances, and once the ability to vote by post allow a greater participation in the elections, the Commission has had to withdraw the polling stations situated outside Catalonia with the exception of the Principality of Andorra. 

As a result, the elections will take place in a decentralised manner in six polling stations: Camp Nou-Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona, Tortosa, Lleida and Andorra. 

- Barcelona: 111 polling tables . Camp Nou-Palau Blaugrana. C/ Arístides Maillol, s/n.

- Lleida: 2 polling tables . Delegació de la Federació Catalana de Futbol. C/ Riu Besòs, 8.

- Girona: 5 polling tables . Pavelló Municipal de Fontajau. Avinguda del President Josep Tarradellas i Joan, 22-24.

- Tarragona: 3 polling tables. Poliesportiu Campclar. C/ Riu Siurana, s/n.

- Tortosa: 1 polling table. Delegació de la Federació Catalana de Futbol. C/ Adrià d’Utrecht, 5.

- Andorra: 1 polling table. Centre de Congressos del Comú d’Andorra la Vella. Plaça del Poble, s/n.

There will be an electoral register for each polling station and therefore members will be able to go and vote at the station assigned to them via their residential postcode. The Club has already established a web page with all the information relating to the elections and it can be consulted on line with voting stations already assigned. Members with the right to vote number 110.290 of which 40,347 are aged over 60. 93% of voters live in Catalonia, 4% in the rest of the Spanish State and 3% abroad. 

Finally the Managing Commission would like to make it clear that during this period the Club will continue to work closely with the Catalan Government and the health and local authorities to best organise the elections so that they can be carried out in the best conditions possible.