BARCELONA (Sputnik) — The count of votes at the independence referendum in Catalonia may take a long time, Catalan government's spokesman Jordi Turull said Sunday, calling for patience and understanding.
"It will be a long day, the statistics and the counts will be long and difficult as well, so we ask for everybody's patience and understanding," Turull said at a press conference.
La Plaza del Sol está repleta de gente al grito de "sí,sí,sí derecho a decidir" #CatalanReferendum #Catalonia #MadridASolContraLaRepresion pic.twitter.com/WraFmBWdHn
— Beatriz Álvarez (@alvarezdperea) 1 октября 2017 г.
The Generalitat, the regional government of Catalonia, has opened a website and a mobile app for voting amid reports about Spanish police dragging people out of the polling stations and firing rubber bullets in an attempt to hinder Catalan independence referendum.
The government said earlier that the voters would be able to use the website, created on the blogging platform Wordpress, to cast their votes until 11:59 p.m. local time (21:59 GMT).
Firefighters sacrifice themselves as human shields to protect people in #Catalonia from violence.#CatalanReferendumpic.twitter.com/bq8ucbPYfZ
— Gitju [NO2X] (@gitju) 1 октября 2017 г.
According to Catalan laws, the voting via the Internet is not permitted.
Firefighters trying to defend catalan citizens and being kicked by Spanish police in exchange pic.twitter.com/vxgvayYEq4
— Repression@Catalonia (@RepressionAtCAT) 1 октября 2017 г.
Earlier in the day, a number of polling stations opened across Catalonia. The Spanish government is considering the vote to be illegal and taking measures aimed at foiling the referendum. According to media reports, police resorted to rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, who attempted to prevent police from shutting down the polling stations. Catalan government's spokesman Jordi Turull said that at least 460 people had been injured in clashes with Spanish police.
