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BARCELONA

Barcelona seek a new president to lead them into a new era

An electoral roll of 110,290 registered club members with the right to vote will elect Barcelona's new president today amid 'Barçagate'.

BarcelonaUpdate:
Los tres aspirantes a ser presidente del FC Barcelona en las elecciones del 7 de marzo; Víctor Font, Toni Freixa y Joan Laporta (de izquierda a derecha)
 EUROPA PRESS
 28/02/2021
EUROPA PRESS

A new era begins today at Barça. Four months after Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned under the threat of a vote of no confidence and with the elections delayed by the pandemic, the moment of truth has finally arrived as 110,290 fully signed-up club member with the right to vote will elect the person to lead Barça into an era which will be decisive for the club's future. Barcelona is currently in its darkest hour - on Monday, the last president was arrested as part of the Barçagate case. Joan Laporta, Víctor Font and Toni Freixa are the three candidates who will be in the running to be named the 42th president of the club with the task of fixing the club's image, which has been damaged by the investigation into illegal activities.

Barcelona elections affected by Covid-19 pandemic

The elections, which run from 9:00 to 21:00 hours today, will be like no previous ones. The pandemic has meant there will be changes to a process which, since 1953 (the first pseudodemocratic elections at the club, in which only men could vote) have been held in the same way on 14 occasions.

For the first time in history, postal votes will be accepted and votes can be cast in different polling stations. Of the 110,290 club members who are able to vote, 22,811 (20.7%) have requested to cast their vote by post. Of those, 20,663 ballots have been received. Those votes have been held at Camp Nou since Friday and will be opened after today's voting has ended.

An additional 87,479 club members will be able to cast their vote at six polling stations. The main polling station in Barcelona (Camp Nou) is expecting 78,987 club members to show up at some point during the day, but other polling stations have been set up elsewhere in the region - in  Girona, Andorra, Lleida, Tarragona and Tortosa. It's also must be mentioned that the regional government's confinement restrictions are still in place throughout Catalunya, which is why this time, polling stations have been set up in other cities.