FC Barcelona members vote for Josep Maria Bartomeu's replacement
At 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 7, the six polling stations were opened on this democratic day in the FC Barcelona, to elect the new president and board of the club, with little influx, few queues and a lot of order in a day marked by health measures to face the pandemic of coronavirus.
A total of 123 voting tables distributed throughout the territory -111 in Barcelona, 5 in Girona, 3 in Tarragona, 2 in Lleida, 1 in Tortosa and 1 in Andorra- began to receive members from 9.00 am, following the hours recommended by the club to space out the votes.
Unlike the 2015 and 2010 elections, there were hardly any queues in the outskirts of the Camp Nou in front of the access doors to the venue. This time, also in the rain in the case of Barcelona, few partners waited without crowds for the operation to get underway.
Without the presence of companions, members enter to vote individually at the previously assigned table and after passing several controls. An express vote in which the employees of the club invite you to leave the place quickly and to leave the premises.
Among the first to vote will be the three candidates for the presidency. Cited by the club, the first will be Joan Laporta at 10 am, the second will be Toni Freixa, at 10.45 am, and the last one will be Víctor Font, at 11.15 am.
Laporta: "I have gone to vote and the sun has risen
The former president and candidate for the presidency of FC Barcelona Joan Laporta was the first of the three applicants to vote on this Sunday of election day, and has ensured that the sun has come out to receive him, after a few hours spent by water in Barcelona, and encourages a high participation.
"I have gone out to vote and the sun has risen. I encourage all members to come and participate. A high turnout is always better because it shows that the club is alive and works democratically," he said as soon as he voted.
Laporta, who exercised his right to vote at 9.58 am, two minutes before the scheduled time, at Table 17 of the Camp Nou - the same one in which Freixa (10.45) and Font (11.15) will vote -, recalled that more than 20,000 members have already voted by mail, a "show of interest so that there is a new president and Board in the club."
"Above all, thanks to the partners who come to participate, on this day of the most important elections in the history of Barça. What makes Barça more than a club is this participation, we all wish, and I too, that there is a high participation, "he said.
And he wants it to be a day of democracy in the club. "Certainly what I want is to thank all the campaign team that I have had, volunteers, also employees of the club, because they make these elections possible," he reiterated.
In addition, he was delighted with the triumph of the first soccer team in Pamplona, this Saturday, and the performance of the handball team in the Copa del Rey. "Yesterday we had a good result in El Sadar, in handball we reached the final of the Cup, let's see if we can see it. It was a good day, a preamble to this great day today of the Barça elections," he said.
