Let the majority speak. This slogan was given to United We Can at the Madrid elections in order to encourage the mobilization left-wing voters. The majority spoke, and the right won. Pablo Iglesias recognized Pablo Iglesias on Tuesday night. He stated that the high turnout of 76% has strengthened “the victory for the Trumpist right” and “has (has) consolidated extreme right in the institutions.”
While polarization has not demobilized citizens, it has encouraged people to vote at polling stations. Madrid broke its record by breaking the record in general elections. In these elections there is always more voting than regional ones.
It was a muddy, ideological campaign that proved to be the most effective catalyst for the election. This is not an unusual phenomenon. This happened in Catalonia during the 2017 elections. It was not an ideological clash, but rather identity between constitutionalists or independentists. Participation jumped up to almost 80 percent. Binary dilemmas are a sign that voters respond.
Madrid’s mobilization has overwhelmingly favored the PP, and has penalized United We Can and the PSOE. He has won in 177 out of 179 communities and tied in another. It has won the red belt, 21 districts and all the low-income neighborhoods.
First analyses reveal that the popular has not only engulfed PP but also benefited from socialist votes transfers. In other types of less tense election, the PSOE would have stayed home to punish it.
A high turnout rate has also questioned the notion that the pandemic is driving voters away. This was true in Galicia and the Basque Country last July, where 48.9% and 50.7 percent of the census voted respectively, and Catalonia, which had 51.2%.
Similar results can be seen in Madrid for voting by mail. It has increased by nearly 43% compared with 2019, reaching levels never before seen. It is far from the reality in Galicia where it increased by 79% and 140% respectively, while it was 350% in Catalonia.
The covid contagion has been averted by the Madrid electorate, who feared it more than the Galicians and Basques. The long lines at Madrid’s polling stations were also caused by the sunny day and pleasant temperatures. The main catalyst was a tension campaign, which was ideologically extreme and in that the struggle between right and left seemed almost even.
