THE Central Election Commission (JEC) agreed to open a disciplinary case against the current spokesperson for the PSOE at Madrid City Hall, Reyes Maroto, for having Advertising by Salvador Illa as a candidate for the Presidency of the Generalitat on the day of reflection on the Catalan elections of 12-M.
The sanction file concerns a fine of 300 to 3,000 eurosfor violation of the Organic Law of the Electoral Regime (LOREG), which prohibits the production of any type of electoral advertising during the day of reflection.
In its resolution made public this Friday, the Electoral Council recalls that “the day before election day, it is not possible to publish interviews with candidates, to broadcast advertisements from political entities or to carry out actions that could be considered in any way as election propaganda. ” shape”.
The events that gave rise to this file date back to May 11, when Reyes Maroto published on his social media account the motto “Savior”.
After receiving the first complaint from the PP, the Electoral Council agreed on May 23 to deduce testimony and refer the procedure to the Prosecutor’s Office, to determine whether the former Minister of Industry could have incurred an electoral offense characterized by article 144.1 of LOREG.
However, the Prosecutor’s Office decided to archive the trial on July 31, considering that the facts do not present “the characteristics of the offense of electoral propaganda once the duration of the electoral campaign has ended”, provided for by the LOREG.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office informed the JEC that, in any case, Reyes Maroto’s actions could constitute an administrative offense of an electoral nature.
In his allegations addressed to the Electoral Council, Reyes Maroto affirmed that the publication of the caricature of the candidate on the day of reflection responded to “a gesture of love and affection and a personal conviction”, without any electoral intention.
Furthermore, he argued, neither Reyes Maroto herself nor the PSOE presented themselves in the Catalan elections of 12-M (the PSC does), because what the publication of her tweet does not cannot be considered “an act of dissemination of electoral propaganda or an electoral campaign“, or an express request for a vote.
In any case, After reading the complaint filed by the PP, he chose to delete the message which he had published on the social network
After rejecting these allegations, the Electoral Council has now agreed to open a sanctions case against Reyes Maroto. The former minister now has 10 days to acknowledge her responsibility, in which case she will be able to benefit from a reduced fine, which would only be 1,800 euros.
Following another complaint filed by Vox, the Electoral Council opened another sanction file against the PSOE of Madridwho published the same caricature of Salvador Illa in X, also on the day of reflection on the Catalan elections.
Already last July, the Central Electoral Commission decided to impose a fine of 1,500 euros to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, for having publicly supported the socialist candidate for the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, even using the slogan of the PSC, during an institutional press conference from Doha (Qatar).
