By noon in Portugal just 12.14% of voters had filed into the polling stations, slightly more than at the same time five years ago. By 2.00pm in Italy the turnout has been 16.7% and in Germany 25.6% of voters had ticked the box. In France by 5.00pm 35.07% has chosen their parties.
By 2pm in Spain 23.83% of those eligible to vote had turned up at the polling booths, about the same percentage as in 2009. On Culatra island the percentage was zero and it is expected that by the end of the day not one vote will have been cast.
In Portugal the polling stations will close their doors at 7.00pm after which time those inside still may cast their votes.
The results of the European Elections will be taken into account by the Heads of State and Governments of the European Union when choosing the successor to José Manuel Barroso as President of the European Commission, the leaders of the 28 nations already have scheduled an informal European Council meeting for Tuesday27th May to discuss the election results.
In the Algarve, residents of the islands of Culatra, Hangares and Farol in the Ria Formosa boycotted today’s European Election and by noon not one vote had been cast despite the polling station being open for business.
The Culatra residents are protesting at the situation that has denied them the right to have their properties entered in the land registry despite having to pay council tax.
The other protest point is over the government’s annexation of a large traditional fishing area off Armona for an Aquaculture Production Zone. Culatra fishermen are banned from fishing in this protected offshore zone despite only 20% of it being used for the intended purpose.
In an interview with Sul Informaçao, Sylvia Padinha, leader of the Culatra islanders protest group, said that no one is barred from voting as the protest is stationed away from the polling booth. “We pay property taxes, but then we have no right to be on the land registry," said Padinha, "We want rules that regularise the situation of the houses and give people what belongs to them."
The residents of Culatra and other associations in the fisheries sector have asked the government to alter the size of the Área de Produção Aquícola da Armona protected fishing zone, taking into account that, "six years after its creation, about 80% is yet to be used."
"We decided to boycott the elections and will do so in the next election for as long as this situation continues," said Padinha whose protest echoes one decades ago that saw the islanders' no-vote protest result in water, sanitation and electricity.
