Voting with one's head

Today's local elections in Catalonia will go ahead with the focus on the management of municipal authorities but also with one eye on the plebiscite election this coming September, which will be the most important electoral date in the country's modern history. In this sense, in today's election there is a dual value at play in each town. On the one hand, the electorate has been called on to consider which political group can best administer the local affairs of each municipality. However, it will also be a necessary evaluation of which parties can be best trusted to carry forward the independence process.

Thus the responsibility upon the electorate is two-fold in elections that traditionally have a low voter turnout, which in itself will be an indicator to gauge enthusiasm for the process. The results of these elections will lead to many different interpretations and points of view, but all of them will have to evaluate the level of consistency in the process. Within this framework it will be important, though not decisive or definitive, to see how the voting turns out in Barcelona.

There are a number of unknowns that will have to be teased out that nevertheless cast no doubt on the fact that it is the will of the people that counts. In recent years, the direction of Catalan politics has been driven by the people. Today, the public has another opportunity to establish the future path to resolving the situation of risk that a country under permanent threat exists in. Voting with the head will be key.