The Supreme rejects Vox's request to participate in the electoral debates of Castilla y León

Vox will not be able to participate in the electoral debates on January 31 and February 9 in Castilla y León because it does not have its own parliamentary group.

The Supreme Court has rejected the request of Santiago Abascal's party to participate in both appointments, which leaves the far-right formation out of the two debates, included in the electoral law of the Community, for the elections on February 13.

The decision of the Contentious Chamber is based on the fact that Vox does not comply with the condition set forth in article 31 bis of the Electoral Law of Castilla y León, which requires the holding of at least two public debates during the campaign between the candidates of formations with their own parliamentary group. In the 2019 elections, Vox only achieved one prosecutor for Valladolid, so it currently does not have a group, a condition that only the PSOE, PP and Ciudadanos meet.

In its resolution, the Supreme Court also agrees that the Electoral Board ensure that the compensatory measures established in Instruction 1/2019 of the Electoral Board of Castilla y León are complied with and that these respond to the principle of "sufficient compensatory information" established in that document. According to this instruction, the media that broadcasts the debates between the candidates of the political formations with their own parliamentary group must carry out "other bilateral or multilateral debates, or provide sufficient compensatory information on the other candidates, respecting the principles of proportionality and neutrality informative”.

The two debates are going to be held in different media, after the Electoral Board on Tuesday agreed with Radio Televisión Española (RTVE), which had appealed the agreement of the organizing committee of these meetings, which had assigned both debates to the regional television, a private entity financed by the Board.

After that decision of the electoral administration, the first debate, broadcast by RTVE, will be on Monday, January 31;

and the second debate, organized by regional television, will be on Wednesday, February 9.