The Civil Guard goes to a geriatric of Zamora after denouncing the PSOE that the mayor "induces" the vote of the residents

The PSOE of Zamora has denounced that the mayor of Moraleja de Sayago (Zamora, 290 inhabitants) has influenced 50 postal votes in the nursing home where he is manager. The Socialists say they have learned from workers of the center that the councilor and director of the geriatric, Ángel Villamor (Zamora Yes), "may have facilitated" that the vote of many residents, especially those suffering from cognitive impairment, "is favorable" to the mayor's party, which already won the elections in 2019. The defendant claims to have nothing to do with the alleged fraudulent acts and maintains that "the elders are not stupid" to be influenced in that way. The mayor accuses the PSOE of a "witch hunt" against him, because he belonged to that formation before changing parties several legislatures ago.

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The Civil Guard has gone on Thursday morning to the nursing home, which has caused stupefaction among users. The socialist complaint affects that the 50 people allegedly induced to vote for the candidate of Zamora Yes "are very old and with diseases with cognitive impairment such that they would be unable to decide the political party they are going to vote for." The complaint filed by the socialist candidate, Samuel Mayor, states that the residence is administered by the La Paz Foundation and that its direction falls on Angel Villamor and his daughter, hence they consider that they may have personal interests in suggesting the suffrage of the elderly and urge them to request the vote by mail in the face of the municipal elections this Sunday.

The !️Civil Guard goes to the nursing home of Moraleja de Sayago (Zamora) where the PSOE denounces that the mayor and patron of the foundation that manages the center asked for 50 votes by mail for users of the place, many with cognitive impairment. pic.twitter.com/Zyq66QKLni

— Juan Navarro García (@Juan13Navarro) May 25, 2023

The complainants have informed the judicial authorities that several workers at the centre appreciated this allegedly irregular conduct. The civil guards who have gone this morning to the geriatric have taken statements from several of the elderly allegedly influenced while the director of the center maintained his innocence. "It is a witch hunt, I have been put many complaints for all these years and it hurts me that the PSOE gets into this story," criticizes Villamor in the courtyard of the facilities, where he insists that "the elderly are not stupid" and can exercise the right to vote without external mediation.

The mayor was also investigated at the beginning of the pandemic because he was vaccinated with the doses intended for the employees of the residences and the elderly themselves, although he maintained that he worked there and that his premature immunization was recommended despite not corresponding to him by age group. At that time he belonged to Ahora Decide, a group that he left because of that controversy before enrolling in Zamora Sí.

Interior of the residence where irregularities in the vote have been denounced, this morning. EMILIO FRAILE

On Tuesday, the candidate of the PSOE in the municipality, Samuel Mayor, and the number two on his list, Fabián Gago, went to the municipal headquarters to denounce "a crime against the electoral law", in which they accused the councilor of having "requested the votes by mail of about 50 internal people" in the nursing home of the municipality who are "mostly" very old and with diseases such as cognitive impairment such that would make him unable to decide which political party they are going to vote for." In the complaint, the socialist candidate assures that something similar happened in the previous local elections with 29 votes and that then the complaint he filed with the Prosecutor's Office after the elections did not prosper. Then, the list headed by the mayor achieved an absolute majority with four councilors and 114 votes, compared to the two obtained by the PSOE (50 votes) and one of the PP (39).

Receive every afternoon the bulletin 'Diario electoral' written by the deputy director of EL PAÍS Claudi Pérez. How much do you know about your municipality? Are you rich or poor, old or young, do you vote or abstain? Test yourself here.

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