Civil Guard Enters Catalan Telecom Center to Turn Off Vote Counter - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Spain's Civil Guard entered Catalonia's Center for Telecommunication and Information Technology (CTTI) to switch off the software, necessary to count electronic votes at the independence referendum due to take place on Sunday, local media reported Saturday.

According to the El Mundo newspaper, four servicemen of the Civil Guard entered the CTTI building in accordance with the decision of the Spanish Constitutional Court, which ruled that the Generalitat must turn off all the programs calculating the electronic votes.

Last week, Spain’s Civil Guard carried out a large-scale raid in Catalonia, detaining over a dozen people and searching numerous public agencies, including the local government, Catalonia's Generalitat, in relation to the upcoming independence vote. The raids triggered massive protests across the region. On Friday night, some families came with children to polling stations at schools to prevent police from shutting them down during the referendum.

On Sunday, Catalonia is expected to hold an independence referendum. The Spanish federal government has filed a complaint with the country's Constitutional Court over the Catalan government and parliament approving the law on the independence vote. The court has taken the complaint under review, outlawing the plebiscite. Catalan parliament member from right-wing People's Party Alejandro Fernandez told Sputnik earlier on Saturday that the members of Catalan government who had signed the decree on carrying out the referendum would have to take responsibility for the move.

Opinion polls show that Catalonia’s independence is supported by 41 percent of its residents, with 49 percent against it, while as much as 80 percent of Catalans are in favor of the referendum itself, most of them believe that the vote should be agreed upon with the central government in Madrid.