New register of Catalans abroad seeks to broaden referendum voter base

The regional government of Catalonia is planning to create a register of Catalans living abroad to enable them to vote in the independence referendum it wants to hold in November.

The Catalan premier’s office announced that the register will be launched in a few weeks, and that signing up will be voluntary. The idea is to get as many Catalans as possible to participate in the controversial plebiscite, which Spain’s central government in Madrid considers illegal.

Premier Artur Mas, of the nationalist coalition CiU, is fully aware that on April 8 the Spanish Congress will vote down his petition to grant the Catalan assembly the powers it needs to hold the referendum.

That is why his administration is already working on a plan B, which involves passing a regional Referendum Law that would let it hold the vote without permission from Congress. The central government, ruled by the center-right Popular Party (PP), is expected to appeal this move with the Constitutional Court.

The new census will allow Catalans abroad enough time to register and ponder their vote before November 9, when the referendum is scheduled to be held. But the Mas administration is being very careful not to give Madrid any room to appeal this new step toward sovereignty, and has taken pains not to mention the word “referendum” in any part of the draft decree about the register.

In fact, the wording of the text merely establishes that the register will be used “to learn about the demands and needs of Catalans residing abroad, in order to develop the proper action plans and programs.” It will also let these residents “exercise their rights.”

As for the census of Catalans living in Catalonia, the regional government plans to use the information gathered by the Catalan Statistics Institute, since it is unlikely that the central government will provide national voter registration lists. Catalan towns governed by non-nationalist parties refuse to cooperate and said they will not be turning in their local register rolls.

What remains less clear is how Catalans living elsewhere in Spain will be counted so that they can vote.