Turnout up 5 percentage points in divisive Catalan election
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Catalan voters turned up in force Thursday for a regional election seen as a crucial test of strength for the region's powerful secession movement.
Although the vote won't decide Catalonia's independence from Spain, voters are faced either supporting political parties that are determined to keep up the pressure to turn their region into Europe's newest country, or opt for those that want it to stay as part of Spain.
Official results were expected later Thursday after polling stations closed, with long queues of voters at peak times of the day as the only significant reported incident.
Catalonia's election board said that 68.3 percent, or 3.75 million of 5.5 million eligible voters, had cast ballots by 6 p.m.