Independence supporters gather in Barcelona's main square, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Authorities say 844 people and 33 police were injured Sunday in Spanish police raids to halt the independence vote organized by the Catalan autonomous government that was declared ilegal by Spain's constitutional court. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Independence supporters gather in Barcelona's main square, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Authorities say 844 people and 33 police were injured Sunday in Spanish police raids to halt the independence vote organized by the Catalan autonomous government that was declared ilegal by Spain's constitutional court. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The Latest on Catalonia’s referendum Sunday on breaking away from Spain (all times local):

12:40 a.m.

A Catalan official says preliminary results show 90 percent in favor of independence in the vote opposed by Spain.

Catalan regional government spokesman Jordi Turull told reporters early Monday that 90 percent of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted Sunday chose the ‘Yes’ side in favor of independence. He said nearly 8 percent of voters rejected independence and the rest of the ballots were blank or void. He said 15,000 votes were still being counted.

Turull said the number of ballots didn’t include those confiscated by Spanish police during violent raids Sunday that aimed to stop the vote. At least 844 people and 33 police were injured in the police raids.

The region has 5.3 million voters.

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12:10 a.m. Monday

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has condemned the police violence in Spain that marred Sunday’s disputed referendum on independence for Catalonia.

Maduro says on his weekly television program that Spanish police carried out “a brutal repression” of would-be voters. He says Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy “must answer to the world about what has happened in Catalonia.”

Spanish riot police smashed their way into polling stations across Catalonia to try and stop the referendum on independence. At least 844 people and 33 police were injured.

Maduro’s government has been accused by the opposition and the U.S. and other governments of brutally attacking its own people during protests. Rajoy’s government has pushed for further EU sanctions on Venezuelan officials.

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11:30 p.m.

One of Spain’s two main two labor unions has called for a general strike in Catalonia on Tuesday to protest the police violence that marred Sunday’s disputed referendum on secession for the region.

The CCOO union says it has called the strike “to condemn the violence employed by security forces of the state to stop the referendum.” The union has also called for protests Monday at noon in front of town halls across Catalonia.

Jordi Cuixart, leader of separatist group Omnium, also urged a general strike in Catalonia on Tuesday.

At least 844 people and 33 police were injured as Spanish police tried to halt the vote that was suspended by Spain’s Constitutional Court.

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11 p.m.

Catalonia regional President Carles Puigdemont says he will keep his pledge to declare independence unilaterally if the “Yes” side wins Sunday’s disputed referendum on secession from Spain.

In a televised address after polls closed, Puigdemont says Catalonia “has won the right to become an independent state.”

He said a law passed by the Catalan parliament says a win of more than 50 percent for the “Yes” side will trigger a declaration of independence within 48 hours of the vote regardless of the turnout. The region has 5.3 million voters.

Spain’s Constitutional Court suspended that law, but Puigdemont’s government pushed ahead with the vote anyway. At least 844 people and 33 police were reported injured as Spanish police tried to halt the vote.

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10:55 p.m.

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont says Catalonia “has won the right to become an independent state.”

Speaking on television from Barcelona after polling stations had closed in the northeastern region in Spain, Puigdemont said “today the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia.”

Spanish riot police smashed their way into polling stations across Catalonia to try and stop Sunday’s referendum on independence, sometimes beating and kicking voters. Spain’s top court had suspended the vote but local authorities went ahead anyway. At least 844 people and 33 police were reported injured in the raids.

Puigdemont says “I will make a direct appeal to the European Union” to look into alleged human rights violations by the Spanish government on Sunday.

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10:30 p.m.

The main grassroots separatist group in Catalonia is urging the regional government to declare independence from Spain after the violent police crackdown on Sunday’s independence referendum.

Jordi Sanchez, leader of secessionist group ANC, tells a large crowd in Barcelona’s main square he hopes that “very soon we will see the birth of a new Catalan state.”

Sanchez warns local leaders “Now, don’t let us down ...The moment of truth has arrived.”

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont had vowed to declare independence with 48 hours if the “Yes” side wins Sunday’s disputed vote. But there was no campaign for the “No” side before the vote was suspended by Spain’s Constitutional Court.

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Authorities say 844 people and 33 police were injured Sunday in Spanish police raids to halt the vote.

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10:15 p.m.

Spain’s main opposition leader says the vote held Sunday in Catalonia “has perverted the concept of democracy” and urged central authorities to begin negotiations with the regional Catalan leaders.

The Socialists’ general secretary Pedro Sanchez blamed the “serious institutional crisis” on both the national government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and the regional Catalan government of Carles Puigdemont.

He condemned Rajoy’s cabinet for ordering the police charges against voters to halt the suspended referendum, but said he would stand by Rajoy, his political rival, in order to support the stability of Spain in a moment of deep crisis.

Sanchez said the vote “consecrates the Catalan government’s flight forward, creating solely division and not providing any solution.”

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10:15 p.m.

Spain’s Interior Ministry says 33 police officers were hurt when they carried out raids to try to stop an independence referendum in the northeastern region of Catalonia.

The Ministry says 19 members of the National Police and 14 Civil Guard were hurt when police smashed their way into polling stations on Sunday. Catalan health services say 761 people were injured, two seriously, by police who used batons and rubber bullets against voters.

Police closed 319 polling stations out of some 2,300, according to Catalan authorities.

Spain’s Constitutional court had suspended the vote but separatist leaders in Catalonia went ahead with the vote anyway.

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10 p.m.

Judges in Spain’s region of Catalonia will investigate the Catalan regional police for allegedly disobeying court orders to stop Sunday’s referendum on independence.

The highest court in the region says six different courts have said they will investigate different cases of the regional police not acting to stop the vote that had been suspended by Spain’s Constitutional Court.

Agents from Spain’s two national police forces, the Civil Guard and the National Police, carried out raids to confiscate ballot boxes and close some polling stations. Authorities say 761 people and 11 police were hurt Sunday in those police raids.

The Catalan police were seen limiting their participation to warning voters that they needed to leave the school polling stations that they were occupying overnight.

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9 p.m.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy insists there has been no independence vote in Catalonia.

In a television address after polls closed Sunday in the northeastern region, Rajoy said the great majority of Catalans did not “follow the script of the secessionists.” He gave no proof for that statement.

Rajoy said the independence referendum only served to sow divisions. He thanked the Spanish police, saying they acted with “firmness and serenity” in response to the referendum.

Catalonia’s health services, however, say 761 people were injured by police on Sunday, with two of them in serious condition.

Spanish riot police smashed their way into polling stations across Catalonia to try and stop Sunday’s referendum, sometimes beating voters. Spain’s top court had suspended the vote but local authorities went ahead anyway.

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8:45 p.m.

Catalonia’s health services have increased the number of people injured by police during Sunday’s disputed referendum to 761 people who were treated at hospitals.

The service says two people are in serious condition in hospitals in Barcelona. It also says that another person is being treated for an eye injury that fits the profile of having been hit by a rubber bullet.

Spanish riot police smashed their way into polling stations across the northeastern region to try and stop Sunday’s referendum on independence. Spain’s top court had suspended the vote but local authorities went ahead anyway.

Police used batons, fired rubber bullets, and roughed up voters. Catalan authorities say police even used tear gas once.

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8:20 p.m.

Voting stations are closing in Catalonia after a tumultuous referendum on independence from Spain.

At one voting station in Barcelona, in the Joan Miro school, applause broke out Sunday night after 8 p.m. as it was announced that voting had ended. Volunteers opened the plastic ballot boxes, turned them over and started sorting the ballots. The “yes” pile was many times bigger than the “no” pile.

Joan Maria Pique, spokesman for Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, says that polling stations are closing except at those where people are still waiting to vote.

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8:15 p.m.

Spain’s foreign minister says the violence seen Sunday as police tried to prevent people from voting in Catalonia in a banned independence referendum was “unfortunate” and “unpleasant” but “proportionate.”

In an interview with The Associate Press, Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis blamed the violence exclusively on Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and his regional government.

Dastis says “if people insist in disregarding the law and doing something that has been consistently declared illegal and unconstitutional, law enforcement officers need to uphold the law.”

Officials say at least 465 people and 11 police were injured Sunday. Videos showed police roughing up voters, who tried to shield themselves from blows.

Dastis says, however, “it was a proportionate use of force, there was no excessive violence and it was a reaction to the situation they were faced with when they were prevented from doing their job.”

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7:55 p.m.

Barcelona’s mayor is calling on Spain’s conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to resign after Spanish riot police were seen beating and kicking people in their efforts to shut down a vote on independence for the northeastern region of Catalonia.

Mayor Ada Colau told TV3 that “Rajoy has been a coward, hiding behind the prosecutors and courts. Today he crossed all the red lines with the police actions against normal people, old people, families who were defending their fundamental rights.”

She adds that “It seems obvious to me that Mariano Rajoy should resign.”

Colau also says, after the violence Sunday, Catalonia has “earned the right to demand” a proper vote on independence from Spain. She says “the European Union must take a stand on what has happened in Catalonia.”

Officials say at least 465 people and 11 police were injured Sunday.

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7:25 p.m.

Catalonia’s pro-independence regional government says Spain is “the shame of Europe” for the way it has cracked down on the region’s bid to hold a secession referendum

Government spokesman Jordi Turull says “what the police are doing is simply savage, it’s an international scandal.”

The Catalan government’s health service says 465 people have been treated in hospitals following clashes Sunday with police who were ordered by a regional judge to prevent the independence referendum from taking place. Turull said two of the injured were in serious condition.

He said “Today, Spain is the shame of Europe.”

Turull said that despite police actions “the trend we are seeing is that millions have voted,” adding that a recount of votes would take some time. He said police had closed 319 polling stations out of some 2,300.

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7:15 p.m.

On the streets of Madrid there are mixed reactions to the Spanish government’s crackdown on the independence referendum in Catalonia, where police were seen beating and kicking voters as they confiscated ballots.

Francisco Lopez, 53, said the authorities’ use of force to stop the voting was justified. He says “when there is an unlawful act, the security forces are there to prevent this unlawful act.”

Jose Daniel Rodríguez, a 67-year-old university teacher, disagreed, saying the Spanish government should have let the vote go ahead. He says “in a democratic society, everyone has the right to express themselves.”

Others called for both sides to resolve the situation through negotiations, not police operations.

Ignacio Osorio, 51, says “I believe that from today we have to sit and talk, without conditions.”

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6:15 p.m.

An amateur video filmed by a voter in Barcelona shows Spanish police kicking, beating and pulling people by the hair in clashes that took place as they tried to stop a referendum on independence in the northeastern region of Catalonia.

The video, acquired by the Associated Press, show National Police officers pulling and pushing people down a stairway at the Pau Claris School in the Sant Marti neighborhood Sunday. At one point, it shows an officer jumping down the steps and apparently stomping on a person on the floor.

One person can be seen being pulled by the hair and others kicked on the ground. People can be heard screaming wildly and shouting “Out!” at the officers.

The person that filmed the video said voters were simply sitting and trying to slow the police operation down. She said she saw no provocations. She asked for her name not to be published.

__ Iain Sullivan.

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5:15 p.m.

Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau says more than 460 people have been injured in Catalonia in clashes with Spanish police who trying to prevent a referendum on independence from taking place in the northeastern region.

Colau said Sunday that as mayor of the city, she demands “an immediate end to police charges against the defenseless population.”

Police have baton-charged and fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds in Barcelona and other towns and cities. Videos have showed them beating people repeatedly as they try to confiscate ballots and ballot boxes.

In addition to the protesters and voters injured, Spain’s Interior Ministry says 11 police officers have been injured fulfilling judicial orders to prevent the referendum on independence.

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5 p.m.

Barcelona’s soccer game against Las Palmas has gone ahead without fans in attendance at the Camp Nou stadium amid the disputed referendum on Catalonia’s independence.

Barcelona made the announcement that the match would be played behind closed doors with less than a half hour to kickoff, with thousands of soccer fans already waiting outside the stadium.

Barcelona wanted the game to be postponed, but it said that the Spanish league refused to accept its request.

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4:50 p.m.

Scotland’s leader has appealed to Spain to “change course,” amid violence shown in television images in Catalonia following the disputed independence referendum.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Sunday on her Twitter feed that she was increasingly concerned by the images, which have shown police smashing into polling stations and roughing up voters. Police also fired rubber bullets. Hundreds of people were injured, including 11 police officers.

Sturgeon says that “regardless of views on independence, we should all condemn the scenes being witnessed.”

Sturgeon called on Spain “to change course before someone is seriously hurt. Let people vote peacefully.”

The vote is of particular interest in Scotland, which held its own referendum on independence in 2014. The vote, which ended with a vote to remain in the United Kingdom, featured heated debate but was peaceful.

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4:30 p.m.

Spain’s interior Ministry says police have closed 79 of about 2,300 polling stations that the Catalan government has authorized to stage its referendum on independence in northeastern Catalonia.

The ministry said Sunday that police, who are under orders to prevent the referendum from taking place, arrested three people, one a minor, for disobedience and assaulting officers.

It said 34 of the voting centers closed were in the Catalan capital of Barcelona. A regional court last week ordered police to close all the polling stations.

Earlier Sunday, Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull said that voting was underway in 96 percent of the voting centers.

The Spanish government says no referendum has taken place.

The ministry said 11 police officers were slightly injured in disturbances. Catalan officials say 337 people have been injured, some seriously, in clashes with police.

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4:15 p.m.

Belgium’s prime minister has called for political dialogue in Spain amid a police crackdown on voting during the Catalonia independence referendum.

Charles Michel also condemned all forms of aggression, tweeting that “violence can never be the answer!”

Catalonia’s regional president, Carles Puigdemont, responded to the tweet, saying “thank you very much ... for you commitment against violence and for your call for political dialogue.”

Spanish police have fired rubber bullets at protesters outside a Barcelona polling station and smashed their way into at least two voting centers. Catalan officials say 337 people have been injured, including some seriously. Police say 11 officers have also been injured.

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3:10 p.m.

Spain’s Interior Ministry says 11 police officers have been injured fulfilling judicial orders to prevent the referendum on independence in northeastern Catalonia from taking place.

The ministry tweeted that the injured Sunday included nine National Police officers and two Civil Guard agents.

Police battled with pro-referendum supporters in the streets of Barcelona on Sunday, baton charging them and firing rubber bullets. Hundreds of people were reported injured.

The ministry posted a video on its Twitter account showing Civil Guard officers jumping into two police vehicles to flee a stone-throwing mob in the town of Sant Carles de la Rapita.

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2:55 p.m.

Catalonia’s government spokesman says 337 people have been injured, some seriously, during the police crackdown Sunday on a banned referendum on breaking away from Spain.

Jordi Turull said he couldn’t disclose more details about the wounded out of respect to their relatives.

Police fired rubber bullets near at least one Barcelona polling station, and have clashed with protesters throughout Catalonia.

The regional government’s spokesman, Jordi Turull, blamed the violence directly on Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido.

Turull said that actions by Spanish National Police and Civil Guard forces on Sunday were politically motivated and showed “a clear motivation to harm citizens.”

Catalan international affairs director, Raul Romeva, said that regional authorities would appeal to European authorities for Rajoy’s governments’ violations of human rights.

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2:30 p.m.

Spanish deputy prime minister says Spanish police have intervened with “firmness and proportionality” against the Catalan vote on secession.

Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said Sunday Spanish authorities acted in a professional and proportional way, and that they weren’t going after voters, but referendum material.

She accused the Catalan government that is trying to hold the referendum of behaving with absolute irresponsibility.

She said, “There hasn’t been a referendum or the semblance of one.”

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2:10 p.m.

Elisa Arouca was waiting to vote outside the Estel school in central Barcelona when National Police agents yanked her and other prospective voters out of the way, used a mace to smash the door open, and confiscated the ballot boxes.

The violence had an impact on her. She had been planning to vote in favor to keeping Catalonia part of Spain, but decided instead to join the push for independence. She moved to another polling station to try and cast her vote.

Arouca said that “I was always against independence but what the Spanish state is doing is making me change my mind. The National Police and Civil Guard are treating us like criminals. I was most likely going to vote “No” until the National Police sent me flying. Now I will try to vote Yes.”

She only made up her mind to vote Wednesday after the Spanish officials made a series of arrests designed to shut down the disputed voting process.

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2 p.m.

Barcelona’s mayor has called for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to step down in the wake of the violent police response during a banned independence referendum in Catalonia.

Ada Colau says that “if this is a democracy, the police action should be stopped immediately so we can later have a dialogue, which is what is needed.”

The mayor was scheduled to vote at a secondary school, but wasn’t able to do it because police blocked access to the polling station.

Colau supports the vote as Catalan’s expression of their political will but says that it can’t be considered a binding referendum because it hasn’t been agreed by the state, as Spain’s Constitution requires.

She called Sunday’s scuffles and clashes between voters and police “a rupture” of Rajoy’s government, saying “Rajoy has to clearly step down because he has failed in his political responsibilities.”

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1:40 p.m.

A member of the Israeli Parliament observing Catalonia’s independence referendum says she was shocked by the use of rubber bullets by Spanish police against crowds of unarmed protesters.

Ksenia Svetlova said Sunday the bullets used “can squash somebody’s head.” She said she hadn’t expected to see such tactics used in Europe.

She said she saw people bleeding and injured on the scene.

Svetlova says that “we did expect a normal democratic process. We knew that a lot of police were here but still, you know, there should be a respect for the will of the people to vote regardless of what you think of the referendum.”

Svetlova says she was part of a delegation of about 30 people from other countries invited by Catalan regional officials to see the voting process.

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1:30 p.m.

Several hundred people have staged protests in central Madrid in favor of Spanish unity and against the pro-independence referendum authorities in northeastern Catalonia are trying to hold.

Some 300 people gathered Sunday in the city’s Plaza Mayor square, waving Spanish red and yellow flags and chanting slogans in favor of Spanish unity.

Half the crowd then moved to Madrid’s emblematic Sol square and staged a second rally in front of the regional government’s headquarters.

The protesters applauded police standing guard outside the building in a show of support for Spain’s security forces.

Spain has sent thousands of police reinforcements to northeastern Catalonia to try to prevent the referendum from taking place.

Protests for and against the Catalan secession referendum were to be held again in Madrid later Sunday.

Major anti-independence protests took place in cities across Spain, including Catalonia, on Saturday.

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1:20 p.m.

Catalonia’s ombudsman has said he will complain about the Spanish government’s tactics to European authorities including the European Council.

Rafael Ribo said Sunday the government forces had used disproportionate tactics in “violent actions against citizens” while trying to shut down the disputed independence referendum.

Ribo, an appointee by the regional parliament who leads the office overseeing citizens’ rights, said in an emotional appearance before reporters that the Spanish government has shown “little respect for human rights.”

He called on the government to stop all violent actions against citizens.

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12:45 p.m.

The Spanish government’s top official in Catalonia says that security forces are acting “professionally” to enforce a judicial decision to halt a banned referendum on the region’s secession from Spain.

Enric Millo, the central governments delegate in the northeastern region, has thanked the National Police and Civil Guard forces for their efforts to “oversee safety of all Catalans and for guaranteeing their rights.”

Millo said that “today’s events in Catalonia can never be portrayed as a referendum or anything similar.”

Spanish police have fired rubber bullets at protesters and smashed into polling stations to try to halt the voting.

A spokesman for Catalonia’s regional government has labelled the crackdown as “repression” and called for Millo to step down for the handling of the police response.

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12:30 p.m.

Catalonia’s regional leader has condemned the Spanish police crackdown on people trying to vote in the disputed independence referendum.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said that “police brutality will shame forever the Spanish state” after police smashed their way into voting centers and fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds.

Police have been ordered to prevent the vote from taking place.

Puigdemont was welcomed by cheering crowds at the gymnasium where police broke in to halt voting. The Catalan leader was meant to vote there in Sant Julia de Ramis but had to choose a different polling center instead.

He said the Spanish government had damaged itself by its actions.

Puigdemont said that “today, the Spanish state has lost much more than what it had already lost, while Catalonia has won.”

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11:30 a.m.

Catalonia’s government spokesman says that the disputed independence referendum is underway in 73 percent of about 6,000 polling stations despite a police crackdown to try to halt the vote and technological obstacles.

Jordi Turull called for Catalans to remain calm and patient but to defend “in a civic and peaceful manner” their right to vote after riot police blocked voting in some polling centers and confiscated ballot boxes amid clashes with protesting voters. Police have also fired rubber projectiles at protesters in Barcelona.

Turull said that “the world has seen the violence of the Spanish state,” calling actions by the police as “repression that is a reminder of the Franco era” in reference to Spain’s dictatorship from 1939-1975.

Turull said the Spanish government’s representative in Catalonia, Enric Millo, should resign over the handling of the crackdown.

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11:10 a.m.

Spanish riot police have fired rubber projectiles at protesters outside a Barcelona polling station during Catalonia’s disputed independence referendum. Several people have been wounded.

The officers fired the projectiles while trying to clear protesters who were trying to impede National Police cars from leaving after police confiscated ballot boxes from the voting center.

An AP photographer witnessed how several people had been injured during the scuffles outside Barcelona’s Rius i Taule school, where some voters had cast ballots before police arrived.

Manuel Conedeminas, a 48-year-old IT manager who tried to block police from driving away with the ballot boxes, said agents had kicked them before using their batons and firing the projectiles, which were ball-shaped.

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10:45 a.m.

Several members of the Catalan regional government cast their ballots in a banned referendum on independence from Spain that became messy as riot police moved Sunday to halt voting in several polling centers.

Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont voted in Cornella de Terri, near the northern city of Girona, after police took over control of the original polling center where he was due to appear, his spokesman Joan Maria Pique told The Associated Press.

Puigdemont has spearheaded the separatist politicians’ push to go ahead with the vote, despite a Constitutional Court suspension and fierce opposition by central authorities.

Regional vice president Oriol Junqueras also found his designated polling station taken over by police and moved to a different location where he eventually voted, regional broadcaster TV3 said.

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10:25 a.m.

Electoral volunteers at polling centers in Catalonia’s disputed referendum say they are unable to access census data because the website that hosted it is down, while internet service has been cut in some of the stations.

Technicians are working to set up new domains for the website where electoral managers need to register polling data, said Jordi Sole, a 48-year-old historian who displayed an accreditation with the regional government’s logo and said that was at the Collaso high school in Barcelona to assist with the voting.

Guillem Castillo, an 18-year-old engineering student designated as an electoral official there, said technical problems halted the voting shortly after it opened.

Spanish media reported similar problems with internet in polling centers across Catalonia.

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10:10 a.m.

Spanish riot police have forcefully removed a few hundred would-be voters from a polling station at a school in Barcelona.

Daniel Riano was inside when the police pushed aside a large group gathered outside busted in the Estela school’s front door.

The 54-year-old Riano said that “we were waiting inside to vote when the National Police used force to enter, they used a mace to break in the glass door and they took everything.”

He said that “one policeman put me in a headlock to drag me out, while I was holding my wife’s hand. It was incredible. They didn’t give any warning.”

Ferran Miralles said a crowd scuffled with police outside as they formed a tight perimeter around the door. Miralles said “they were very aggressive. They pushed me out of the way.”

Elsewhere in Barcelona, police have detained several people outside the Treball voting center amid scuffles on the street. Officers dragged some of the protesters away and detained them.

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9:30 a.m.

Spanish riot police have smashed their way into a polling station in Catalonia where the regional leader was expected to show up to vote in the disputed independence referendum.

Civil Guard riot police with shields have used a hammer to smash the glass of the front door of the voting center and lock cutters to force their way in. Scuffles erupted outside between police and people waiting to vote at the polling center in Sant Julia de Ramis, near the Catalan city of Girona.

There were no immediate reports of injuries. Television footage showed police using batons to disperse the crowds gathered outside the local sports center.

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont was scheduled to vote in the Sant Julia de Ramis sports center at 9.30 a.m. (0730 GMT; 3:30 a.m. EDT).

Puigdemont has spearheaded the separatist politicians’ push to go ahead with the vote, despite a Constitutional Court suspension and fierce opposition by central authorities.

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9 a.m.

Polling has begun in a banned referendum on Catalonia’s independence, with the first voters casting ballots amid cheers in some of the designated polling stations.

Parents, children and activist volunteers had occupied some of the 2,315 schools and other facilities to avoid closure from police acting on court orders.

Spain’s Constitutional Court ordered the vote to be suspended and central authorities say it’s illegal. Regional separatist leaders have pledged to hold it anyway, promising to declare independence if the “yes” side wins, and have called on 5.3 million eligible voters to cast ballots.

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8:30 a.m.

Catalan officials say that voters will be allowed to cast ballots at any polling station, rather than a designated one as previously announced, as many locations have been sealed off by police.

Regional government spokesman Jordi Turull says the last-minute system will allow the 5.3 million eligible voters to cast a ballot and avoid repeated votes.

Turull says that Catalans will be able to vote with ballots printed at home if needed, announcing that authorities had printed new ones after 5 million paper ballots were confiscated by police. He also said that a group of “academics and professionals” would serve as election observers.

The electoral board appointed by the regional parliament was disbanded last week to avoid hefty fines by Spain’s Constitutional Court.

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8:10 a.m.

Ballot boxes began arriving at some polling stations for a disputed referendum on Catalonia’s split from Spain that is being met with fierce opposition from Spanish authorities.

Police acting on court orders have been trying to confiscate ballot boxes for weeks as the crackdown to halt the vote intensified.

On Friday, officials unveiled a prototype of the plastic ballot boxes with a logo of the regional government.

Spain’s Constitutional Court ordered the vote to be suspended and central authorities say it’s illegal. Hopeful voters have been occupying out some of the designated voting stations to avoid police taking control and closing them off.

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6.25 a.m.

Some of the Catalans who are defying court orders to vote in a disputed referendum on their region’s secession from Spain say they want to send a strong message of displeasure with central authorities.

Activist Augsti Gil says there were no ballots or ballot boxes in Barcelona’s Joan Fuster high school where more than a hundred people have joined another hundred who spent the night occupying the designated polling station.

Gil says they expect materials to arrive Sunday morning ahead of the 9 a.m. opening of polls.

Joaquim Bosch, a 73 year-old retiree at Princep de Viana high school, where a crowd of 20 people was growing says he is uneasy about a possible police response to the crowds.

Bosch says: “I have come to vote to defend the rights of my country, which is Catalonia.”