Over 80 Percent of Catalans Vote Yes at Independence Poll

An overwhelming majority of Catalans has supported the region's independence, vice president of the autonomy's government Joana Ortega said early Monday.

There have been two question in the ballots: "Would you like Catalonia to become a state?" and "If yes, would you like Catalonia to become an independent state?"

With 88.44 percent of the ballots counted, 80.72 percent of voters answered yes to both questions in the ballot, and 10.11 percent answered yes only to the first questions, according to Ortega. As few as 4 percent of the voters said no to both questions. More than 2.25 million people out of 5.4 million eligible voters in the wealthy breakaway region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain voted on Sunday in the unofficial independence poll.

Results of the vote are expected to come on Monday morning.

Spanish government sees the voting as illegal and tried to block it by filing complaints to the Constitutional Court. However Catalan President Artur Mas has stated that Catalonia would carry out the consultation despite the central government's protests. Earlier on Sunday the central government dismissed the vote as "useless" and unconstitutional.