How to vote by post in Spain's regional and local elections

On May 28th, local elections (known as elecciones municipales in Spanish) will be held throughout Spain.

There will also be regional elections in most autonomous communities held on the same day, though not in all regions.

This year, there are regional elections across the country except in Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia, the Basque Country and Castilla y León, where they have already been held in the last couple of years.

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Who can vote?

Foreigners cannot vote in regional or national elections in Spain - the only foreigners who can are those with Spanish nationality registered in the electoral census.

EU citizens residing in Spain can vote in Spain's municipal elections, however.

As for non-EU citizens living in Spain, their voting rights in local elections depend on whether there's a bilateral voting arrangement between Spain and their country. 

Spain currently has bilateral agreements with Norway, Iceland, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, New Zealand, Peru, Paraguay, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago and the UK.

Other criteria to qualify to vote in local elections is as follows:

• Have a legal residence permit in Spain.
• Have legally resided in Spain continuously for at least three years prior to your registration.
• Be domiciled in the municipality where you want to vote and appear in the municipal register. 

READ ALSO: GUIDE: Elections in Spain in 2023

 

When is the deadline for requesting a postal vote?

The deadline for requesting a postal vote is May 18th 2023.

How do I request my postal vote?

You can request your postal vote in one of two ways: by email, or in person at the post office.

By e-mail

You can request your postal vote through the Correos website, where you must prove your identity through an online ID such as the digital certificate of Cl@ve password and provide the address to which you want the voting material to be sent.

READ ALSO: How to set up Spain's Cl@ve system on your laptop

 

At the post office

You can also request your postal vote in person at any post office in Spain. This must be done personally by each voter, except in case of illness or disability (proven by official medical certification) when the request can be made by an authorised third party.

In order to speed up the procedure, Spain's national postal service offers the option of making an appointment beforehand, which you can do through the Correos app or website. 

You will need valid ID and to prove your address.

How do you vote by post?

Once you've requested your vote, Spain's electoral census office will send a package of documents to the address provided in your application.

This includes a ballot (for the elections you are eligible to vote in), a voting envelope for each election, ballots for each political party in each election, a census registration certificate, information from your local polling station, an envelope addressed to the polling station, and an explanatory document to guide you through the process.

1. Then you simply choose who you want to vote for, get their ballot, and put it in corresponding voting envelope.
2. Put this voting envelope (or envelopes, if voting in more than one election) and the census registration in the envelope addressed to your local polling station.
3. Take the envelope to any post office and send it by Wednesday May 24th, 2023. You must bring the original ID with which you requested the postal vote.
   
   

Note, it is very important that you don't put any kind of identification into the voting envelope. If you do, your vote will be void.

When does the electoral campaign start and how long does it last?

Election periods in Spain may work slightly differently than in your home country, and have strict campaign rules.

For this round of elections (both regional and local) it will be 15 days beginning at 00.00 hours on Friday, May 12th and ending at 00.00 on Friday, May 26th, leaving the Saturday for a day of reflection when campaigning is banned, something customary in Spain.

What time do the polling stations open?

Voting is always done on a Sunday in Spain.

If you want to vote in person, this year the polls will open on Sunday, May 28th at 9:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m, though if you've already voted by post you cannot change your mind and vote again in person.