Other voting procedures

The personnel of the navy, merchant navy and deep-sea fishing fleet flying the Spanish flag who have to remain on board from the announcement of the elections until they are held and, during said period, put into port within the national territory at predetermined times may exercise their right to vote in the following manner:

The census registration certificate may be requested from the Provincial Delegation of the Electoral Census Office where the interested party is registered by radio-telegraphy, email or fax or by any other means that may be provided for these purposes.

The message will contain the following details:

  • Forename and two surnames of the applicant.
  • National identity card number.
  • Date, province and municipality of birth.
  • Municipality of residence where the person appears on the Electoral Census.
  • Name of the vessel which the person has boarded.
  • Port(s) at which the vessel is due to arrive, indicating the specific dates on which this is set to take place.

In the event that the electoral documentation can be received by another vessel, the radio message will indicate the shipowner, consignee or vessel to which it is to be sent. For the purposes of applying for a postal vote, the radio-telegraphy services of the vessels will be regarded as delegated units of the Post Office Service and the expressly delegated Commanders and Captains or the Officer will be regarded as the personnel responsible for receiving the application.

Once the registration of the applicant has been verified, the Provincial Delegation of the corresponding Electoral Census Office will deem the application to have been received for all purposes and proceed to send the relevant documentation to the port or, as appropriate, the shipowner, consignee or vessel whose name has been designated.

When the voter has received the documentation, he/she must send the electoral documentation by registered and urgent mail from any of the ports at which the ship docks to the polling station where he/she is due to vote.

To ensure the exercise of the right to vote by post by Armed Forces personnel stationed outside the national territory in operations linked to the security and defence of Spain and its allies, within the framework of the international organisations of which Spain is a member, contributing to the maintenance of peace, stability and security and supporting humanitarian aid, from the date of the announcement of the elections until they are held, the following procedure will be followed:

The Commander of the vessel or Head of the Unit will send the list of personnel wishing to exercise their right to vote to the General Director of Personnel of the Ministry of Defence via the Chief of Defence Staff and the Army and Navy Chiefs of Staff.

The following will be recorded for each applicant:

  • Name and two surnames.
  • National identity card number.
  • Date, municipality and province of birth.
  • Municipality of residence where the person appears on the Electoral Census.

The Director General of Personnel of the Ministry of Defence, from the date of the publication of the call in the corresponding official gazette and before the tenth day prior to the day of voting, will forward this list to the Electoral Census Office, which will send it to the corresponding Provincial Delegations.

Once the registration of the interested party has been verified, the Provincial Delegation of the corresponding Electoral Census Office will deem the application to have been received for all purposes and proceed to send the corresponding documentation to the Directorate General of Personnel of the Ministry of Defence so that it reaches its destination by means of the most urgent procedure possible.

The voter shall proceed to exercise his or her right to vote upon receipt of the documentation referred to in the previous point. The Commander the vessel or Head of the Unit will be responsible for the votes cast and will safeguard them, guaranteeing their security, integrity and secrecy until they are collected by the person in charge of their transport to national territory. The Directorate General of Personnel of the Ministry of Defence will send the votes received to the State Post and Telegraph Company before the second day prior to the day on which the elections are to be held and the latter will forward them as a matter of urgency to the corresponding polling station.

Inmates of penitentiary centres who are not barred from voting can cast their ballot in accordance with the following procedure:

In all penitentiary centres the electoral rules governing postal voting will be explained to the inmate population and informative sessions will be organised to explain and clarify the voting procedure.

For this purpose, the Director of each Penitentiary Centre (or the person delegated thereby to do so) will request, within the first three days following the publication of the announcement of the elections, that an employee of the Spanish Post Office (Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos) travel to the centre on a specific date with the application forms for postal vote certificates that may have to be filled in there by the inmates who wish to exercise their right to vote.

If any of the inmates do not have an ID card, the Interior Identity Card that all inmates have will suffice, provided that the holder’s photograph appears on it.

The Electoral Census Office will send sufficient envelopes and ballot papers for each process to the Penitentiary Centre and these will be delivered in person to the voter by the Post Office service.

The voter will choose the relevant ballot paper, insert it in the envelope (or not include any ballot paper if he/she wishes to abstain), and this, in another envelope, which will be addressed to the relevant Polling Station.

The postal service will deliver these envelopes to the corresponding polling stations on election day.