Voting by persons temporarily residing abroad (CERA)

Spaniards permanently residing abroad and who are included in the Census of Absentee Residents Abroad (CERA) will be able to vote in the European Parliament elections on 9 June.

The Provincial Delegations of the Electoral Census Office will send the documentation required to vote ex officio, without the need to make any application, to the address of registration of each person of Spanish nationality registered in the Census of Absentee Residents Abroad.

Two deliveries will be made:

In a first delivery they will receive:

  • Voting envelopes.

  • Two identical certificates of registration in the Census of Absentee Residents Abroad.

  • Envelope addressed to the Provincial Election Board.

  • Envelope addressed to the Consulate or Embassy.

  • An information sheet on how to exercise the right to vote and the address of the official website where the candidacies will be displayed and where downloadable sets of ballot papers will be made available.

  • The list of centres authorised to deposit votes in ballot boxes within their consular demarcation.

  • Form for reimbursement of the postal vote postage costs.

In order to guarantee the secrecy of the vote, only the complete set of ballot papers can be electronically downloaded.

The documentation must be sent by the Electoral Census Office by registered post between 4 May and 10 May, although the time it takes for the documents to arrive at the address abroad must be taken into account.

In a second delivery, the Electoral Census Office will send the official ballot papers to the registration address of each absent resident voter starting on 15 May and no later than 19 May, if the proclamation of candidacies has not been contested, and no later than 25 May if a candidacy is contested.

The consular offices will guarantee the availability of the official ballot papers at the polling stations, as well as the envelopes and the computer equipment required to download the rest of the documentation required to vote during the days set aside for voting in person.

The voter shall select his/her voting option and insert it in the voting envelope.

The following will then be placed in the envelope addressed to the Provincial Electoral Board:

  • Voting envelope with the ballot paper chosen, or an empty envelope for an abstention.
  • One of the census registration certificates (in the case of a postal vote, the signature and number of the voter’s passport or ID card must appear on the back of the certificate).
  • Photocopy of passport or identity card issued by the Spanish authorities or certificate of nationality or registration in the Consular Register issued by the Spanish consulate in the country of residence.

  1. Personally place your vote in the ballot boxes provided for this purpose at your Embassy or Consulate or at the centres set up for this purpose.

    Voters will be able to do so between 1 and 6 June, both inclusive.

    You must hand the second census registration certificate to the consular official after proving your identity and deposit the envelope addressed to the Provincial Electoral Board, once the consular official has signed the back of said envelope and affixed the seal of the Consular Office on it, indicating the date it was cast.

  2. Send it by registered post.

    Voters will be able to do so until 4 June.

    In this case, the following must be enclosed in the envelope addressed to the Consulate or Embassy:

    • An envelope addressed to the Provincial Electoral Board with the following contents.

      • The voting envelope with the ballot paper.

      • The census registration certificate, the reverse side of which must display the voter’s signature and passport or identity card number.

      • Photocopy of passport or identity card issued by the Spanish authorities or certificate of nationality or registration in the Consular Register issued by the Spanish consulate in the country of residence.

    • The other census registration certificate.

    • If desired, the completed form for the return of postage costs in countries where no post office box has been opened.

In order for these votes to be valid, the envelope addressed to the corresponding Electoral Board must clearly bear the stamp of the Consular Post or Consular Section of the corresponding Diplomatic Mission that unequivocally certifies that the deadlines have been met.

Once the deadline for placing the votes in the ballot box has expired, all votes (received by post or placed in the ballot box) must be sent to the Office set up for this purpose at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, which will send them urgently to the Electoral Boards responsible for the counting thereof.

More information at the Embassy or Consulate and on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, and the INE website

If any CERA voters are temporarily in Spain during the announcement of an electoral process, they may apply to vote by post from the date of the announcement of the elections until 30 May, without the above entailing their removal from the CERA.

To do so, they must fill in the application form (at any Postal Service office or by means of an electronic application), expressly indicating their registration on the electoral roll of Spaniards residing abroad and send it to the relevant Provincial Delegation of the Electoral Census Office. They should indicate an address in Spain where they wish to receive the documentation.

If the documents have already been sent to the registration address abroad, a registration certificate marked “DUPLICATE” will be sent.

Once the electoral documentation has been received at the address in Spain indicated on the application form, the voter shall send the vote to the Provincial Electoral Board by registered mail no later than 5 June.

These voters may not vote in person at the polling station.