Voting from abroad has been an odyssey in recent years for many residents outside of Spain. With the aim of simplifying the procedures and facilitating participation, which had fallen significantly, for the next municipal and regional elections, the requested vote disappears, after the reform of the electoral law that came into force last October. Next, we detail the steps to vote from abroad in the contests of May 28.
Those who permanently reside abroad must be registered in the Consular Registration Register and in the census of absent resident readers (CERA). The Electoral Census Office will automatically send the electoral documentation between April 22 and 28 to the address of each registered person. This shipment includes voting envelopes, an instruction manual, the list of centers authorized to vote, an envelope to address to the consulate or embassy and another to the Central Electoral Board and two certificates proving the foreigner's registration in the census. As a novelty in this 2023, it is no longer necessary to previously request the vote to receive this documentation.
The Office will also send, between May 3 and 7, the official ballots of the candidacies, once they have been validated and proclaimed. Voting ballots can also be downloaded electronically.
Once they have all the documentation, Spaniards residing abroad will have two options to vote: by mail or in person at the embassy, consulate or other authorized center.
If they wish to do so by correspondence, voters must send an envelope to the consulate or embassy containing, first of all, the certificate of registration in the census. Inside the main envelope there must be another envelope addressed to the Provincial Electoral Board, which includes the voting envelope with the ballot, the other registration certificate signed with the ID or passport number, and a photocopy of the ID or passport. The deadline to send it by certified mail ends on May 23.
To vote in person, voters must go to the consulate, embassy or other centers authorized to vote, between May 20 and 25, both included. Before the consular official, the voter will have to prove her identity and deliver a first certificate of registration in the census. Next, after stamping the consular seal, he will insert the envelope addressed to the Provincial Electoral Board, with the ballot and the vote, the other registration certificate signed with the ID or passport number, and the photocopy of the ID, passport or nationality certificate.
Those who are temporarily abroad (ERTA), to vote, must request it in advance. They will have to fill out and deliver a form in person at the consulate or embassy. If they are not yet registered, at the same time they will have to register in the Consular Registration Register as non-residents. The deadline to carry out both procedures ends on April 29. From the first week of May and until the 16th, applicants will receive the electoral documentation.
They will be able to vote until the 24th of the same month by sending an envelope by certified mail to their polling station. This must contain a census certificate and the voting envelope or envelopes. For local elections, voters will write the name of the candidacy on the ballot, while in the case of regional elections they will have at their disposal the ballots of all formations.
Spaniards who regularly reside abroad, who are registered with the CERA and who are temporarily in Spain during the elections, may request to vote by mail from April 4 to May 18, as the rest of residents in Spain.
To do so, they will have to go to a Post Office and fill out an application addressed to the Electoral Census Office. When they have received the electoral documentation at their address in Spain, they will have until May 24 to send the vote by certified mail.
