Postal voting by persons permanently residing abroad (CERA)

In the elections to the Assemblies of Ceuta and Melilla and the elections to the Legislative Assemblies of the Autonomous Communities to be held on 28 May, the Provincial Delegations of the Electoral Census Office will send the following documentation ex officio to the registered address of each person of Spanish nationality listed in the census of absentee voters residing abroad:

  • The voting envelope
  • Two identical certificates proving registration in the census of absent voters residing abroad.
  • An envelope addressed to Provincial Electoral Board.
  • An envelope addressed to the Consulate or Embassy. -A fact sheet on how to exercise the right to vote and the address of the official website where the candidatures will be displayed and the sets of ballot papers can be downloaded.
  • The list of centres authorised for casting votes in ballot boxes within their consular demarcation.

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 OCE by registered post between 22 April and 28 April, although the time it takes for the documents to arrive at the address abroad must be taken into account.

The OCE will also send the official ballot papers to the addresses where each absentee voters are registered between 3 May and no later than 7 May in the provinces where the announcements of candidatures have not been contested, and no later than 13 May in the other cases.

The downloadable ballot papers will be available after the appeals against the announcements of the candidatures have been resolved and no later than 7 May.

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 ballot paper corresponding to the chosen candidature will be placed inside the voting envelope (or no ballot paper will be inserted if you wish to abstain).

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

  • The voting envelope with the ballot paper.
  • 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).
  • A photocopy of a passport or ID card issued by the Spanish authorities, or a certificate of nationality or registration in the Consular Enrolment 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.

You will be able to do so between 20 and 25 May, 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.

You will be able to do so until 23 May.

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 will bear the voter’s signature and passport or identity card number.
    • A photocopy of a passport or ID card issued by the Spanish authorities, or a certificate of nationality or registration in the Consular Enrolment Register issued by the Spanish Consulate in the country of residence.
  • The other census registration certificate,
  • If you so wish, the completed form for the reimbursement of the postage costs in countries in which 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.

Further information at the Embassy or Consulate and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website and INE.

If any CERA voters are temporarily in Spain during the call for an electoral process, they may apply (just like residents in national territory) to vote by post from the date of the announcement of the elections until 18 May, without the above entailing their removal from the CERA.

To do so, they must fill in the application form (available here, or at any Postal Service office), expressly indicating their registration on the electoral roll of Spaniards residing abroad and send it to the corresponding 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 24 May.

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