Voting by persons temporarily residing abroad (ERTA)

Voters who wish to vote and are temporarily abroad between the announcement of an electoral process and the holding thereof must apply to vote in advance.

The application form can be found at Consulates and Embassies.

The completed application form must be delivered in person at the Consulate or Embassy.

In order to apply, you must be listed in the Consular Enrolment Register as non-residents. Both procedures (application and registration) can be completed at the same time.

The deadline for submitting applications is 29 April.

Once the candidatures have been announced and the deadline for appeals has expired, the Electoral CensusOffice will send out the voting documents.

They must be sent no later than 16 May. The time it takes for the documents to arrive at the address abroad must be added to this period.

What does the electoral documentation sent by the Electoral Census Office consist of?

  • A fact sheet.
  • A blank ballot paper in the case of local elections and ballot papers for all the candidatures for the other processes.
  • Copy of the page or pages of the Official Gazette of the province in which the candidatures announced in the Municipality appear (in the case of local elections)
  • The electoral roll registration certificate.
  • The voting envelope or envelopes.
  • An envelope addressed to the corresponding polling station.
  • Form for reimbursement of the postal vote postage costs.

In the case of local elections, write the name of the party, federation, coalition or grouping for whose candidature you wish to vote on the ballot paper and place it in the voting envelope; for the other processes, place the ballot paper of your chosen candidature in the envelope.

The following will then be placed in the envelope addressed to the polling station:

  • The voting envelope or envelopes with the ballot paper corresponding to each process (or no ballot paper if you wish to abstain)
  • The census registration certificate.
  • If you so wish, the completed form for the reimbursement of the postage costs.

You have until 24 May to send this envelope by registered mail.

To ensure the validity of these votes, the envelope must be clearly stamped with a postmark or any other official inscription provided by the corresponding national Post Office, certifying that it has been sent before the envisaged deadline.

The Post Office service will keep the correspondence addressed to the polling station until the day of the voting and transfer it from 9:00 am until 8:00 pm on the same day.

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

Explanatory video ERTA Vote