The celebration of general elections in the middle of the summer season, the Spaniards have skyrocketed the applications for voting by mail. This Thursday the deadline to be able to request it expired, and Correos has announced that it has accepted up to 2,622,808 applications for voting by mail with a view to the next electoral appointment that will be held on July 23. This new historical record represents an increase of 94.71% compared to the elections of April 28, 2019 (1,346,995).
In a statement, the company details that of the applications to vote by mail, 1,924,976 have been submitted in person and 697,832 electronically. Once the ballot papers have been received, applicants for voting by mail will have to hand them in, proving their identity, at the Post Office before July 20.
In addition, the entity stresses that the volume of vote requests received by post is 80.45% higher than those of the general elections of June 26, 2016 (1,453,446) which, until now, marked the registration of requests in Electoral processes of Spanish democracy.
According to Correos forecasts, throughout today 1,885,223 electoral documents will have been made available to voters, “a delivery rate comparatively higher than that of other processes”, including that of the regional and municipal elections of the past May 28.
Key dates for voting by mail
After Verifying the Registration of the Applicants for the Census, the Provincial Delegations send the shipments with the documentation, which will reach the STA on July 16 so that it can be distributed among the citizens as it receives them.
Postmen will make at least two attempts to deliver the documentation in hand to the addressee. If this has not been possible, leave a notice so that they can pick it up at your office, where the staff will verify the identity of the voter by means of the DNI, Passport or Driving License and will write down the number of the identification document attesting to the receipt of the documents. envelopes.
What happens if the documentation does not arrive?
In the event that the voter has not received their electoral documentation and is going to change their address, they must locate the registration number of their shipment on the Electoral Census website and go, as soon as possible, to a post office to request the forwarding of the documents and their delivery at the new address.
This registration number also allows the voter to check the status of the shipment in the Correos website locator.
The deposit of votes ends on July 20
The applicant has until Thursday, July 20, to deposit the envelope with their vote at any Post Office throughout Spain, during its opening hours.
As agreed by the Central Electoral Board, the voter must identify himself with the ID, passport, driver’s license, residence card or any other valid document to cast the vote.
proxy vote
If a vote by mail has been requested and it is not possible to go personally to the Post Office to deposit it, another person can be authorized to deliver it. To carry out this procedure, Correos recommends using the authorization model that can be downloaded from the website www.correos.es.
Correos warns: do not wait for the last day
Correos recommends citizens not to wait until the last day and to approve the opening hours of post offices to cast their vote as soon as possible.
A total of 106 offices in Madrid and Barcelona were open on Saturday, July 15, from nine in the morning to nine at night, and on Sunday July 16, from nine to two in the afternoon. These extraordinary openings will be joined by offices throughout Spain, particularly in coastal tourist areas where a greater influx is expected.
Specifically, 1,966 branches across the country opened on Saturday and 276 on Sunday, located in provincial capitals of tourist areas of Andalusia, the Valencian Community, Murcia or the Balearic Islands.
