Correos to collaborate in the local and regional elections

Forms needed to request a certificate of registration on the Electoral Register are now available at all branches of Correos in Spain. It is essential to obtain this form in order to be able to vote by post in the local and regional elections and other electoral processes that are to be held on Sunday 27 May 2007.

On Thursday 5 April last, the order signed by the Minister of Public Works, Magdalena Alvarez, regulating Correos’ collaboration in the electoral process was published in the BOE (Boletín Official del Estado, Spanish Official State Gazette).

This collaboration is covered by the General Regime for Elections Act (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General) and the Universal Postal Services Act (Ley del Servicio Postal Universal), which establish the participation of Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos S.A., as Universal Postal Service provider, in the electoral process. The role of Correos centres on the distribution of electoral literature, and on specific tasks to facilitate and guarantee postal voting.

Postal votes may be requested until 17 May 2007 (inclusive). Postal votes must be requested in person by the voter, by presenting their national identity card, passport or driving licence to a member of staff in a Correos post office, who will provide the appropriate form.

Correos will deliver these requests free of charge, as urgent recorded deliveries, to the appropriate Provincial Office of the Electoral Register Office. On receipt of the request, and following the appropriate checks, the Provincial Office will issue the certificate of registration, and will send it, together with the electoral documentation (envelope and voting slip), by urgent registered post to the address indicated by the applicant on the application form. Correos delivers these directly to the relevant person.

The official voting envelope, containing the certificate of registration on the Electoral Register and the voting slip, should be taken to any branch of Correos during its normal opening hours and sent as an urgent recorded delivery, up to 23 May inclusive; it is free to send voting material by registered post. Any envelopes that are sent by ordinary mail will be returned to the voter to be resent by recorded delivery.

Correos will deliver the voting documentation to the destination post offices, and will maintain possession of it until 27 May, the day of voting. At 9 o'clock on that day, Correos will deliver the voting envelopes to the appropriate Polling Stations. On 27 May Correos will deliver all envelopes received before 20:00 to the Polling Stations; after 20:00 on 1 November, all voting envelopes received will be sent to the appropriate Electoral Board.

The Electoral Register Provincial Offices will send the electoral documentation by urgent registered post to voters who are resident abroad and are registered in the Census of Absent Residents (Censo de Residentes Ausentes). Pursuant to electoral regulations, this delivery shall be made automatically for the regional elections, whilst for the local elections voters need to request the documentation (requests may be made until 28 April).

On receipt of this documentation, the voter may exercise their right to vote by personally delivering the voting envelope to the Consular Office with which they are registered or by postal vote.

Voters who wish to vote by post regional elections should place the voting envelope together with the census registration certificate in the envelope addressed to the appropriate Provincial Electoral Board and send it by urgent registered post no later than 26 May 2007, the day before polling day.

Voters who vote by post in the local elections should place the census registration certificate and the voting slip in the voting envelope addressed to the corresponding polling station and send it by urgent registered post no later than 23 May 2007.

Persons who are at sea may request a certificate of registration on the electoral roll from their Provincial Office of the Electoral Register, and may submit the application by telegraph. The appropriate Electoral Register Provincial Office will send the registration certificate, the voting slips and the electoral envelopes, free of charge, to a port in national territory. Deliveries containing the votes of persons on board ship will be sent, free of charge, by urgent registered post until 23 May 2007 inclusive.

Deliveries of electoral literature are those items sent by the parties and federations registered on the appropriate register, and by coalitions and groupings that meet the requirements established by the special provisions of the General Regime for Elections Act. These deliveries must be marked “Envíos postales de propaganda electoral” (Postal delivery of election literature) – which may also be shown in any other official language. The envelopes may be open or closed and may be left unaddressed or addressed to a named recipient.

Correos will give priority to the delivery of electoral literature, and will put in place the necessary processes to ensure the distribution of such mail within the permitted time period, as this mail may only be delivered during the election campaign, between 11 and 25 May 2007, inclusive