For citizens who have requested to vote by mail for the general elections on July 23, this Thursday, July 20, is the last day to deposit the ballot at the Post Office. Initially, it was planned that the postal vote could be processed until July 19, but the Electoral Board decided to extend this period by one more day.
In order to deliver the envelope with the vote, voters will have to identify themselves at the Post Office, either with their ID, passport or driving license. This is so due to the new regulations implemented by the Central Electoral Board to prevent fraud in voting by mail such as those allegedly occurred in Melilla in the last elections on May 28.
In the event that the voter cannot go in person to deliver the ballot, he must grant an authorization for another person to deposit it, accompanied by a photocopy of the DNI and signed by himself. Correos will keep all the envelopes received until nine in the morning on election day, when the polling stations will open, at which time they will be sent to the polling stations. The correspondence that continues to be received that day will be transferred to the schools until the end of the day at 8:00 p.m.
The deadline to request a vote by mail ended last Thursday, July 13. Voters received an envelope at home with the ballots for each political formation, the certificate of registration in the census and another envelope with the address of the Bureau where they are to vote between July 3 and 16.
Once the polls are closed and voting is over at 8:00 p.m. on July 23, the counting of the general elections begins. This is one of the steps on the way to knowing the composition of the Congress and the Senate. It is a public procedure in which the auditors act as witnesses so that the process is followed according to regulations.
The members of the polling stations are in charge of receiving the ballots and later counting them. Once the scrutiny (that is, of all the tables) of each election is carried out tonight, the provisional results will be obtained. The official and final count will be carried out by the competent Electoral Board five days after the elections, when these procedures are completed. The results will be published in the Official State Gazette.