The elections on July 23 will be held in the middle of summer and in the middle of the holiday exodus throughout Spain and one of the aspects that most worries citizens is a possible summons to a polling station for that Sunday in the middle of the Santiago bridge in three autonomous communities . The voters will soon leave doubts, since the draws in the town halls to designate the 543,000 components, between holders and substitutes, of the tables begin this Thursday.
According to the electoral law, the draws should be carried out between the twenty-fifth and twenty-ninth days after the electoral call, in this case between June 24 and 28, but the Central Electoral Board allowed this process to be brought forward two days at the request of some municipalities .
In any case, the plenary sessions of the consistories have until June 28 to carry out these draws in which a president and two members are chosen for each table, in addition to two other substitutes for each of them. The designation must be notified to the interested parties within three days, which means that those affected must be informed before July 1.
For the July 23 elections, the Ministry of the Interior plans to set up around 60,340 polling stations throughout Spain and install some 210,000 ballot boxes and 59,000 booths.
In most municipalities, computer applications are used to guarantee the security of the draw, although in small town halls the insaculation can still be in force, the traditional draw with balls in bags.
The Organic Law of the general electoral regime (LOREG) indicates that although the formation of the electoral tables is the responsibility of the municipalities, it must be done under the supervision of the Zone Electoral Boards (JEZ), which also have the last word to approve or not the elections. allegations that may be presented by the designees.
And it is that given the coincidence of the elections with the vacation period, the Central Electoral Board (JEC) has dictated that citizens who are called to the tables can be exempted if they have contracted their vacations before May 30, the date on which published the electoral call, and as long as the zone boards see the full integration of the tables ensured.
On July 23, all those elected must appear and those who finally constitute the table must receive the ballot papers, evaluate the development of the vote and carry out the counting work later on.
Voters designated to a polling station have seven days to claim a justified and documented reason for absenteeism before the Zone Electoral Board. The Electoral Administration has five days to resolve any allegation and communicate the result to those selected in the draw. However, those affected can present allegations until the last minute.
Impediments and justified excuses are indicated in Instruction 6/2011, of April 28, of the Central Electoral Board, on the interpretation of article 27.3 of the Loreg. Among these causes are being over 65 and under 70; a situation of disability; the situation of temporary incapacity for work; or gestation from six months of pregnancy and the corresponding period of maternity rest.
Only those citizens with the right to vote who are under 70 years of age and can read and write will enter the draws. From the age of 65 they may manifest their resignation within a period of seven days.
Those who reach the age of majority in the period between the formation of the voter lists and the vote are excluded, and according to the Law, the positions of president and member cannot be held by persons who present themselves as candidates in the elections. all of them will be given an instruction manual on their functions.
It is mandatory to be part of a polling station under penalty of imprisonment from three months to one year or a fine of six to twenty-four months and its members will charge about 70 euros, which is the amount that was paid in the last municipal and regional elections, 5 euros more than in the general ones of 2019.
