Simon Hunter
SPAIN’S state Correos postal service has sought to assure citizens that their postal votes will arrive in time for them to participate in the July 23 snap general election.
The poll marks the first time since the return to democracy in the 1970s that the country will go to vote in the summer months. The date of the elections coincides with a time when many Spaniards will be taking their vacation, meaning the postal option will be particularly important.
The operations director at Correos, Jose Luis Alonso Nistal, said that ‘all citizens who have requested the postal vote’ for the elections ‘will receive their documentation in time for them to properly exercise their right to vote’.
Spaniards have been taking to social media to express their concern that they have not yet received the postal votes, despite the date of the polls fast approaching.
Parties such as far-right Vox have also been stoking concerns about the reliability of the system.
“If you want to sleep more peacefully, go to your polling station in person and drop your vote in the ballot box,” the Vox website reads.
Correos, meanwhile, has called for calm and has set out the different stages of the postal vote system. Eligible voters can request the postal vote until July 13, and then from July 3 to 16 census information will be sent to Correos so that the postal votes can be sent out to citizens.
The general election was due to be held in December but in a surprise move by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the Socialist Party it was brought forward to July 23 after his and other leftist groups fared badly in the May 28 local and regional elections.
Read more:
- Popular Party leader comes out on top during bad-tempered election debate with prime minister
- Spain’s Murcia region takes step closer to repeat elections as Popular Party and Vox fail to reach deal
- Explainer: What you need to know about Spain’s July 23 general election
