Postal voting applications for 23 July general election in Spain soar

Applications for postal voting in Spain have soared since this option was opened up for the country's general elections scheduled for 23 July. A total of 38,000 people applied for such a vote on the first day of registration.

It is expected the surge of applications will continue as the general election date falls during the summer holidays. According to sources consulted at the Spanish post office, Correos, the state post office company is considering extending the opening hours of its offices as this is where the application to vote remotely is collected and then submitted.

The process has been exposed to accusations of rigging after the recent regional and local elections. During the campaigns, security forces opened investigations into alleged vote-buying in Melilla, La Gomera, and Mojácar, Almería.

The Central Electoral Board, through Correos, is responsible for ensuring the right of each voter to vote in advance. The first step is to request the relevant form at a post office and, after filling it in, to present it together with a national identity card or passport. Over the next few days, the a postal worker will deliver the envelopes with the ballots to the applicant, who will again have to show the official his or her identity card or passport.

An alleged potential loophole is that no identification is required at the time of casting the ballot again at the post office. An envelope is simply handed in.

In the regional and municipal elections held on Sunday 28 May, 984,000 people cast their vote by post.