The Ministry of Public Administrations, Justice and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands has published a web portal with relevant information for citizens regarding the elections to the Parliament of the Canary Islands on May 28. The Area led by Julio Pérez, through the General Directorate of Transparency and Citizen Participation, whose head is Marta Saavedra, has launched this platform where you can consult how and where to exercise the right to vote, the electoral calendar or the details and organization of the day of May 28.
The website tries to facilitate a simple navigation through the different contents that integrate it and that are divided into three large sections, Citizenship, Political Parties, and News, from which different sections are accessed.
Through this portal and its different sections –Electoral Information, Results, Electoral Regulations, Curiosities and Links of Interest–, voters will have the opportunity to clarify their doubts about the voting methods, in person, by mail, from abroad or accessible; the opening hours of the schools; or on the personal identification documents that must be presented at the polling stations, as reported by the Ministry in a statement.
Similarly, they will be able to know that in the Elections to the Parliament of the Canary Islands there will be two ballot boxes: one for the island constituency, in which the envelope and the sepia ballot will be deposited; and another for the autonomous constituency, where the envelope and yellow ballot will be introduced.
Also, that, according to Law 1/2022, of May 11, on Elections to the Parliament of the Canary Islands, the autonomous Chamber is composed of 70 deputies. 61 are elected through the island constituencies: El Hierro, 3; Fuerteventura, 8; Gran Canaria, 15; La Gomera, 4; La Palma, 8; Lanzarote, 8 and Tenerife, 15. The other 9 remaining deputies are elected through the autonomous constituency.
In the section How and where to vote, included in the Electoral Information section, doubts are resolved about how, when and where to vote, and the necessary information is provided to exercise the right to vote depending on the personal situation of each person, being important the chapter dedicated to sick people and people with disabilities. In this last case, special emphasis is placed on people with visual disabilities and the tools made available to them to, if they so wish, use the regulated accessible voting procedure.
It also indicates how to exercise the right to vote in person or by mail and the procedure to be followed by people registered in the Electoral Census of Absent Residents (CERA).
The section dedicated to Political Parties, divided into three sections –Electoral calendar, Documentation and Online forms and Regulations– includes a list of the main actions to be carried out by political formations, forms for the presentation of candidacies, their dates and articles of the Organic Law 5/1985, of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG), which regulate them. For its part, the News section includes institutional information related to the electoral process.
The portal details what the work of the people designated as members of a polling station consists of and allows downloading the corresponding manual, and also includes an electoral glossary, a specific section for those who vote for the first time and an explanation of the D'Hont Method and its application in the distribution of seats in the Parliament of the Canary Islands.
Likewise, the website reminds that the Government of the Canary Islands makes available to citizens the telephone 012, a Telephone Assistance Service from which you can obtain information quickly and conveniently, being available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Among its contents there is also a section dedicated to the results of the elections to the Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands held in 2011, 2015 and 2019, detailing the number of votes, allocation of seats, elected candidates, constituencies and municipalities, among other aspects.
Electoral census
In the Elections to the Parliament of the Canary Islands on May 28, 1,772,423 people will be able to vote –894,997 in the province of Las Palmas and 877,426 in that of Santa Cruz de Tenerife–, according to the electoral census of the National Institute of Statistics (INE) as of February 1, 2023, a census that can also be consulted on the informative website presented by the Ministry of Public Administrations, Justice and Security.
Of these 1,772,423 potential voters, 1,610,958 reside in the Canary Islands and 161,465 are registered in the Electoral Census of Absent Residents (CERA), who on this occasion will not have to exercise the requested vote, but will be able to participate directly by certified mail or at the polls in the consulates.
The website explains that, for in-person voting, the Electoral Census Office sends all voters a census card indicating the section in which they are registered and the table in which they are to vote, with the address of the polling station. Identification will be made by means of the National Identity Document (DNI), passport or driving license (with photograph), also valid through the miDGT application of the General Directorate of Traffic. It does not matter if these documents are expired, but they must be the originals, in no case a photocopy.
Vote by mail
In the case of voting by mail, it can be requested from April 4 to May 18 and it is possible to do so through the application form at the Post Office or online on the Post Office website. For this last option, it is necessary to have an Electronic DNI certificate (obtain electronic DNI) or a valid digital certificate. Subsequently, the right to vote can be exercised by delivering it to a Post Office.
The applicant has until May 24 to deposit the envelope with his vote, during the usual opening hours of the postal offices. Keep in mind that, once the vote by mail has been requested, you can no longer vote personally at the polling station.
Canary Islanders residing abroad have two options for voting by mail, which depends on the circumstances in which they find themselves. If they are permanent residents abroad, it is enough that they are registered in the CERA. If they are temporarily abroad, but are still registered in the Canary Islands, they must previously request the vote in the Consular Registration Register (RMC) as a non-resident.
The CERA voter may choose indistinctly between voting by mail or voting at the polls between May 24 and 26. In the latter case, you must personally deliver the envelopes to the embassy, office or consular section in which you are registered, or in the places that are enabled for this purpose. You can also vote at the honorary consulates of Spain abroad.
Accessible vote
Spanish legislation requires that polling stations be accessible to people with mobility limitations. Attendants can facilitate access for disabled people to polling stations, and in cases where access is impossible, the president of the table will take the ballot box to the place where that person is.
In the event that you cannot travel to a Post Office, another person, authorized by a notary or consular officer, may request the vote by mail on your behalf. In that case, the transfer of the notary or consul is free. The deadline to request the vote by mail is from April 4 to May 18 and the vote will be sent between May 6 and 24.
People with visual disabilities who know the braille reading and writing system and have a recognized degree of disability equal to or greater than 33 percent or are affiliated with the Spanish National Organization of the Blind (ONCE), and wish to use the regulated accessible voting procedure, must register by calling 900 103 800 free of charge, from the call for the electoral process until May 1.
