YOUR GUIDE TO VOTING IN Spain

DOWNLOAD IN SPANISH

When to Vote

9 June 2024

Mark your calendars!

Anyone aged 18 or over on the election day can vote if they have residency in Spain and hold either Spanish citizenship or the citizenship of another EU country.

Do I have an obligation to Vote?

No, there is no legal obligation. However, you know what we say…use your vote anyway!

Where can I vote?

If you are a Spanish citizen voting in Spain

If you live in Spain, check your official home address, because you have to vote at the polling station close to where you live. And guess what?! You don’t have to register, the authorities will do it for you and send you a summons letter to remind you to vote. You can find more details here.

If you are a Spanish citizen voting from another EU country

Do you live abroad? To vote, you need to be registered at the Spanish embassy of the country you live in (two to three months before the elections are announced). You can then vote by mail or in person at the designated Spanish embassy or consulate (or another designated place) between eight and three days before 9 June 2024.

If you are only abroad temporarily, but still cannot vote in Spain, you can vote by mail. You have to order your postal voting materials from your Spanish consulate no later than 25 days after the election has been announced. And you have to make sure to send your vote to your Spanish polling station at least three days before 9 June 2024!

If you are an Spanish citizen voting from a country outside the EU

The same rules of registration apply when voting outside the European Union.

If you are EU citizen voting in Spain

As a legal resident in Spain, you can of course vote there! Make sure to register in the municipality where you have your official residence, to be on the voting list. In order to do so, you have to submit a special form. You can either register by using the online platform or by handing in this form at the municipality where your residence is. Learn more here.

If you are registered as an EU citizen living in Spain and have not yet made your intention of voting clear to the authorities, they will send you a reminder in the months prior to the election. If you want to vote in Spain, you must answer until 30 January 2024. If you don’t answer, it will be assumed that you do not want to vote in Spain.

This picture shows voting ballots and a mouse click

Voting Online

Can I vote online?

NO ✖ Unfortunately you cannot vote online in Spain.

Picture showing a mail box and envelope.

Voting by Mail

Can I vote by mail?

Good news, ✓ YES, you can vote by mail. All you have to do is to apply in advance and order a postal ballot.

Picture showing a girl in front of a computer.

Voting by Proxy

Can I vote by proxy?

YES ✓ You can vote by proxy ONLY if you cannot travel to the polling station for medical reasons.

Find more info

Voting & accessibility

Do you have a disability or an illness? Generally, polling stations are required to be accessible for people with a disability. Nevertheless, you can chose to vote by mail. There are also several additional forms of assistance:

you can choose someone to assist you in filling out the ballot
you can ask for a a member of the polling station to be designated to assist you
suitable, free of charge transportation to pick you up from your home and take you to the polling station can be arranged in advance (if the budget is available).
if you have a severe visual impairment, you can apply for a braille kit to be delivered to your home (postal voting) or to your polling station.

fun facts

Spain joined the European Union on 1 January 1986.
Spain will have 61 members of the European Parliament, two more than in the previous elections in 2019.
There is only one national constituency and everyone votes for the same list across the country.
Spain uses closed lists, which does not allow voters to change the order of candidates on the list.
There is no threshold for the European elections.