Barcelona is preparing for the next municipal elections, which will take place on May 28, 2023. As usual, citizens have the option of voting in person at the polling stations or by mail.
If you wish to vote by mail, you can request a postal vote at a post office up to ten days before the election.
It is important to note that once you have applied to vote by mail, you will not be able to vote in person on election day.
How to apply for a vote by mail ballot for the municipal elections?
In Barcelona, citizens must go in person to a post office and present their ID card.
There they will be provided with an application form to be filled out with their voter registration certificate.
The application must also include an address to which everything necessary to vote by mail will be sent.
Once the postal vote has been requested, Correos will forward the application to the Electoral Census Office, which will send the applicant all the necessary documentation within three days.
It is important for citizens of Barcelona to be aware of the deadlines and procedures for requesting a vote by mail ballot.
Mainly because this is a right that allows those citizens who, for work or health reasons, cannot go to the polling stations on election day to vote.
In addition, the 2023 municipal elections are an opportunity to elect representatives who will make important decisions for the city and its inhabitants.
Therefore, it is important that all citizens exercise their right to vote, either in person or by mail.
Once the voter has chosen his or her ballot and has placed it in the voting envelope together with the certificate of registration in the census, he or she must go to the post office with the envelope to send it by express registered mail.
Votes sent by regular mail through a mailbox will not be accepted.
On election day, May 28, 2023, Correos will transfer the envelopes of the postal votes to the corresponding polling stations at 9:00 am.
Postal items arriving throughout the day will also continue to be transferred until the closing of the schools at 8:00 pm.
At that time and before the counting begins, the polling station will place the absentee ballots in the ballot box.
Resident voting only
Postal voting is an option available only to temporary residents in Spain who are considered to be registered in their municipality.
Citizens residing abroad can only vote in municipal elections through the corresponding consulate.
