MADRID – For the Spanish general election on Sunday, July 23, 94.2% of voters who applied for the right to vote by mail cast their vote. That is the highest number ever in Spanish democracy.
A total of 2.47 million voters submitted their ballots at the post offices. This number of votes by mail is an increase of 99.08% compared to the general election of April 28, 2019, and 82.06% more than the election of June 26, 2016, the record to date.
In a press release, Correos, Spain’s national postal operator, stressed that this is the highest postal vote score in the history of democracy. It also emphasized its success in managing voting by mail.
Also a record number of requests
There were a total of 2,622,808 applications for postal votes, which is also a new record. Correos has made all necessary election documentation available to applicants by delivering it in person or by giving notice that it can be collected from post offices.
Deadline
The deadline for voting by mail was originally set for July 20, but due to high demand and some issues with the re-mailing of the election documentation, it was decided by the Junta Electoral Central (JEC) to extend it to 2:00 p.m. on Friday.
This decision was made to facilitate the voting rights of citizens who had chosen this way of voting as much as possible. The JEC requested that Correos exercise extreme care and ensure that the ballot bags are delivered to the respective polling stations on Election Day.
Two political parties, PP and Vox, had raised the delays in delivering election documentation to these voters and requested more time to carry out this form of voting.
Also see: Voters in Spain opt en masse for postal voting on July 23
