Residents in Spain who are nationals from counties that have Agreements recognizing the right to vote in Municipal Elections, and who meet the requirements therein established, may apply to be registered in the electoral census for the upcoming Municipal Elections on 28 May, 2023.

Los Países con Acuerdos en vigor son: Bolivia, Cabo Verde, Chile, Colombia, Corea, Ecuador, Islandia, Noruega, Nueva Zelanda, Paraguay, Perú, Reino Unido y Trinidad y Tobago. Nationals from other countries in the process of establishing such Agreements may also apply for registration if these become valid within the given submission period.

Where to Apply
Applications for registration may be filled out on the Internet, mailed in by post or submitted in person at the Town Hall.

In order to facilitate the process, during the final days of the month of November 2022, the OCE (Electoral Census Office) will send out a communication to foreign residents in Spain whose countries have a reciprocal Voting Agreement, and who meet the requirements set forth above, along with their personal data and pre-printed residence information obtained from the Central Registry of Foreigners and the municipal population census in the INE (National Institute of Statistics).  This census information dates back to 30 August 2022. The communication includes a code for computer processing (CTT), thus enabling registration applications to be done over the Internet.  

a) By Internet:
To transact the application for registration by Internet, interested parties should click on “Solicitud de inscripción” on the INE website, https://sede.ine.gob.es, confirm their identity by means of the cl@ve system, and then choose the option application for registration (“solicitud de inscripción”). Those who do not have access to the cl@ve system may transact the application via their NIE along with the code for computer processing (CTT) included in their communication.

b) By Post:
Interested parties should mail their application form directly to the Provincial Delegation of the OCE, a delivery for which postage is not required.

c) At the Town Hall in the Place of Residence:
Interested parties who feel that they meet the conditions set forth in the Agreement may submit their application in person at their corresponding Town Hall, identifying themselves by means of their NIE. (Nationals from Norway, Iceland and the United Kingdom also have the option of using either their national identity card or their passport.)

The length of legal residence in Spain must be substantiated by a Certificate of Residence issued by the Oficina de Extranjería or by the Police Station in the corresponding province. It stands to mention that the only competent body in matters of foreign residence and immigration is the General Directorate of Police

Time Period
The submission period for all applications is from 1 December 2022 to 15 January 2023.

Applications submitted to Town Halls must be forwarded to the OCE (Electoral Census Office) before 20 January 2023.

Any application submitted outside this timeframe, including any that may have been submitted after contesting the data contained in the electoral census, will be turned away on the basis of not having met the deadline.

Requirements
The conditions that must be met in order to obtain the right to vote are the following. One must:

1. Be eighteen years old or older and not be denied the right to active suffrage.
2. Be registered in the municipal population census.
3. Be in possession of a valid authorization for one’s residence in Spain.
4. Have resided legally in Spain for the time period stipulated by the corresponding Agreement (three years on the day of the election for Norwegian nationals; three years at the time of application for UK nationals; and five year at the time of application for the remaining countries). This requirement may be fulfilled by presenting a Certificate of Residence issued by the Police Station.

Regulation
- Order EHA/2264/2010, 20 July, in which the norms and technical instructions for compiling the electoral census are set forth regarding residents in Spain whose countries have Agreements for Municipal Elections, modified by Order ECC/1758/2014, on 23 September.

- Resolution 27 October 2014, from the Electoral Census Office, in which the procedures are established, and the application model for registration in the electoral census is approved for residents in Spain whose countries have Agreements for Municipal Elections.

Request vote countries with agreements