Who checks the postal votes of Spain's newest citizens

Who oversees the postal votes of Spain's newest citizens

One figure raises eyebrows: registering on the CERA (the electoral roll for Spaniards abroad) is voluntary, yet many residents overseas have been required to do it when renewing their passport. And that is where the problem begins. If someone newly naturalised under the so-called grandchildren law registers in a Spanish municipality, they are entered on the ordinary electoral roll and can vote by post without anyone in their country of residence knowing. Who checks that such a vote is genuine? The question runs through a 146-reply discussion mixing figures, suspicions and a handful of uncomfortable certainties.

Double registration is possible. A citizen who obtains nationality by descent can register in Spain by presenting a rental contract or a property deed, and from then on votes like any resident. The key point: if the vote is cast by post from Spain, it counts as a CERA vote, even if the voter has given a Spanish postal address. The system does not distinguish whether that person lives here or 9,000 kilometres away.

The village where outside voters outnumber residents

The numbers circulating in the analysis are striking. In Junciana (Ávila), there are 133 people on the CERA roll against 32 residents: 80.61% of the electoral roll. In Navaquesera, 78 against 36. In Gilbuena, 93 against an unavailable figure. These are municipalities where the overseas vote decides mayoralties and provincial council seats. The question is not whether postal voting is legal, but whether anyone audits that each ballot corresponds to a person who actually cast it.

Some argue the system has a flaw built in from the start: CERA registration is voluntary, but in practice it has become mandatory for procedures such as renewing a passport. That pushes people who had gone decades without registering to sign up. And the number of newly naturalised citizens does not always match the number of registrants. The correlation, they say, is suspiciously high.

The envelope that can be peine and resealed without a trace

The mechanics of postal voting also raise hackles. The envelopes handed out at post offices have neither an easy-open perforation nor irreversible sealing. They can be glued and unglued. Someone who worked at a polling station on 23J (Spain's July 2023 election) described it: stationery envelopes have glue and a perforation; Correos envelopes do not. It is not proof of fraud, but it is an evident weakness in the chain of custody.

The Sofía Puente instruction — the official directive that, according to some voices, made voting easier for Spain's new citizens — is another focus of discontent. It is claimed that the Government has not sent the requested documentation to the Supreme Court nor notified the competent foreign affairs bodies. The opposition, it is said, has given up exercising its oversight role on this point.

Who checks the electoral roll?

The short answer: nobody, closely. The electoral roll is updated with data from the municipal register and the CERA, but there is no individual verification that each person on it is who they claim to be. If a fraudulently naturalised citizen registers, they vote. And unless their nationality is revoked, their vote counts. The opposition proge up late, according to several voices, and only VOX and organisations such as Iustitia Europa have focused on the issue.

The calculation being floated is that Sánchez needs millions of fraudulent votes to win. It is an unproven claim, but it explains why the overseas vote, which should be insignificant, is defended tooth and nail. The debate remains open: who audits that postal votes are genuine?