With elections already called, Spain's Supreme Court cannot change the electoral roll

The electoral roll is closed and approved months before an election is called, so it cannot be changed afterwards. The Supreme Court's decision to suspend voting by beneficiaries of the grandchildren law came too late: the system does not allow one group of voters to be separated from others once the roll has been finalised.

## What the Supreme Court asked for and when

Spain's Supreme Court decided to suspend voting by beneficiaries of the grandchildren law, also known as the Democratic Memory Law. That ruling came after the elections had already been called.

The grandchildren law allows descendants of Spaniards born abroad to obtain Spanish nationality. The Supreme Court wanted these new citizens not to vote in the elections already called.

## The electoral roll closes months before the election is called

The electoral roll is not drawn up the day before. It is compiled and approved months before elections are called. When the decree calling the election is published, the roll is already closed.

That means no voters can be added or removed at that stage. The electoral system is not designed to modify the roll once an election has been called.

## Why one group of voters cannot be separated from the rest

Even though the Supreme Court has decided to suspend voting by a specific group, the roll is already finalised. There is no way to distinguish who can and cannot vote once the list is closed.

Separating some voters from others would lead to errors and failures. That could delegitimise the election result. The Supreme Court is asking for something the system does not allow: changing an already approved electoral roll.

## A technical problem with no electoral solution

The question is not whether the Supreme Court is right or not. The question is that the electoral calendar does not allow the roll to be reversed. Once an election has been called, the roll is untouchable.

Any attempt to modify it would open the door to chaos. Errors in identifying voters could call the result into question. And in an election, that is the last thing anyone wants.