- The Government activates a multichannel information service on the elections for the Parliament of Catalonia on 27 September next
- Citizens can get information on the elections through the electoral web, social networks, mobile messaging and by telephone
- People with visual disabilities can apply for the accessible vote procedure with documentation in Braille, which allows voting with guarantees of independence and ballot secrecy
5,510,713 Catalans can exercise their right to vote in elections for the Parliament of Catalonia on 27 September next, according to data from the provisional register. 195,533 of these people live abroad. Of the total, 4,124,254 people are in the electoral district of Barcelona (151,131 of whom are registered abroad), 510,820 in the electoral district of Girona (15,214 are abroad), 313,729 in the electoral district of Lleida (14,598 are abroad), and 561,910 are in the electoral district of Tarragona (14,590 are abroad). Of all these people, 164,240 are new voters. In the last elections, the electoral register was 5,413,769 people, 96,944 Catalans less than for the elections this September.
To give citizens information on the steps related with the electoral process, the Catalan Government has set up a whole series of channels to ensure that everyone has the information necessary to be able to vote in these elections. This enables citizens to get information, ask questions and settle queries on the elections through the electoral web, in the social networks, by mobile messaging and by telephone.
The media will also be communicating the institutional campaign that the Government will start this week.
Portal www.parlament2015.cat
The portal www.parlament2015.cat has all the information on elections to Parliament: electoral schedule, frequent questions, regulations, composition of electoral commissions, directory of commissions, statistical data, etc.
As a novelty on this occasion, the portal includes seven tutorial videos on the following themes:
- Members of the polling station committees,
- voting in person,
- voting by post,
- voting for Catalan voters living abroad permanently,
- voting for Catalan voters who are temporarily abroad,
- accessible voting for voters with visual disabilities and
- voting by people who are ill or disabled.
The web is in four languages: Catalan, Aranese Occitan, Spanish and English.
Telegram
Another novelty in these elections is the option of receiving information on mobile phones through Telegram, a free instant message application with an open programme which allows messages to be sent and received through Internet.
The application is first downloaded to the mobile and then these instructions followed:
- With the Telegram application open, open a new message and put 012 in the searcher. The addressee "Missatgeria 012" will appear automatically and then the question or comment can be entered.
Telegram can also be accessed through the Gencat application. When open, "Contact with 012" appears in the lower part of the home page with three options, marked with three icons: Telegram (a click on the icon opens a new message directly), telephone and Twitter.
Telephone attention centre
Also, to inform the citizens and settle queries in relation with the elections on 27 September next, the Ministry of Governance and Institutional Relations has set up a telephone attention centre which will attend to calls from 8 am to 7 pm without interruption. The telephone number is 935 515 990.
Telephone attention at 012
Another option is the normal citizen attention telephone 012, which will also supply information and deal with queries from citizens on the elections.
Social networks
In addition to these routes, the Ministry of Governance and Institutional Relations Twitter account (@governaciocat), the Government participation portal account (@participacat), the Twitter and Facebook accounts of Catalan community centres (@casalscatalans) and the various Catalan Government delegations abroad all offer information on the electoral schedule and the periods for carrying out the various steps for voting and are available to settle users´ queries. Questions will also be attended to when made through tweets marked #participacat.
Institutional campaign
Finally, the Catalan Government will deploy an informative institutional campaign, which will be disseminated through the communication media on various supports: TV announcements, radio, the press (dailies, weeklies, magazines and monthly publications) and external posters. The campaign will also be broadcast by Internet to the digital media and announcements will be made in cinemas.
The campaign, which will begin this week, will concentrate on three basic aspects: information on the electoral register, voting by post and voting by people with visual disabilities and an informative campaign on the elections.
Accessible vote
People with visual disabilities can ask for the accessible vote procedure, with supplementary documentation in Braille so that they can exercise their right to vote in the same conditions as the rest of the citizens.
The accessible vote procedure uses normal voting ballots and envelopes, these being accompanied by supplementary documentation in Braille which allows the voting options to be identified with guarantees of independence and, therefore, of the secrecy of the ballot.
The documentation consists of:
- Explanatory instructions, printed in Braille.
- A voting envelope.
- An envelope for each of the candidatures with the candidature indicated in ink and in Braille and, inside each of these envelopes, a voting ballot corresponding to the candidature indicated on the outside.
The period for requesting the procedure ends on 31 August. Applications have to be processed through the free telephone line 900 400 012. For the 2012 elections for the Parliament of Catalonia, 297 requests were received for accessible voting in Braille.
Voting from abroad
Catalans who live abroad permanently (CERA) or temporarily (ERTA) can obtain information from the web www.parlament2015.cat, where they will find a video tutorial on voting from abroad.
The Government also offers ample information through the Foreign Affairs web on the various procedures which can be used to exercise the right to vote, depending on what the voter´s situation (http://afersexteriors.gencat.cat/ca/arees_d_actuacio/comunitats_catalanes_de_l_exterior/Informacio-electoral-catalans-residents-exterior/).
In this context, it must be borne in mind that voters resident abroad can already apply for the vote by post. The application time is until 29 August.
Postal voting (from Spain)
Catalan voters resident in Catalonia or in the rest of Spain who opt for the postal vote must apply for it between 4 August and 17 September. They must apply personally to any Post Office and fill in the application form for registration in the electoral register. Then the Electoral Roll Office will send to their address the documentation necessary for voting, which includes the voting papers for all the candidatures which are presented at the elections and information on the procedure to follow to make the vote effective.
The period for sending the postal vote to the relevant polling station ends on 23 September. Postage is free for those who request it.
The web www.parlament2015.cat includes a video tutorial on this form of voting.
Electoral schedule
Some dates on the electoral schedule to be borne in mind are:
- Period for requesting the postal vote for voters resident abroad: from 4 to 29 August.
- Period for requesting the postal vote for voters living in Catalonia and the rest of Spain: from 4 August to 17 September.
- Period for requesting electoral documentation in Braille: from 4 to 31 August.
- Checking the electoral register: from 10 to 17 August.
- Publication in the Official Journal of the Government of Catalonia (DOGC) of the candidatures presented: 26 August.
- Definitive register: 1 September.
- Publication in the DOGC of candidatures proclaimed: 1 September.
- Electoral campaign: from 11 to 25 September.
- Day of reflection: 26 September.
- Election day: 27 September. The polling stations will be open from 9 am to 8 pm.
5 August 2015