If you live permanently abroad you can vote from your place of residence abroad.
To do this you must be:
- registered on the electoral roll of residents absent abroad (CERA) and
- registered in a municipality in Catalonia.
To register on the CERA you have to fill in an application form which you can get from consular offices.
People over 18 registered on the Consular Registry (RMC) as absent residents are automatically on the CERA.
Yes. The current electoral rolls will be displayed in consulates from 3 to 10 November (both inclusive).
It is advisable to carry out this check to make sure you are on the register and also that your details are correct. If they are not correct, you have until 10 November to ask for them to be changed so they can be sent to the relevant provincial office of the Electoral Roll Office.
The following groups in particular are advised to check the CERA:
- People who have recently gone to live abroad or have changed address.
- People who have recently turned 18.
Between 4 and 29 August, voters registered on the register of votes absent abroad (CERA) have to make an application to vote which is to be addressed to the relevant provincial office of the Electoral Roll Office.
The application can be sent by Internet, post or fax.
If you decide to send the application by Internet you have to go to “CERA Vote Application” at the electronic office of the National Statistics Institute (INE), https://sede.ine.gob.es/Solicitud_voto_CERA using:
- Electronic certificate: in this case, you must prove your identity by an electronic certificate associated with your National Identity Card (DNI).
- Electronic processing key (CTT): you will find this key in the instructions for filling in and sending included in the documentation the Electoral Roll Office sends you. You have to follow the instructions and attach an image file of one of the following documents:
- Spanish National Identity Card (DNI).
- Passport issued by the Spanish authorities.
- Certificate of Spanish citizenship (it will be issued free by the embassy or consulate where you are registered).
- Certificate of registration in the Consular Registry (it will be issued free by the embassy or consulate where you are registered).
If you choose to send your application by post or fax you will have to do the following:
- Fill in and sign the voting application form sent to you by the Electoral Roll Office. You can also get it from your embassy or consulate and at www.parlament2015.cat, www.exteriores.gob.es or www.ine.es. It is important that you remember to sign it.
- Enclose or attach one of the following documents to the application form:
- Photocopy of your Spanish National Identity Card (DNI).
- Photocopy of your passport issued by the Spanish authorities.
- Certificate of Spanish citizenship (it will be issued free by the embassy or consulate where you are registered).
- Certificate of registration in the Consular Registry (it will be issued free by the embassy or consulate where you are registered).
- Send all these documents as soon as possible and under all circumstances before 30 August to the provincial office of the Electoral Roll Office in the province where you are registered in Spain.
The provincial office of the Electoral Roll Office sends you by post no later than 9 Desember (the time the documents take to reach the address abroad has to be added to this deadline) the following documents:
- An information leaflet.
- A ballot paper for each political party standing at the election and a ballot envelope into which you have to put the ballot paper of your choice.
- Two certificates of registration on the electoral roll.
- An envelope bearing the address of the relevant provincial electoral commission.
- An envelope bearing the address of the embassy or consulate.
- The application form for reimbursement of the cost of postage for voting by post.
- Once you have received the electoral documentation, you have to choose the ballot paper for the list, put it in the ballot envelope and seal it. If you want to cast a blank ballot you should not put any ballot paper in the ballot envelope.
- Next you have to put the ballot envelope in the envelope addressed to the provincial electoral commission along with one of the copies of the certificate of registration on the electoral roll and a copy of your passport or National Identity Card (DNI) (or your certificate of citizenship or certificate of registration on the Consular Registry issued by the Spanish consulate in the country where you live).
You can then choose between:
- Postal voting: put the sealed envelope addressed to the provincial electoral commission in the envelope addressed to the consulate (career consular office or consular section of the diplomatic mission) which will also include the second certificate of registration on the electoral roll, and if you wish the completed form for reimbursement of postage costs. You then seal the envelope and send it to the career consular office or consular section of the diplomatic mission where you are registered by registered post no later than 16 Desember (Extension of the deadline until 20 of December).
- Vote in a ballot box: casting your ballot personally in a ballot box provided in consular offices between 17 and 19 Desember (both inclusive) (Extension of the deadline until 21 of December 20.00 PM, peninsular time). In this case you have to put the ballot envelope along with the copies of the certificate of registration in the electoral roll and a photocopy of your passport or National Identity Card (DNI) issued by the Spanish authorities (or the certificate of citizenship or certificate of registration in the Consular Registry issued by the Spanish consulate in your country of residence) in the envelope addressed to the provincial electoral commission.
Yes. If you are registered on the register of resident voters absent abroad (CERA) and you are temporarily in Catalonia during the election period, you can ask to vote by post from 28 October to 11 Desember, both inclusive. This will not mean you will be deregistered from the CERA.
To apply to vote by post you have to fill in the application form available from any post office, expressly stating that you are registered on the register of residents absent abroad, sign it and send it to the relevant provincial office of the Electoral Roll Office. You must state an address in Spain where you want to receive the documentation.
If the registration documents have already been sent because you had already applied for them from abroad, you will receive a certificate of registration marked as “copy”.
Once you have received the electoral documentation at the address you indicated in your application, you must send your vote by registered post no later than 17 Desember.
