The decree detailing the additional norms that should govern the 2017 Parliament of Catalonia elections has also been issued
On the 28th of October 2017, the Spanish Official Gazette (BOE) issued Royal Decree 946/2017 calling for Parliament of Catalonia elections and dissolving the current Parliament. The text sets the 21st of December as the date on which the new elections shall be held, and states that the Barcelona district will elect 85 deputies, Girona 17, Lleida 15 and Tarragona 18. The campaign will begin at midnight on the 5th of December 2017 and will end at midnight on the 19th of December 2017.
On the 3rd of November 2017, the BOE published Royal Decree 953/2017, which stipulates the additional norms which should govern the 2017 Parliament of Catalonia elections. Among other matters, the Royal Decree details the composition of the provincial election boards and committees and election sections; it specifies that the census to be used in the elections is the one that closed on the 1st of August 2017; and it determines the deadlines for the appointment of representatives of the political groups and the deadlines to present and announce the candidates that are running in these elections.
Regarding the election campaign, it states that the Generalitat de Catalunya will be in charge of carrying out the institutional campaign, and that starting five days before the 21st of December, no surveys nor opinion polls nor vote simulations can be broadcast. During the campaign, the public media must provide free space to the political groups in accordance with the number of votes that each party earned in the past Parliamentary elections. The Town Councils must provide space free of charge where posters, banners and pennants can be hanged, as well as free spaces where they can hold campaign events.
4-hour leave of absence for workers in order to exercise their right to vote
The text indicates the dates for postal voting and the procedures that individuals with visual disabilities should follow; it explains how the vote counting in the election committees will work; and it states that on election day workers will be given a 4-hour paid leave of absence within their workday, which does not need to be made up, in order to exercise their right to vote.
Finally, the Royal Decree sets the monetary compensation for the members of the provincial election boards, the Town Council secretaries, the members of the election committees, the members of the Catalonian police force (Mossos d’Esquadra) and the representatives of the administration; and it regulates the expenditures of the Town Councils and election boards through the Electronic Management System which has been implemented by the Ministry of the Vice-Presidency and of Economy and Treasury.
The Royal Decree on additional norms for holding the 2017 Parliament of Catalonia elections contains 13 chapters, 32 articles, 2 additional provisions and 2 final provisions.
