Glossari
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Polling station committees
Basic unit of the electoral process corresponding to the alphabetical subdivision of the electoral roll section. It is also the electoral administration body consisting of a chair and two members and accredited observers where voters on its electoral roll cast their ballots.
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Postal voting
Ballot cast by post by voters who for whatever reason believe they will not be able to get the polling station on the day of the election. They must have previously submitted an application at their provincial office of the Electoral Roll Office. The Post Office is required to store postal votes addressed to the polling station committees, take them to the polling station at 9 am and add any others it receives up until 8 pm.
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Provisional count
Counting of votes carried out by each polling station committee when the polling stations close. The chair announces that voting has finished and the ballot boxes are opened and the votes counted. The polling station committee draws up the record with the final result, and gives a copy of it to the representative appointed by the administration who reports the data to the information collection centre.
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Provisional results
Results that the government calling the election provides on election night from a processing centre set aside for this purpose. Even though the count is closed when 100% of the votes have been counted, the figures remain provisional until the electoral commissions have confirmed them.
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Radio and television commission
Body run by the Central Electoral Commission which proposes the distribution of free party political broadcasts.
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Referendum
Electoral consultation in which voters are asked about one or more issues and in which the only possible answers are yes or no.
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Register of absent residents (CERA)
People living abroad and eligible to vote in certain types of elections. They can vote in a ballot box at the consular office or by post. Their votes are not included in the provisional count.
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Results report
Set of documents that contain regular information (votes, seats, etc.) from the vote count in the form of charts, tables, graphs or otherwise on paper or on computer media.
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Seat
Unit in the parliament or chamber for which an election is held. The aim of the election is to assign seats in the chamber to the various lists based on the number of votes they receive and an electoral formula for allocating seats.
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Spoilt ballots
Ballots cast in an envelope or ballot papers that are different from the official model, ballot papers not in an envelope, envelopes containing more than one ballot paper for different lists (if they contain a number of ballot papers for the same list they are counted as a single valid vote), ballots cast in altered envelopes, ballot papers where the names of the candidates have been changed, added to or crossed out or the order of the list has been changed, and ballot papers where any kind of writing has been added or there has been any voluntary or intentional alteration. In elections for the Senate ballot papers where more than three names have been chosen are considered to be spoilt.
