It has now been a month since Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that the general election would be moved up to Sunday, November 29. In preparation for the election, an extraordinary plenary session was held last Thursday, October 29, at Madrid City Hall, during which the regular members and alternates for the polling stations that will be set up on November 29 at the city’s 437 polling places were selected via an electronic lottery.
The lottery selects nine voters per polling station (that is, 3,933 in total): one chairperson, two members, and six alternates (two for each of the three positions). Any citizen under the age of 70 who is registered to vote and can read and write may be selected to serve at a polling station, although those aged 65 or older but under 70 may request an exemption.
After the drawing, the selected voters are notified within three days. In Madrid, in addition to receiving physical notification at their home address if they have been selected, citizens can also check whether they have been appointed as members or chairs of a polling station through the City Council’s online portal.
Reasons for requesting an exemption from serving on a polling station
If you have been selected, it is your legal obligation to report to your polling station. However, if for any reason you are unable to serve on the polling station staff on November 29, you have seven days from the date you receive the notification at your home address to file an appeal with your local Electoral Board.
However, not just any reason will do. The request must be based on one of the grounds considered by the Central Electoral Board as justified impediments, which must also be accompanied by supporting documentation. The Board then rules on the case within five days and notifies the first alternate of the substitution if it deems the excuse valid.
Among the valid reasons recognized by the Central Electoral Board, in addition to age, are pregnancy from the sixth month onward, having a disability (regardless of its severity), being on medical leave from work, being incarcerated in a correctional facility or admitted to a psychiatric hospital, or certain professional or family circumstances, such as caring for children under the age of twelve or for people with disabilities.
Those who have previously served on a polling station committee at least three times in the last ten years are also exempt from participating. The complete list of grounds for exemption, along with the documentation that must be submitted to verify them, is available on the Central Electoral Board’s website.