What to do if you do not receive your voting card in Camposol

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Voting cards have started to arrive at Correos and post boxes for those registered to take part in the municipal elections

For the last week voting cards have been arriving in post boxes and Correos for those ex-pat Brits who qualified to vote and registered in the window between December 1 2022 and January 15 2023 even if they had registered and voted in previous municipal or European elections.

When the UK actioned the result of the 2016 EU referendum and officially left the European Union on February 1 2020, UK ex-pats lost the status of EU Citizens and along with that the passive right to vote in municipal elections. Even though the British and Spanish Governments signed a reciprocal voting agreement similar to other countries including Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Iceland, Korea, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and New Zealand, like the citizens of these countries UK citizens living in Spain had to register under a different procedure.

The procedure requires any UK Citizen who qualifies to vote. The qualification stipulations are that the prospective voter must be a resident of Spain with a current registered address via the padrón in the municipality where they live, must have resided in Spain for a minimum period of 3 uninterrupted years and must register the wish to vote within the registration period. 

For the municipal elections occuring on May 28 failure to register during the window specified means individuals will not be entered on to the electoral register and are inelligible to vote even if they have voted in previous elections. There was also an opportunity for people who did register to check the electoral register at the Town Hall between April 10 and 17 and appeal any inconsistances. 

A voting card, or Tarjeta Censal, identifies the voter and gives the location and voting table where they are registered to cast their vote. If you registered to vote in the stipulated period and do not receive the Tarjeta Censal you can still vote.

Voters residing on Camposol who have received their Tarjeta Censal to vote in person should attend the Centro de Iniciativas Municipales de Empleo (CIME), Avda Constitucion 65, Mazarrón Town between 9.00 and 20.00 on Sunday May 28. As well as the Tarjeta Censal voters should take proof of ID in the form of TIE Card, Passport or Spanish driving licence. All these documents must be originals, photocopies are not valid, and must contain a photograph of the owner. Voting will be in 3 sections with 2 tables per section. Those with surnames starting with letters between A and L should go to Mesa (Table) A, those with surnames starting with letters M to Z should go to Mesa (Table) B.

Registered voters residing on Camposol who have not received their Tarjeta Censal and wish to vote should attend the same voting station taking the acknowledgement of registration (if available) plus proof of ID in the form of TIE Card, Passport or Spanish driving licence. All these documents must be originals, photocopies are not valid, and must contain a photograph of the owner. The voting table designation is the same as above.

To assist those who may have transport problems a coach service from Camposol to Mazarrón has been arranged as follows:

Departure from Camposol Sector B car park opposite the petrol station: 11:00hrs and 14:00hrs drop-off near Plaza de la Purisima, collection same place 12:30 and 15:30.

The coach has been organised by the PSOE political party.

For more local news, events and other information go to the home page of Camposol Today.