Electoral tables May 26: how to know if it has touched you?

The municipal, regional and European elections of May 26 are approaching and the search for excuses not to go to a polling station begins, even more so considering that just a few days ago the general elections were held and they already had to be part of a table Although, it is convenient to take into account a series of keys for the 26-M. |

How to know if you have had to be a table?

According to the in its article 26, the formation of the tables is the responsibility of the City Councils, under the supervision of the Zone Electoral Boards. To do this, a public draw is carried out among all the people included in the list of voters of the corresponding Table who are not more than 70 years old and who know how to read and write. The draws are made between the twenty-fifth and twenty-ninth days after the announcement.

In the specific case of 26-M, the draw has been carried out especially on April 29 and 30, so that in subsequent days the consistories will notify the domicile of those designated of their obligation to be at a table. Although there are municipalities that publish the lists of those elected, they are not obliged to do so. For this reason, in most cases the only solution is to wait to receive or not the notification at home. Although this usually arrives three days after the draw, its delivery may be delayed, this circumstance not exempting you from going to the corresponding polling station on the day of the elections at 8:00 a.m. for the constitution of the table, whether you are a regular or a substitute.

Allegations for not being at a polling station

The catalog of excuses and assumptions that avoid being from sunrise to sunset at a polling station is very varied and is collected in the interpretation of article 27.3 of the LOREG. Anyone who makes a claim must do so before the Zone Electoral Board within seven days of receiving the notification.

Personal reasons that justify by themselves not being at the table:

– Be older than 65 and younger than 70 (apart from not knowing how to read or write).

– The situation of disability.

– The condition of absolute permanent disability and severe disability pensioner.

– The situation of temporary incapacity for work- Gestation after six months of pregnancy and the corresponding period of maternity leave, whether subsidized or not.

– Internment in penitentiary centers or in psychiatric hospitals.

– Having previously formed part of an Electoral Table, at least three times in the last ten years, provided that with the acceptance of this excuse the requirement (…) that an Electoral Table is made up of persons included in the the electoral list of that table.

– The condition, duly accredited, of victim of a crime, declared or presumed, by reason of which a judicial resolution has been issued that remains in force, by which a sentence or precautionary measure of prohibition of approximation is imposed, when the convicted or the investigated recipient of said prohibition is registered in the Census corresponding to one of the polling stations of the electoral college to which the polling station to which the applicant belongs belongs.

Personal reasons that justify not being at the table according to each specific case:

– The injury, ailment or physical or mental illness that, although it has not given rise to a declaration of incapacity for work, prevents the performance of the functions of a member of a polling station, or makes the exercise of such functions particularly difficult or arduous.

– The condition of total permanent disability pensioner for a certain profession.

– The situation of risk during the pregnancy during the first six months of the same – The forecast of surgical intervention or relevant clinical tests on the day of the vote, on the days immediately prior to it, or on the day following it, provided that they are unpostponable.

– Belonging to confessions or religious communities in which the ideology or the closure regime are contrary or incompatible with participation in a polling station.

– The change of habitual residence to a place located in another Autonomous Community when, in addition to said circumstance, the difficulty of being able to form part of a polling station is justified.

Causes related to family responsibilities:

– The condition of mother, during the period of natural or artificial lactation, until the baby is nine months old.

– Direct and continuous care, for legal guardianship reasons, of children under eight years of age or of people with physical, mental or sensory disabilities.

– The direct and continuous care of a family member up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity who, due to age, accident or illness, cannot fend for themselves.

– The concurrence on the day of the election of family events of special relevance, which cannot be postponed or in which the postponement causes significant economic damage, provided that the interested party is the protagonist or has a relationship with him up to the second degree of consanguinity .

– The condition of mother or father of minors under fourteen years of age, when it is proven that the other parent cannot take care of the minor during election day, and the interested party also lacks ascendants or other older children who can do so.

Causes related to professional responsibilities:

– Those who during the voting day must provide their services to the Electoral Boards, the Courts and the Public Administrations that are entrusted with electoral functions.

– Those who must provide essential community services of vital importance during election day, such as those of a medical, health, civil protection, fire-fighting nature, etc.

– The directors of the general information media and the heads of the information services that must cover election day.

– Professionals who must participate in public events to be held on voting day, which are planned prior to the electoral call, when the interested party cannot be replaced and his or her non-participation forces the event to be suspended, producing significant economic damage .

Can you touch the polling station twice in a row?

As pointed out in one of the previous assumptions, one of the allegations that can be made -without a certain result- is having been three times in the last ten years at polling stations. Therefore, the fact of having recently been at a table -for example on 28-A- is not an impediment for him to play again.

What happens if you don’t show up at a polling station?

Article 143 of the LOREG, relating to “crimes due to abandonment or non-compliance at the Electoral Tables” stipulates that “the President and the Members of the Electoral Tables as well as their respective alternates who cease to attend or perform their functions, abandon them without cause legitimate or fail to comply without just cause with the obligations of excuse or prior notice imposed by this Law, they will incur a prison sentence of three months to one year or a fine of six to twenty-four months.

Although most cases are resolved by a fine, those with a criminal record run the risk of facing prison sentences.