Skip to content

Where are you from?

Choose your province and we will tell you how the deputies and senators you elected vote, one by one.

 

We remember it in this browser. If you create an account, we keep it there.
Sign in

Type a law, a topic, a person or a province.

What it is

So Spaniards abroad get voting materials without having to request them

Admitted step 2 of 7 · Unfinished

It is a members’ bill. Introduced by parliamentary groups, the Senate, regional governments or citizens. It was introduced on 14 January 2016. Introduced by: Grupo Parlamentario Socialista.

Official title: Private member's bill for an Organic Law reforming Organic Law 5/1985, of June 19, on the General Electoral Regime, to facilitate the exercise of the vote by Spaniards abroad.

Follow this law

Source: Congreso de los Diputados, file 122/000003· updated 11 Nov

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

  1. The bill responds to the drop in voter turnout among Spaniards living abroad since the 2011 reform: in the November 2011 elections, 4.95% of the registered non-resident census voted, compared with 31.74% in 2008.
  2. The bill would remove the request-based system for voting by Spaniards on the non-resident census, meaning they would no longer need to ask for the voting documents.
  3. The Provincial Offices of the Electoral Census Office would automatically send these voters the ballots, envelopes, two registration certificates, and envelopes addressed to the Electoral Board and the consulate.
  4. The law would take effect the day after its publication in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado).

Who it affects

  • Spaniards registered on the non-resident voter census: They would automatically receive all the documents needed to vote, without having to request them.
  • Provincial Offices of the Electoral Census Office: They would be required to automatically send ballots, envelopes, and certificates to those voters.
  • Consular offices and diplomatic missions: One of the envelopes in the mailed package would be addressed to them.

Words worth knowing

Voto rogado (request-based voting)
A system where voters must first request the documents in order to vote; the bill would abolish this requirement.
Censo de electores residentes-ausentes (non-resident voter census)
The list of Spaniards living outside Spain who can vote from abroad.
De oficio (automatically, ex officio)
Without anyone asking; the administration acts on its own initiative.
Proposición de ley orgánica (organic law bill)
A text submitted to the Congress of Deputies to amend a law affecting fundamental rights; it is not yet an approved law.

It summarizes the text as it was introduced. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries

Where it stands

How far did it get?

It took 2 of 7 steps. It reached Admitted, and today it is unfinished.

  1. Introduced14 January 2016Someone registers the text in the Congreso.
  2. Admitted2 February 2016The Bureau of the Congreso accepts it and, for a members’ bill, the plenary decides whether to consider it.
  3. Amendmentsnot reachedGroups propose changes.
  4. Committeenot reachedA committee goes through the text in detail.
  5. Plenarynot reachedAll 350 deputies vote.
  6. Senatenot reachedThe Senate can pass it, amend it or veto it.
  7. BOEnot reachedIt is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and comes into force.
See the 6 official steps on a timeline
Jan 2016Feb 2016Mar 2016Apr 201611. 14 January 2016: Presentación22. 2 February 2016: Boletín Oficial de las Cortes Generales Publicación desde 02/02/2016 hasta 10/02/201633. 2 February 2016: Calificación44. 10 February 2016: Gobierno Contestación desde 10/02/2016 hasta 17/03/201655. 17 March 2016: Pleno Toma en consideración desde 17/03/2016 hasta 03/05/201666. 3 May 2016: Concluido - (Caducado) desde 03/05/2016 hasta 20/05/2016

Was there a plenary vote?

We have no plenary vote linked to this law in the Congreso’s data.

What happens next

What happens now?

The legislature ended before it finished. To go on, someone would have to introduce it again in the new Cortes.

It was presented again:

Presented before in:

Sources

Where does all this come from?

  • The data comes from the open files of the Congreso, the Senate and the BOE, unaltered.
  • Each deputy’s province is the one of their seat on the day of the vote.
  • We only say “passed” or “rejected” when the majority needed is certain; otherwise we say which side had more votes.

Read the full method · Report an error