Shorter elections if Congress fails to confirm a candidate

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The bill would regulate, for the first time, elections called automatically when two months pass from the first investiture vote without any candidate winning the confidence of the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados).
2. The electoral process would last 47 days instead of the usual 54, and the election would be held on the 47th day after the call. The call decree would be published and take effect the same day it is issued.
3. The campaign would be shortened to eight days, instead of the fifteen in ordinary processes, and would always end at midnight on the day before the vote.
4. Repeating the election would be easier: electoral boards would be reconstituted with the same members, party representatives and administrators could keep their previous appointments, and parties without parliamentary representation would not need to gather support signatures again if they already did so in the immediately preceding election.
5. Spanish voters living abroad who already requested their ballot in the previous election would not need to request it again, as long as they remain registered in the overseas residents census.
6. State subsidies for campaign expenses would be cut by 30 percent and the campaign spending cap for candidates by 50 percent. Free airtime on public media would also be cut in half.
7. Public contracts linked to these elections would be declared urgent and processed under the exceptional regime of Article 113 of the Public Sector Contracts Law.
8. Parties with representation would commit to pushing an agreement to minimize spending on commercial outdoor advertising in these elections. The law would take effect the day after its publication in the official state gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado).

Who it affects

• Voters: They would vote in elections with a shorter calendar and an eight-day campaign.
• Parties and candidates: They would face shorter deadlines to file candidacies and would receive smaller subsidies and a lower spending cap.
• Spanish citizens living abroad: They would not have to request their ballot again if they already did so in the previous election.
• Electoral administration: Its boards would be reconstituted with their previous members, and it could extend or shorten deadlines exceptionally and with reasons.

Words worth knowing

Investidura (investiture)

Vote by which the Congress grants (or denies) confidence to a candidate for prime minister.

Junta Electoral (electoral board)

Body that ensures elections follow the law. There is a central board plus provincial and zone boards.

Censo de electores residentes-ausentes

Register of Spaniards living abroad who can vote from there.

Disposición adicional (additional provision)

A section at the end of a law that adds supplementary rules to those in its articles.

It summarizes the text passed by the full Congreso. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries