VFR

My Spanish licence also only has my NIE number.

scampicat

I replied to Lenox that we would take our passports.

The other bit was meant to be humourous!

(And I don't even HAVE a Spanish licence. Also the Mayor came round personally today with some of the other candidates and gave us his electoral list. So he knows where we live as well! - NB, that last bit was meant to be funny too ).

pwwm

We have met all the candidates and will be voting. at least then you have a right to complain, if you dont vote then you have no right to complan, like all those expats that do not register at the Ayuntamiento, they tend to be the first to moan.

scampicat

Don't like Complan anyway.










I'll get me coat.

scampicat

Well we voted. We took our voting cards and out-of-date residencia cards and passports as ID. As I suspected, no-one even looked at the ID. The person in charge of the ballot box was our neighbour and he told the clerk our names and read the number from our voting card. The clerk then crossed our names off the list. In this village everybody knows everybody else, so they know it is not somebody masquerading as someone else..

EsuriJohn

Well we have been and voted and one felt 18 again since it is so different to UK. More like the 60's with the GC guard on the gate. However once inside it was more relaxed and we were welcomed by Janice who told us how the process inside the station works. The poll clarks were outnumbered by the party reps but it was clear who was in charge and the lady behind the clear plastic poll box speaks some English so it was really very easy.

A word of warning the polling station is not in the infants school directly opposite Mercadonna it is about 100m futher down the hill past the BP station turn right and it is immediately on the left you won't miss it a very smart GC officer is at the gate of the senior school.

Remember we have one chance in four years to make a difference today is that day, the world did not end last night so lets make it better for the next four years Vote today!!!

Rosemary

The most difficult part of the voting process is getting to the table. By the time you have had a few words with everyone who insist on hanging around to chat to each other the actual voting takes no time, getting out of the place is the next hurdle. Our town as usual seems to be out in force so even walking to and fro was quite a time consuming process. The girl who took our names was determined to say them correctly so quietly asked me how to say the surname but did not tell others so this gave her the opportunity to laugh at her colleagues attempts. I always resisted voting in the UK (did it but not willingly) but here it is a very pleasant and friendly event, well lets face it they do seem to be able to turn most things into a good event. Surprised that our band were not playing though because they seem to enjoy playing so much that they play anywhere any time they can. On second thoughts a lot of the band were manning the tables. Great atmosphere.

Rosemary

Rosemary

What I appreciate with the Spanish system of voting is the anonymity, there is no way for anyone to know for whom one has voted. In GB all ballot papers have a unique identifier, or did last time I vored there. The excuse that I was given by a returning officer in GB was that a person could be prosecuted for deliberately spoiling their ballot paper.
Many years ago I phoned my preferred local party HQ to complain that no candidate ever called upon us only to be told that they knew that we voted for them and they wanted to concentrate on voters that did not. It sort of put me off my belief in the GB "secret ballot."
The downside of the Spanish system is the massive waste of paper and for us, all electioneering information being in Valenciano.

Graham

Lynn R

I found the process quite painless, although I thought they had at least twice as many people officiating as were really necessary - including one whose sole function appeared to be holding an envelope over the slot in the ballot box and moving it out of the way when someone wanted to post their ballot form!

They did check my ID and the guy had about 4 goes at pronouncing my name, I didn't like to correct him so just nodded and smiled! He also had no clue where to find my photograph in the passport, opened it at the front and stared at a blank page, until I helped him out. Why do I get the feeling not many foreign residents bother to vote?

siesta

What?! I'd heard something similar before but then talking to more people about it and asking them, they said it wasn't sure. So when you vote in the UK, your name is linked to a single ballot? Basically, your vote is not secret and they keep records of your votes??! I'm astonished if that's so. Could you explain please?

Those who mention too many people at the mesas, those were probably the interventores. Political parties send people to control the whole process. Sometimes there are too many of those!

Lynn R

In the UK, political parties keep records of people within their constituencies or local council wards who have indicated, when canvassed, that they will vote for that particular party. On polling day, they organise a rota of volunteers who sit outside the polling station and ask people, as they are leaving, if they would mind giving their name. Those records are taken back to the party's committe rooms periodically throughout the day and cross-checked against the canvassing records. Theoretically, the party can then see those people who have promised to vote for them but have not yet been to vote, and they then concentrate their last minute canvassing efforts on them, often turning up at their door with a car and offering to drive them to the polling station! I know, I've been there and done it, both taking numbers and organising the party committee rooms on the day.

Of course it's far from a perfect system as people will give false promises about who they will be voting for, and they are under no obligation to give their names to the people outside the polling station either.

Rosemary

I´m afraid that is the whole of my story, you know as much as I do do now.

Graham

Rosemary

The problem is that I never told anyone who I vote for not even my wife, it´s the way I was brought up after my grandmother was always ordered to vote labour by my grandfather. Until in a fit of pique I contacted my local party HQ I had never divulged who I voted for, the same applies now it has nothing to do with anyone else.

Graham

EsuriJohn

That guy is the most important chap in the polling station the poll clerk he is their to make sure you do not try to "stuff" the vote by placing more than one envelope in the box most of the others wear a tag which denotes which party they represent and are there to ensure that people who vote are properly entitled to do so on the voters list. So each party checks the clerk marking you off on the list

EsuriJohn

I always tell those who ask on an exit that I voted for the party who's favour they are not wearing just for fun.