Make your Vote count in 2011
All EU residents, on the Padron in Spain have a right to vote in the Local Elections. If you voted back in 2007, you’ll probably find your name is still on the list, or at least it should be! Sometimes, computer glitches and upgrades can wipe your names off the record so it’s worth checking but, you must do it before December 31, 2010, for the May 22, 2011 elections.
On November 18 there was a presentation entitled ‘Did you Know…. The Municipal Padron and your right to Vote’, in Torrevieja’s Music Palace. Next May 2011, elections take place in Spain to decide who will govern the hundreds of town halls (Ayuntamientos) throughout the whole country, not to mention regional and national government, for which only the Spanish can vote for.
Registering on the municipal census, the “PADRON”, is a legal obligation to all those who reside anywhere in Spain. Not only is the ‘padron’ a form of municipal census, it is the basis upon which investment from national and regional government is allocated and is the means through which residents can obtain local services. In fact, being registered on the municipal ‘padron’ is essential when soliciting most social services and benefits.
One of the most important issues is that registration on the ‘padron’ in itself does not automatically entitle a non-Spanish E.U. resident to vote in the elections, you must inform the the "Statistics Office" (Oficina de Estadistica) of the Ayuntamineto of Torrevieja, situated in Calle Union Musical Torrevejense, (the office where one signs on the 'padron'). Their staff suggest that the most convenient time, with less waiting, is on Thursdays and Fridays of each week, during the hours of 08.00h and 14.00h. All applications to register to vote should be made BEFORE 31 December 2010, plus it’s a perfect opportunity to get yourself a new and updated copy of your pardon.
The statistics office will receive enquiries from he following groups of residents:
1. Those EU residents who did not vote in the last municipal elections in 2007. (i.e. those 'new' residents who have registered on the padron since May 2007). In this case it is *IMPERATIVE* that the resident calls at the Statistics office and makes a PERSONAL APPLICATION *SOLICITING the RIGHT* *TO VOTE.*
2. Any resident who may have any doubt as to whether their name is included on the Electoral Register.
