2023-07-22 12:17:27
Elections in the middle of summer have boosted voting by mail to unprecedented numbers. According to the definitive data provided by Correos, 2,471,935 voters have cast their ballots by correspondence, which represents 94.2% of the applications accepted, which amounted to 2,622,808, so that 150,873 Spaniards who asked to vote early have not finally delivered their ballots (according to this newspaper has learned, 116,467 have not even come to collect the envelopes from the couriers after not being able to provide them with the documentation by hand because they were not at the indicated address).
Correos emphasizes that the 94.2% of admitted applications that have resulted in votes is the highest percentage reached in a general election since 2008, the first year with approved statistical records.
Madrid is in the lead with 592,241 admitted, that is, almost one in four of the total. They are followed by Andalusia (377,678), Catalonia (251,324) and the Basque Country (204,815).
In Castilla y León (171,126), the Valencian Community (170,518), Galicia (139,068) and Castilla-La Mancha (102,903) the number of votes by mail has also skyrocketed, which in Aragon has recorded 88,731 early votes, in the Canary Islands 79,745 and in Extremadura, 59,069. Asturias (53,799), Murcia (49,111), Navarra (44,908), the Balearic Islands (34,355), Cantabria (22,283), La Rioja (19,897) and the autonomous cities of Ceuta (5,262) and Melilla (5,102) complete the list.
The data for 23J represent a very high increase compared to previous elections, which is 99.08% more than the last general elections held on April 28, 2019 (1,241,716) and 82.06% more than those registered on June 26, 2016 (1,357,745), until now the historical record in the number of votes by mail. In fact, the 2,622,808 applications accepted also represent a historical record.
Until Friday at 2:00 p.m.
Correos shows off its chest for having provided applicants for voting by mail with 100% of the electoral documentation, either by delivering it by hand at home or by notifying them to be picked up at the Post Office.
The difference between requests and votes admitted, he points out, stands at 5.8%, the lowest ratio recorded in all electoral processes. In April 2019, for example, that percentage was 7.8%; 6.6% in June 2016, with the average standing at 7.3% taking into account all the general elections held since 2008.
During the morning shift, Correos must deliver all these envelopes to the 60,314 polling stations spread over the 22,562 polling stations throughout Spain, which will be handled by more than 14,000 employees, including delivery personnel, offices and treatment centers.
The Central Electoral Board (JEC) agreed last Thursday – as requested by PP and Vox, a petition to which the Post Office joined in extremis in the face of the numerous changes of address notified by voters who had not received their documentation at home and were going on vacation – to extend until 2:00 p.m.
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