REGISTERING TO VOTE

Next year will see Municipal Elections here on the Orihuela Costa, and this will give the you the opportunity to express your views through the ballot box.

The first and most important step is to make sure that you know what your official postal address is, as all official communications will only be sent by post to that official postal address.

In order to vote, each individual must be properly registered to be able to do so. If you are not already registered for voting, or are not sure whether or not you are registered, here is a guide of how to do it.
 

If you do not know, or are not sure whether you are registered to vote, you should check to see. Just go to the Padron desk at the Town Hall and ask.
 

If you are registered on the Padron, you will then be able to confirm that they have your full postal address correctly and that the Padron register is right up to date with your details. You are well advised to request a new copy of your Padron at this time.
 

If you are not registered on the Padron, to be able to do so you need to be an official resident in Spain, having either a residency card or the new residency certificate. This certificate is easily obtained from the National Police office at the Town Hall. Just go the National Police Office, make an appointment and the simple procedure will be explained to you.
 

Once you have obtained your Residency Certificate, take it together with your Passport, a recent water or electricity bill, and your Escritura or Rental Contract (in Spanish), plus of course copies of these documents, to the Padron Desk at the Town Hall, where you will be able to register on the Padron.
 

Your Padron Certificate will be issued to you at this time and you should there and then ask to register to vote. Each individual wishing to register to vote must do so in person, and the forms have to be completed and signed on the spot, at the time of application.
 

NOTE – all documents produced for any of these applications must be the originals, and you will need two copies of each for retention by the Authorities.
 

Of course if you already have the documents required to register to vote, you can take them (and copies), and go to the Padron Desk to register right away.
 

You do not have to wait until nearer the time of the elections, in fact right now is a good time to register to vote as the Town Hall is relatively quiet before the onset of the late Spring and Summer period, when they tend to get much busier and the queues start to form.
 

Once formally registered to vote, you will at the appropriate times, receive all official communications to your official

postal address of when, where, and how to vote in your local municipal elections.
 

PUMA22 are of the opinion that local voting is extremely important if you want to have some influence on the way we are treated, what we want for our Community, and of course to improve the place where we live. Those seeking election are well aware of just how many thousands of non Spanish residents there are here on the Costa and what their votes could mean for them.
 

How you vote when the time comes is of course entirely a matter for you, and PUMA22 will not be endorsing any political party at any time, but we do think it extremely important that we should all vote, and make our feelings felt.