Spain’s basic election board has agreed to send electoral papers to everyone registered in the Censo Electoral de Residentes Ausentes (CERA) for the 29 November election. The Supreme Court’s suspension, but, prevents some registrants from voting.
Voters abroad no longer need to request ballots in advance under Spain’s former voto rogado system. The Junta Electoral Central (JEC) says papers must reach registrants who are not covered by the court’s order.
More than 160,000 people on the register acquired Spanish nationality through the Ley de Memoria Democrática. JEC sources cited by RTVE said papers must reach those who are not covered by the Supreme Court’s order.
The ruling draws a narrow line: it concerns a specific route to nationality under the first paragraph of Additional Provision 8 of Spain’s Law 20/2022 on Democratic Memory, not everyone naturalised under the law. Some people covered by the suspension can still vote if consular officials certify, under their own responsibility, that they meet the court’s conditions.
The certificate must confirm that, by 1 August 2026, the person had obtained nationality by documenting that they were the child or grandchild of exiles for reasons covered by the Ley de Memoria Democrática. The court recognizes political or ideological grounds, as well as exile linked to belief or sexual identity. It rejects the broader standard in the later instruction.
The Supreme Court imposed the precautionary measures on 10 September 2026. On 12 October, it rejected the State Attorney’s request to overturn them, leaving them in force. The court barred the National Statistics Institute and the Electoral Office under it from registering new applicants who obtained nationality through the specified provision. It also suspended the electoral effects of registrations already made for this election.
The dispute turns on the Government’s instruction that exile status would be presumed for all Spaniards who left Spain between 1936, the start of the civil war, and 1955, during the dictatorship of general Francisco Franco. Royal Decree 806/2026, dated 5 October, called the election to the Cortes Generales, which is scheduled for 29 November.
For Spanish voters abroad, the immediate issue is whether they are eligible: does the Supreme Court’s test apply to their nationality documents? The distinction also appears in a report on Morocco's election abstention. The court’s order affects participation in this election; it does not cancel nationality.
Provincial delegations of the Oficina del Censo Electoral send papers to CERA registrants. For the 29N election, the first dispatches are scheduled from 24 to 30 October, with ballot papers to follow in November.
