Entrance to the Mansilla de las Mulas penal institution (León), in the archive image.J.Casares. (EFE)
The July 23 general election will also be held for inmates, although the ballot boxes do not make it to the jails. The three administrations that manage Spanish prisons – the Interior Ministry and the Justice Ministries of the Catalan and Basque governments – have taken measures to encourage inmate participation through postal voting, thereby reducing the high percentages of abstinence observed among prisoners so far . These measures include “information sessions” to explain the procedure and clarify any doubts.
In the April 2019 parliamentary elections, the most recent for which statistics were available from all Spanish prisons, 5,229 prisoners cast their ballots by post, 12.49% of the almost 42,000 prisoners who were eligible to vote at the time. The prison where this happened the most was Picassent Penitentiary Center (Valencia) with 1,900 inmates and 255 applications. In these elections, the average turnout in Spain was 75.75%, six times higher.
Now, the General Secretariat of Penitentiaries has sent an “instruction” to the directors of the prisons dependent on the Ministry of the Interior to make it easier for second-degree or ordinary regime prisoners with Spanish nationality to vote by mail on 23-J. Prisoners detained in the third or semi-free prison, or who receive exit permits over the weekend when the elections are held, can vote directly at the ballot box.
The directive incorporates the guidelines set out in both the Electoral Code and two Central Electoral Committee agreements of May 1993 and February 2000. The first stressed that inmates in prisons could exercise their right to vote by postal ballot if they met the necessary conditions. The second option allowed detainees who did not have an ID card to vote with another ID if it had a photo of them that could be used to verify their identity, such as that issued to detainees in prisons.
Interior stresses that the purpose of the directive is to make “the exercise of the right to vote” as easy as possible for all inmates, and therefore urges prison directors “that the information and understanding reach them all”. the sufficient advance”. To this end, they are reminded that they must post a copy of the articles of the Electoral Regulations Act governing postal voting “in the places provided and in a manner that ensures that the information reaches all interested parties”. rules.
In addition, prison officials are urged to “hold information sessions to explain to inmates the circumstances and conditions for exercising this right”. The text also reminds that inmates must have submitted an application for registration at the voting center before July 13. tenth day before the day of voting”. The Interior Ministry is ordering that prisons, in parallel, ask the Post to hand out voting papers to inmates and collect their votes in prisons, in accordance with an agreement reached by the Council of Ministers last March.
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Insightful talks are also taking place in the prisons dependent on the Catalan Generalitat, where voter turnout has so far been below average. According to sources from the Ministry of Justice, Rights and Remembrance, the number of prisoners participating in each poll varies between 250 and 300, representing between 7% and 9% of inmates eligible to vote. At the last general election in November 2019, 302 inmates did so (8.8% of those who had this right).
In his case, not only will steps be taken so that inmates are “well informed about the choices offered in these elections and can exercise their right to vote,” but it will also make it easier for postal voting to be processed for all inmates who do so. Apply without questioning whether you meet all the requirements. “In any case, if there is a problem (lack of nationality, suspension of voting rights, etc.), the electoral commission will act as appropriate,” government sources said.
In Euskadi, where 1,623 inmates are currently held, in the only elections held under the administration of the Basque government, the municipal elections on May 28, 155 prisoners demanded paperwork for voting by mail in the three Basque prisons, although one of them, according to the After all, they did not issue it to the Ministry for Equality, Justice and Social Policy. In the case of Basauri Prison (Bizkaia), where 25 inmates applied, the participation rate was 16% according to official statistics.
For these elections, those responsible for the Basque prisons publish information on the procedures and deadlines for exercising the right to vote, as well as excerpts from the electoral law, on the bulletin boards of the modules where the cells are located. In addition, the educators will be responsible for clearing any doubts the inmates may have, Basque Justice Ministry sources say.
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