Electoral Web Portal
Glossary
Glosssary of Parliamentary Terms
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- Early Dissolution :
- Dissolution ordered by the President of the Community, albeit with strict limits established by the Statute of the Autonomy, whereby it cannot be executed under the following circumstances: during the first session of the Parliamentary Term, less than one year prior to its end, during a motion of censure, when a state electoral process has been called or when less than a year has elapsed since the last Parliamentary Term.
- ELECTED CANDIDATE:
- Candidate who has obtained a seat in a specific electoral district.
- ELECTION ADMINISTRATION:
- Responsible for guaranteeing the transparency and objectivity of the electoral process, in addition to the principle of equality. It is comprised of the Central Electoral Board, Provincial Electoral Boards, Local Electoral Boards and, where possible, the Autonomous Community Electoral Boards, together with the voting tables.
- ELECTION CAMPAIGN:
- Period of time prior to the election day, the duration of which is established on notification of the elections and gives the candidates time to ask the electorate for their votes through public events and the press. General Electoral Regulations stipulate that said campaign shall have a duration of 15 days.
- ELECTION DAY:
- Day on which the voters can exercise their right to vote. Voting hours are from 9 am to 8 pm. As regards electoral operations, the day is divided into the following phases: opening of the tables (9 am), report on participation and vote count (from 8 pm).
- ELECTIONS:
- Process whereby the members of a chamber or parliament are renewed, being directly elected via popular vote. Strictly speaking, we are referring to elections as the voting day, thereby making a distinction between elections and the electoral process in general. In Spain, elections to the Spanish Parliament, European elections, elections to autonomic parliaments and municipal elections are held, in accordance with the scope of each.
- ELECTORAL ACCOUNTING:
- Registration of all electoral revenues and costs that must be carried out by all the political formations which participate in the electoral process.
- ELECTORAL BOARDS:
- Bodies created by the Electoral Administration to guarantee compliance with the regulations in force and equal opportunity. They record any complaints and disputes which may arise and, after the vote count, validate the transition from provisional to definitive results.
- ELECTORAL CERTIFICATE:
- Document issued by the electoral Administration which constitutes proof of a citizen's eligibility to vote, even if he/she is not registered at the table where he/she shall be exercising his/her right. The electoral roll of the table can be modified by means of said certificate.
- ELECTORAL DISTRICT:
- Group of voters, grouped together on a territorial basis, according to whose votes the seats are distributed. In European elections, this distribution is national; in general elections, this distribution is provincial; in autonomic elections, this distribution is at provincial level (with the exception of the insular autonomies, where distribution is at island level, and in Asturias and Murcia, where other divisions are made), and in municipal elections, this distribution is at municipal level.
- ELECTORAL FORMULA:
- Mathematical translation of the number of votes per candidacy into the corresponding seats. Within the proportional representation system, the main electoral formulas for seat attribution are: Saint-Lague's highest average, D'Hondt, highest remainder and combined formulas. The formula is applied individually to each electoral district.
- ELECTORAL JUDICIAL REVIEW:
- Judicial proceedings against the agreements reached by the electoral boards on the proclamation of the elected candidates, counted votes, etc. It has an immediate paralysing effect on the issue being processed.
- ELECTORAL LIST:
- Group of candidates whereby each candidacy competes to obtain the seats disputed in each electoral district. The seats of each candidacy are distributed internally in the listed order. When voters are allowed to change the order of appearance of the candidates (or add or remove), we refer to "open lists". In the opposite case (such as in Spain), the lists are closed.
- ELECTORAL NOTIFICATION:
- Action whereby the competent Administration summons the electoral body to exercise their right to vote on a determined date, with a calendar for the presentation of candidacies, proclamation, electoral campaign, etc.
- ELECTORAL OPERATIONS:
- Set of systems and equipment that execute the tasks corresponding to an electoral process. The Notifying Administration shall be responsible for ensuring said execution, with the help of external companies
- ELECTORAL PROCESS:
- Equivalent to the term "elections", in its broadest definition. It comprises the set of actions carried out during the time elapsed between the elections, proclamation of candidates and edition of the definitive results.
- ELECTORAL ROLL:
- Group of individuals who meet the requirements to be voters and who are not deprived of their right to vote. Said group is comprised of resident voters and non-resident voters (CERA, roll of Non-resident Nationals). The electoral roll is unique for all types of elections.
- ELECTORAL ROLL OF RESIDENTS WHO LIVE ABROAD (CERA) :
- Nationals living abroad and who vote at a consular office or by registered mail. There is a CERA roll in each electoral district, although these votes are not added to the provisional results.
- ELECTORAL ROLL OFFICE:
- Body in charge of forming the electoral roll. It is an administrative body within the National Statistics Institute (INE), with local branches in every province.
- ELECTORAL SYSTEM :
- Procedure whereby seats are allocated to the candidacies in accordance with the number of votes during elections. The electoral systems may be majority or proportional and, in turn, contain different seat allocation formulas. In Spain, the system in force since 1977 is that of proportional representation based on the D'Hondt formula (or rule).
- ELECTORAL WARD:
- Electoral unit into which an electoral district is divided, comprised of a maximum of 2,000 voters and a minimum of 500. In each ward there may be one or more voting tables. In the same manner, the wards are grouped in voting districts.
- ELIGIBLE :
- The person who exercises the right to vote. Eligible persons include Spaniards of legal age who, as voters, do not incur any of the causes of ineligibility established by law. In municipal elections and elections to the European Parliament, this right is extended to European Union residents living in Spain.
- EVE OF VOTING:
- Day before the election that signals the end of the electoral campaign, during which any kind of event or statement that could influence voting is prohibited.
- Expiry of Mandate :
- Expiry of mandate on completion of the four-year term established by the Statute of the Autonomous Community of Madrid.
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