Postal vote in Spain's 29 November election: deadlines, how to apply and how to send it

Apply for a postal vote by Thursday 19 November 2026 at any Correos post office, in person with your original DNI, passport or driving licence, or online on the Correos website with a digital certificate or electronic DNI. The papers reach you by registered post between 9 and 22 November, and you must hand your vote in at Correos by Wednesday 25 November, free of charge. Once your application is accepted, you can no longer vote in person on Sunday 29 November. Only Spanish citizens on the electoral roll can vote in this election.

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I have applied: can I still vote in person?

No. Once the census office accepts your application, it marks the electoral roll so that you do not vote in person (electoral law, article 73). According to the official manual for the 29 November polling tables, a "C" appears next to your name and, if you turn up, the table will not let you vote.

So once you have applied, voting by post is the only way left: if the papers have not arrived by 22 November, check the mailing and call the census office.

How to apply in person at Correos

• Where and until when: at any Correos post office, from the day the election was called (6 October) until 19 November, both included.
• What to bring: your original DNI, passport or driving licence, with a photo. Correos staff check your identity and signature; photocopies are never accepted.
• The form: fill it in at the office, or beforehand on the INE's website, with no certificate or Cl@ve. In that case print it twice, sign it and take it to Correos: an application that is not handed in at a post office is not processed.
• If you are ill: if illness or incapacity stops you from going, someone else can apply for you with a notarised (or consular) authorisation and an official medical certificate, which is free. Each authorisation covers one voter, and no one can represent more than one.

How to apply online

On the Correos website, with a digital certificate or an electronic DNI; the Interior Ministry adds that you need the AutoFirma app installed. You fill in your details, sign the request electronically and, at the end, download the application.

What about Cl@ve? Neither Correos, the Interior Ministry nor the INE mentions Cl@ve for the online postal-vote application (checked on 5 November 2026): only a digital certificate or electronic DNI. Without a certificate, fill in the form on the INE's website and take the printout to Correos.

When the papers arrive, and what if you are out

• When: the census office sends them by registered post between 9 and 22 November, to the address you gave. According to the INE, it waits until challenges to the candidate lists are settled, by 12 November.
• What is inside: the ballot papers and voting envelopes, your census certificate, an envelope addressed to your polling table and an instruction sheet.
• You sign for them yourself: the postman hands them to you, after checking your ID. If you are out, you get a notice and must collect them in person at the post office it names. If you are ill, the person holding your notarised authorisation can do it.
• If they do not arrive: check the status of the mailing on the INE's tracking service, with your DNI or passport number and date of birth, or call the census office's free line, 900 343 232.

How to vote and hand in your vote at Correos

• Vote: put the ballot of the list you choose for Congress in the white voting envelope. On the Senate ballot, mark the candidates you choose, following the instructions printed on it, and put it in the sepia envelope.
• Pack it: the envelope addressed to the table holds the voting envelopes and your census certificate. Do not forget it: according to the official manual for polling tables, an envelope without the certificate is destroyed and does not even count as a spoilt vote.
• Hand it in by Wednesday 25 November at a Correos post office, during normal opening hours, showing ID. It goes by registered post and costs nothing.
• If you cannot go, someone else can take it with an authorisation signed by you and a photocopy of your DNI, passport or other official ID. Correos has a model authorisation.
• E-mail confirmation: new this time, if you give an e-mail address when you hand in your vote, Correos tells you when it reaches the table on polling day.
• On the 29th, Correos takes the votes to the tables at 9:00. At 20:00, after the last voter, the table opens them one by one, checks the certificate and puts the envelopes in the ballot boxes.

Postal vote calendar for 29 November

Who can vote by post

Any voter who will not be in the town where they vote on polling day, or who cannot go in person, for example because of illness or disability (electoral law, article 72). Spaniards registered as living abroad (CERA) who are temporarily in Spain can also apply at Correos within the same deadline. Foreign residents, EU citizens included, cannot vote in a general election, by post or otherwise.

If you live or are abroad

• Temporarily abroad (ERTA): the deadline to request your vote at the consulate was 31 October. The INE sends the papers between 3 and 9 November (until 17 November if lists are challenged) and the vote goes back by registered post by 25 November.
• Living abroad (CERA): no application is needed; the papers are sent automatically. Post your vote to the consulate by 24 November, or put it in the consulate's ballot box from 21 to 26 November. Do not send it straight to the provincial electoral board: according to the INE, votes that do not come through the consulate are void.
• CERA voters who are in Spain: you can apply for a postal vote at Correos until 19 November, like any resident voter.

Every deadline for voters abroad is on the INE's page for 29 November (in Spanish).

Everything else about 29 November (where you vote, hours, ID, the full calendar): how to vote in the 29 November election.

Keep reading

• How to vote in Catalonia
• Polling-station duty in Spain
• General election candidates in Catalonia
• Election night: results times and the count
• General election results in Catalonia