CAN I REFUSE TO BE A MEMBER OF AN ELECTORAL BOARD?

01/02/2021

Going to the polls is a duty and the law provides for financial penalties - up to 1,800 euros - and even prison sentences - between three months and a year - for those who do not show up at the polling station on election day. .
Allegations may be submitted, within seven days of receipt of the notification, to the relevant JEZ (Zone Electoral Board), which should decide with guarantee and proportionality criteria taking into account the exceptional situation caused by the pandemic.
A waiver application must be submitted to the appropriate JEZ. The document can be requested at the JEZ headquarters. The DNI, NIE or driver's license, a photocopy of the appointment as a member of the electoral board, as well as the necessary documentation, as the case may be, such as medical certificates from the CAP or hospitals or labor, such as a company certificate. The JEZ has five days to resolve the allegations and to report the resignation of a board member to the first alternate.
CASES OF AUTOMATIC ACCEPTANCE
-Be over sixty-five years old and under seventy years old.
-Situation of disability.
-Condition of pensioner of absolute permanent disability and severe disability.
-Situation of sick leave.
-Pregnant women from the sixth month or on maternity leave.
-Prisoned or admitted to psychiatric hospitals.
-Have been part of an electoral board in at least three elections in the last ten years.
-Condition of victim of a crime, declared or presumed, by which there is a judicial resolution in force that imposes a penalty or precautionary measure of prohibition of approach, in the case that the convicted or investigated addressee is registered in the census of the col · Electoral law.
FAMILY REASONS:
-The condition of being a mother with a dependent child for the first nine months.
-Care for children under eight or people with physical, mental or sensory disabilities.
-Care of a relative - up to a second degree - who, due to age, accident or illness, cannot fend for himself.
PROFESSIONAL REASONS:
-Workers who have to provide services to the electoral boards, the courts and the public administration, when they have electoral functions.
-Workers who have to provide essential services, of a medical nature, Civil Protection, firefighters, etc.
-Directors of the general information media and heads of the information services that are to cover the election day.
-Professionals who have to participate in public events on election day, scheduled prior to the election call, when the interested party cannot be replaced or the fact of not participating in it forces to suspend the event and this causes economic damage relevant.
PERSONAL REASONS:
-Injury, discomfort or physical or mental illness that prevents you from performing the functions of a member of a board normally. There does not need to be a sick leave, but a medical certificate accrediting it.
-Condition of pensioner of total permanent disability for a certain profession.
-Risky pregnancy situation during the first six months.
-Provision of surgery or relevant medical tests on election day.
-Belonging to denominations or religious communities whose ideology is incompatible with participation in a polling station.
-Change of habitual residence to a place located outside the territory where elections are held.
-Celebration of family events of special relevance that are unavoidable or that the postponement causes significant financial damage.
-A condition of mother or father of a child under the age of fourteen, when the other parent or older sibling or relative cannot take care of the child during the working day.