Barcelona Moves Early on Election Day Assignments

Barcelona City Council has completed the public lottery to appoint citizens to polling stations for the upcoming general election on Sunday 29th November 2026. The draw, held on Saturday 31st October, assigned 15,336 people to serve across 1,704 polling stations citywide. Each station requires a president and two members, plus two substitutes per role, meaning nine individuals are selected per station under the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG). The council advanced the draw, which was legally due by Wednesday 4th November, to ensure timely processing of notifications.

How to Check If You’ve Been Selected

From Monday 2nd November, selected residents began receiving a registered letter from Correos (the Spanish postal service), along with a guide outlining their duties. Recipients have exactly seven days from the date of receipt to submit appeals or justification for exemption to their District Electoral Board (JEZ). Those eager to confirm their status before the letter arrives can check via:

  • Phone: Calling the city’s free citizen service line 010 and providing personal details.
  • Online: Logging into the municipality’s Virtual Office of Procedures using digital identification (idCAT Mòbil, Cl@ve, or electronic DNI), then accessing ‘Personal Space’ and the ‘Electoral Roll Data’ section.

If the postman misses delivery, a notice will be left to collect the letter from the nearest post office.

Compensation and Work Adjustments

Principal members, presidents and members, are required to arrive by 8:00 a.m. on election day and remain until voting and vote counting conclude, often past 8:00 p.m. For this duty, they receive €75. Employed individuals are entitled to paid leave on the Sunday and a five-hour reduction in working hours on Monday the 30th. Substitutes must also attend at 8:00 a.m. but may leave once the polling station is fully constituted. Unlike principal members, they receive no financial compensation if not called upon.

Under LOREG, all selected citizens must attend at 8:00 a.m., one hour before polls open, regardless of whether they are ultimately needed.

Failure to attend without a valid excuse is a criminal offence punishable by fines or up to one year in prison. However, several legal grounds allow for exemption:

  • Age 65–69: May decline directly by notifying the JEZ within seven days.
  • Disability: A recognised disability assessed at 33% or more under the Spanish grading system.
  • Repeated service: Having served on a polling station three times in the past ten years.
  • Essential workers: Doctors, firefighters, and others on emergency duty.
  • Family care: Responsibility for minors, sick relatives, or newborns.
  • Recent or scheduled surgery: Medical documentation required.
  • Relocation: Moving to another autonomous community, even if still registered locally.
  • Pre-booked travel: Holidays arranged before the election was called, though less common in late November.

Pregnant women and those with major pre-scheduled family events may also apply for dispensation with supporting documents.

Sources: Barcelona Secreta.