The government delegate in Navarre, José Luis Arasti, has presented the device prepared on the occasion of the local elections on May 28, whose organization is the responsibility of the General Administration of the State. In order to guarantee the exercise of the right to vote, the Foral Community will have a total of 999 tables distributed in 362 electoral venues, around 2,300 ballot boxes and 3,095,500 ballot papers for the municipal elections.
The electoral census is composed in Navarre of 522,215 people. Of these, 489,458 are Spanish voters residing in Spain; 29,804 are residents abroad; and 2,953 are foreign voters residing in Spain, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics.
Arasti has recalled that the basic functions in any electoral process are two: to provide the necessary logistical support to exercise the vote and to transmit the data of participation and scrutiny on the same day of the elections.
Personnel of the Government Delegation in Navarre have been working for weeks in this process, in coordination with all the municipalities of the Foral Community, to be able to assign and, where appropriate, replace the non-printed material necessary for the day of the vote such as ballot boxes, booths or signage.
Regarding the transmission of data, there will be a total of 713 representatives of the General Administration of the State of which 200 will cover the 279 tables installed in Pamplona and the rest, 513, will report on the 720 tables installed in the rest of Navarre. A total of 322 electronic devices between tablets and mobile phones will be used for the transmission of information to data reception centers.
In addition, throughout the election day, at the headquarters of the Government Delegation, there will be personnel authorized to resolve any incident that may arise with the representatives of the municipalities, the constitution of the tables or the material, in collaboration with the electoral boards.
Security device
To coordinate the police presence during the election day, yesterday a security board was held in which the device was agreed for Sunday. A device to which the National Police will contribute 485 troops; Civil Guard, 889; Foral Police, 440; and Municipal Police of Pamplona, another 170. They are joined by members of the local police of the rest of the Navarran municipalities, around 95 agents.
The police forces will work to ensure that the 362 approved polling stations can open their doors on time and that the voting day runs normally. As Arasti explained, it is about guaranteeing “the free exercise of the right to vote of the Navarre citizens”.
In addition, and as the government delegate recalled, in these local elections a specific and special emphasis has been placed on the cybersecurity of the entire process and the devices of the polling stations and their surroundings.
Web and APP
Since April, the website elecciones.locales2023.es launched by the Ministry of the Interior has been available. It contains relevant information for citizens on how to exercise the right to vote, the electoral calendar or the different candidacies that are presented. It also contains material related to accessibility. And, as a novelty in this call, a manual for table members has been published in an easy to read version.
In addition, the Ministry of the Interior will activate in the coming days a website and an app where the election results can be consulted.
On the other hand, on Sunday there are four public appearances scheduled by the Government of Spain: at 10:30h to report the beginning of the electoral day, at 14:30h and at 18:30h with the advances of participation, and at 22:00h with the provisional results of the local elections.