The raffles begin in the town halls to choose who will be at the tables on 29N

The raffles in the city councils to choose who will be part of the electoral tables on November 29 as presidents or members officially begin this Saturday, October 31, and will end on Wednesday, the 4th, although with exceptions, since some councils have already held their raffle.

A computer program during a municipal plenary session is usually the architect of the draws today, but in some small town councils classic methods are maintained, such as drawing balls from a bag. In recent days, extraordinary plenary sessions for the draws have already been held in some cities, such as Madrid, Valladolid and Oviedo, these advances always being authorized by the Central Electoral Board (JEC).

In Madrid, the largest municipality in Spain, since Thursday the names of the 32,715 residents who have had to be part of one of the 3,635 tables that will be set up for the Congress and Senate elections on 29N have already been known. For each table, nine people are elected: a president and two members, with two substitutes for each position.

Those who are between 18 and 70 years old and know how to read and write enter the draw, which in practice is usually reduced to those who have graduated from school. The winners will have to appear at their polling stations at 8 in the morning on November 29, one hour before voting at the polls begins.

They may have brief absences during the day, but as long as two of the three members of the table remain present. Starting at 8:00 p.m., when the polls close, the president and the members will direct the counting of the votes, in the presence of the auditors designated by the parties.

Each member of the board, both the president and each member, will receive 75 euros for their work. In addition, if they are workers, they have the right to paid leave that Sunday the 29th and a five-hour reduction in the workday the following day, Monday the 30th. The substitutes, on the other hand, do not receive any remuneration, despite having to appear at the table at 8 a.m. on Sunday.

Reasons to excuse yourself

In the event that whoever is elected does not attend their position, they risk a financial penalty and even up to a year in prison in some cases. However, there are several reasons to excuse yourself, which will be studied by the Zonal Electoral Board (JEZ) to which that municipality belongs. To begin with, those who are between 65 and 70 years old can directly resign.

In addition, those who can prove a disability of at least 33% or those who have already been part of a polling station on three occasions in the last ten years can request not to go, and it will be resolved by the JEZ. Also those who practice basic professions and have to be on call, such as doctors or firefighters, and those who explain that they suffer a serious disorder due to family responsibilities, such as caring for minors or the sick.

That of pregnant women is another of the typical cases that the JEZ deals with to grant dispensation, as well as when there are recent or upcoming injuries or surgical interventions. The change of habitual residence to another autonomous community, even if it is still included in the census of that municipality, or the coincidence with an important family event that was already planned are also reasons that the JEZ can analyze.