Three people nationalized by the 'grandchildren law' appeal the suspension of voting: "The insecurity is overwhelming"

Three private citizens who obtained Spanish nationality under the provisions of the 'grandchildren law' have filed a joint appeal before the Supreme Court against the precautionary measure that will prevent them from exercising their right to vote on November 29.

The document, which 20minutos has accessed, denounces that the right to active suffrage and the principle of equality have been violated, in a decision that affects "thousands of Spanish citizens residing abroad." The lawyer who represents these three nationalized citizens is part of the Ilocad law firm, directed by Baltasar Garzón, who has offered to represent those affected by the Supreme Court's precautionary decision free of charge.

The law on grandchildren was approved in October 2022 and contemplates the possibility of obtaining Spanish nationality for those foreign citizens whose parents or grandparents were forced into exile during the civil war and Franco's regime for political reasons. The Supreme Court maintains an open procedure on the instruction of the Ministry of Justice that established how to determine the status of political exile. Said instruction presumes this condition to all those who fled from Spain between 1936 and 1955.

On September 10, the Third Chamber agreed to apply a precautionary measure while addressing the substance of the matter: paralyzing the right to vote of those naturalized under the law on grandchildren. In its resolution, the Chamber established that this suspension "will not apply" to those who can obtain at their consulate a "certification accrediting their condition of being born outside Spain, of a father, mother, grandfather or grandmother, who had originally been Spanish, and who had suffered exile for political, ideological or belief reasons or sexual identity orientation, and who had lost or renounced Spanish nationality."

The appeal of these three private citizens challenges precisely this precautionary measure. "The adoption of the measure to suspend the right to active suffrage is unconstitutional and contrary to the organic law of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG), the document states. And it reproaches the Supreme Court for leaving the responsibility of proving political exile in the hands of the consulates and nationalized Spaniards. It is "a diabolical burden for the defendant Administration and for Spanish citizens who, not even by a final ruling, can see their right to active suffrage limited," the appeal states.

The writing also emphasizes that the "violation" of the right to vote "has been materialized by the fact that the electoral call to the Cortes Generales has occurred." In its second allegation, the appeal denounces the violation of the "principle of equality." The "right to effective judicial protection" has also been violated, in the opinion of the appellants, since the court has ruled out that the early calling of elections is a "justifying circumstance for the revocation or modification of the precautionary measures, despite being a core element of the real damage" caused by the precautionary measures.

Leaving aside the violations of rights, the appelling individuals maintain that "the precautionary measures adopted do not meet the basic requirements of danger due to procedural delay, proportionality or appearance of good law." "The fourth section is confusing the powers regarding nationality with those related to the electoral procedure," the appeal states, adding that a fundamental right is being "arbitrarily suspended."