The Official State Gazette (BOE) published this Wednesday the electoral candidacies for the Congress and the Senate for the legislative elections on November 29, although they will not be definitive until the electoral boards review the legal requirements and resolve any detected irregularities.
Political parties, federations, coalitions, and groups of electors had until 00:00 on Monday to submit their lists to the provincial electoral boards and, as they were registered, they now appear in the BOE. From this moment, the boards have two days to communicate any incidents observed or reported, and the affected formations will be able to correct them within 48 hours of notification.
Parity and "zipper" lists, one of the main revisions
One of the points that the boards must check is compliance with the principle of electoral parity, which since the last reform requires for the first time in general elections that the lists for the Congress be composed of women and men placed alternately, known as "zipper lists".
In 2023, the Electoral Law established that candidacies had to include at least 40% of candidates of each sex, with neither exceeding 60%, a proportion that also had to be respected in each section of five positions. However, the reform introduced by Organic Law 2/2024, on parity representation, replaced that system with a gender alternation model, which must be applied to all candidacies, without separating titulars and substitutes, and also in the Senate when the lists are presented grouped.
In this way, the aim is for the composition of both Chambers to be practically equal.
Endorsements for parties without representation and for groups of electors
Another aspect that will be subject to review is that of the endorsements required for candidacies of parties, federations, and coalitions that did not achieve representation in either of the two chambers in the last general elections. The law requires collecting signatures from at least 0.1% of registered voters in the census of each constituency for which they wish to run, and no person can endorse more than one candidacy with their signature.
This requirement affects, among other formations, Se Acabó la Fiesta (SALF), the party of MEP Luis “Alvise” Pérez, as well as the new party Democracia 21, constituted as a coalition with Ciudadanos and UCIN, and which only intends to run in the constituencies of Madrid and Barcelona. In the case of groups of electors, the law also allows presenting lists, although in their case they must have the support of at least 1% of the electors registered in the census of the corresponding constituency.
Deadlines until the definitive proclamation of candidacies
Once the incidents have been analyzed, the electoral boards will have until next Monday to proclaim the candidacies. Afterwards, the definitive lists will be published in the BOE the following day, November 3, after completing the review of legal requirements, endorsements, and parity composition.
Fewer coalitions than in 2023
For the elections on November 29, nine coalitions have been registered, including that of Frente Amplio, which is the one that brings together the largest number of parties. In any case, there are three fewer than those presented in 2023.
In the July 2023 elections, the Provincial Electoral Boards proclaimed a total of 1,090 lists for the Cortes Generales, of which 550 corresponded to the Congress and 540 to the Senate, 186 fewer than in 2019. At that time, 66 candidacies from extra-parliamentary formations were excluded due to errors, non-compliance, or failure to attach the required endorsements.
In that call, 4,892 candidates competed for the 350 seats in the Congress and the 208 in the Senate, one more seat than in previous elections due to the constitutional change that facilitated the creation of a dedicated senator for the island of Formentera. This meant an average of ten candidates per seat in the Lower House and 5.5 per seat in the Upper House.