Voting in Spain

No, I can't vote in Spain but I sure as heck can stalk the voters here to find out what it's all about! I followed Manuel to the high school where he could vote. I'll do my best to explain how different it was.

First you have to figure out what room is designated to you (according to what zone you live in). Before coming to vote, you would have received some information that would help you know some of this. The first thing Manuel did was verify which room he was on a looooong list of names. There were different name lists hanging from the walls with a big number on it (I'm assuming the zone) and on the paper is everyone's name, DNI (national ID number), and birthdate. My first reaction was surprise that so much personal information could be read by others and copied for identity theft, but then again I am a pessimist.

Now you go into the room. One table is for Congress and the other one for Senate votes. You pick up the paper that corresponds to your vote and place it in the appropriate Congress or Senate envelope. There are many different papers on the table. Each pile of paper is specific to one political party. You choose the political party, not the person. Anyway, once you are done licking your envelope, you go to the box where you actually cast your vote and there is a person there who makes sure you are who you say you are, and they manage the security of the voting box.

VOILA - that is voting in Spain!