REPORT ERREPORTAIA

THE WILL SHOW THROUGH INTERNET THE RESULTS OF THE COUNTING IN REAL TIME Euskadi will choose in october its new autonomic representatives

he Basque men and women will go to the polls in October to elect their 75 re- presentatives in the . The future lehendakari will be among T them. This will be the sixth time the voters of the Autonomous Community will choose the composition of this legislative organ, since democracy was established in the Spanish State in 1977. The absent residents can vote by mail or hand personally their ballot in the Spanish Consular Office. In this occasion the Home Department will inform through Internet about the results of the counting of ballots in real time. Marta Ruiz de Apodaca The election will probably take pla- til last July a coalition Government for- en in the hands of PSE-EE until the mo- ce next October 25. More than med by EAJ/PNV, EA and PSEE-EE. ment they left the Government. 1,700,000 Basque electors will be ca- Last hour discrepancies have made the lled to choose their new representatives Socialist Party abandon the Govern- ELECTORAL INFORMATION IN INTERNET in the Basque Parliament located in Vi- ment after having been a part of it for toria. The person who will become the 12 consecutive years. During the legis- The direction of Electoral Processes new lehendakari of Euskadi will be lature PNV has been at the head of the and Documentation of the Home Depart- among the elected, and he will organi- Presidency, the Vice-presidency and fi- ment of the Basque Government has cre- ze and direct the members of the new ve departments: Tax and Public Admi- ated a page in Internet with ample infor- Basque Government. nistration, Home Office, Industry, Far- mation about the elections in Euskadi. The electoral law of the Basque Par- ming and Fishing, the Health Depart- The contents of this page can already be liament determines a number of 75 Par- ment, and the Culture Department. Eus- consulted in four languages –Euskera, liament members, 25 for each historic ko Alkartasuna has ruled the depart- Spanish, English and French– in the ad- territory: Alava, and Biz- ments of Education, Universities and dress www.euskadi.net/elecciones. It can kaia. The Vitoria chamber is elected for Research; and the Land, Housing and also be reached through the page a period of four years, although the le- Environment Department. The other th- www.euskadi.net of general information hendakari can dissolve it before. ree departments –Justice, Economy, of the Basque Government. The present lehendakari, José An- Work and Social Security; Transports Since last June the users can find in tonio Ardanza, a member of the Bas- and Public Works; and Commerce, the web detailed and practical informa- que Nationalist Party, has presided un- Consummation and Tourism– have be- tion about the electronic vote, ruled by

4 REPORT ERREPORTAIA

the Basque Parliament last June 19, as well as the complete Basque Electoral Law since 1983. The information about the Composition of the Basque Chamber electronic vote through the net is the first action of the Home Department to spread this system after the new Law of elections of the Basque Parliament was passed in June 19th. This new law replaces that of 1990 and regulates the vote through elec- tronic polls. Although the electronic vote will not be applied in the elections of next October 25th, it is at the head of the Eu- ropean regulations, and unique in the State. The chapter about the Files of Electoral Results also started working in July; these files contain all information about the elections celebrated in Euskadi since ’77. There is a complete information, including charts, about the results in different sectors: Euskadi, historic te- rritories, areas, towns, districts, sections and electoral tables. The files will constantly be updated and in October they will in- clude the results of the autonomic elections. The next section to be inaugurated in the page is the one specifically dedicated to the elections of the Basque Parliament of ’98. This information will be available from September on, once the elections have The present members of the Chamber were elected during the last elections for the Bas- been officially announced. que Parliament, in 1994. This representation of political forces was modified in Octo- The contents of the elections page in Euskadi will increase ber ’97, when a Parliament member from UA entered the Mixed Group. The foral in September, with the information about the Election of the Bas- party was que Parliament of ’98. The results of the previous elections cele- brated in ’94, the polls done during the last few months, a gui- ALAVA GIPUZKOA BIZKAIA de for the electors and for the members of the tables, informa- tion about the schools and electoral tables, rolls, candidatures PARTIES seats seats seats and candidates and information about the Office for the help of the electors will be available in September. EAJ-PNV 6 6 10 The ’98 Basque Parliament elections will provide through PSE-EE/PSOE 4 4 4 Internet information about the counting of votes during the PP 4 3 4 electoral night of October 25th, in real time. This is one of the HB 2 6 3 main attractions of this year’s elections. The results of the new EA 2 4 2 composition of the Basque Chamber both in Euskadi and in IU-EB 2 2 2 its three historic territories and the results obtained by the po- litical parties in each village, will be available. ■ UA 5 0 0 HOW DO THE BASQUES LIVING ABROAD VOTE?

The elections of next October do not only concern the citizens of Euskadi. According to the law, the citizens born in the Basque Autonomous Community but living in foreign countries, if they are in the roll of absent residents abroad (CERA), as well as their descendants, can practice their right to vote by mail from their present residence. According to the data of the last available roll –corresponding to the elections for the Congress and Senate in ‘96– there were 20,000 people in that si- tuation (1.919 in Alava, 15.844 in Vizcaya and 9.131 in Guipuzcoa). The elector, provided he is in the electoral roll of absent residents abroad, will receive in his own home –between Sep- tember 29th and October 5th– a number of documents from the corresponding Delegation of the Electoral Roll Office. The shipment will include the certificate of inscription in the roll; an envelope addressed to the president of the Electoral Assembly of his historic territory; another one headed “Eusko Legebiltzarrerako Hauteskundeak 1998 Elecciones al Parlamento Vas- co” in which to introduce the ballot for the election of the Basque Parliament; a ballot for each of the candidatures for the Vitoria Chamber; and a page of instructions. With all this information at hand, the elector will choose the ballot of the party he or she wants to support, he or she will place it in the voting envelope and close it. The voter will then include this envelope together with the certificate of ins- cription in the roll, in the other envelope, the one addressed to the president of the Electoral Assembly of his historic terri- tory. His name and surnames must appear in the back of the envelope, in the place of the sender. The elector will then send the envelope addressed to the president of the Electoral Assembly by certified mail, not later than October 24th. The voter can also hand it personally –until October 18th– in the Spanish Consular Office in which he appears. In both cases it is advisable to send the vote as soon as possible. ■

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