El Supremo suspende de manera cautelar el voto para los nacionalizados por la 'ley de nietos' salvo exilio acreditado

The Supreme Court of Spain has temporarily suspended the voting rights for individuals who have obtained Spanish nationality through the so-called "law of grandchildren" via the Census of Electors of Absent Residents (CERA), except those who can prove that relatives suffered exile. The Contention-Law Chamber decided to suspend the electoral effects for these individuals in subsequent electoral processes, estimating the measures requested by Vox and Justice Europe.

The judges clarified that for those who obtained Spanish nationality through the additional provision of the Democratic Memory Law, known as the "law of grandchildren," and have not yet been registered in the CERA abroad, the registration process will continue until its completion. Once the process is finished, their registration in the aforementioned census will be suspended until the final judgment in this case.

As for those already registered in the CERA, their electoral effects will be suspended in future electoral processes until the final judgment. However, they emphasized that this suspension will not apply to individuals for whom consular registration authorities issue attestation certifying their status as persons born outside Spain, with one parent or grandparent being Spanish, who have suffered political, ideological, or religious exile or have lost or renounced Spanish nationality due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Supreme Court instructed the Central Electoral Board (JEC) to immediately request the necessary information from those responsible for consular registrations. This decision comes after a public hearing held this Monday at the Supreme Court to analyze the presumed electoral effects of this additional provision, where Vox and Justice Europe requested the temporary suspension, while seeking a thorough examination of the underlying issue, fearing potential irreversible damage.

Vox defended the need for this measure to preserve legality, objectivity, transparency, and equality in forming the electoral census and prevent an anomalous, if not illegal, increase. Justice Europe appealed for the need for a precautionary measure, as the judgment might arrive when it may no longer be practically useful. An estimating sentence could order a review of the census for future processes, but it cannot certainly reconstruct a past election, the latter indicated.

Meanwhile, the State's Counsel opposed the temporary suspension, alleging that it would be a denial of the fundamental right to vote, recognized in the Constitution, to citizens who have already acquired their nationality through administrative acts. They questioned how it could deprive rights through judicial proceedings of people who have acquired a nationality through firm administrative acts.