Management of electoral proceedings
The Home Office (Ministerio del Interior), through its Directorate-General for Home Policies (Dirección General de Política Interior),acts as the main managing body of the electoral process, providing the necessary facilities, equipment and resources for it.
The Home Office’s powers in this field are laid down in Royal Decree 400/2012, of February 12, setting out the basic Home Office’s organization (Official Journal- Boletín Oficial del Estado, BOE n. 42, of February 18. Corrections in BOE n. 88, of April 12).
The Home Office has the overall responsibility of carrying out all the activities required for the electoral proceedings.
Composition
One of the higher and leading authorities within the Home Office is the aforesaid Directorate-General for Home Policies, with its Subdirectorate-General for Home Policies and Electoral Proceedings as the next-ranking body directly responsible for the exercise of the Home Office’s powers over electoral proceedings, people’s consultations and legal regulation of political parties.
Functions
The Directorate-General has especially the following duties:
- Managing the Home Office’s powers over electoral processes and for direct consultations of the electorate and keeping the necessary relations with the Electoral Administration, namely as with the Central Electoral Commission, as the Government’s spokesman in electoral matters except in any questions relating to compilation of the electoral census, which are the sole responsibility of the Electoral Register Office.
- Coordinating the management and execution of election proceedings, as well as of the functions to be performed by bodies reporting to other Government departments having competence in electoral matters.
- Directing and coordinating developments of information technology and of communications for modernizing the management of electoral operations.
- Making information on electoral operations publicly available, with the exception of data relating to the electoral census, as well as keeping and disseminating the election’s results.
- Keeping up the relations with the relevant authorities of Self-governing Communities on electoral matters.
- Registration of political parties and implementation of their legal regulation.
- Managing annual State subsidies and electoral expenses subsidies to political formations, subject to legal provisions in force.
- Exercising the Home Office’s responsibilities regarding safeguards and protection of the exercise of the fundamental freedoms of assembly and demonstration.
At regional Parliaments’ elections these duties are to be exercised by the competent Councilor of the Community’s regional Government.