This weekend, 35.414.655 Spaniards all over the country are called to the polls in order to decide the fate of their respective regional governments and city councils for the next 4 years. Logistics plays a crucial part in this key democratic process, not only on election night, but months in advance in order to ensure everything runs smoothly.

The following video from Aragón TV shows from minute 0:55 to 5:56 the logistics of printing the ballots:

Only in this region of Spain, 19 million ballots have to be printed, which translates into 500 kg of ink and 43 tonnes of paper. All of these ballots then have to be distributed among 1115 polling stations.

In order to have everything ready on time, the logistic process starts about a year before the day of the elections, where the government delegation in each region asks every city council if they need any material such as ballot boxes or cabins. This requires coordination and good communication with every mayor in every town to make sure the polling stations have everything they need. In order to facilitate all of this, procedures are standardized and put into action every time a new election is called.

Another logistics aspect to consider is getting the ballots to all Spanish people that live in other countries, as well as handling the postal voting. In addition, election day requires special security measures be put in place, increasing the presence of different law enforcement groups. Furthermore, in order to facilitate people with mobility problems access to vote, regional governments organise free transfers to voting stations by ambulance.

In total, and due to its complexity and scale, these regional elections will cost 203.667.880,95€ to organise. Out of the total budget, 13.2 million are designated exclusively towards the logistics aspect.

Finally, remember to go vote on Sunday 28^th of May!!