Written by Louise Clarke. Thursday, 01 July 2010. 

RTN’s Louise Clarke with Orihuela Costa’s opposition party Councillors and representatives.

ALTHOUGH NEXT year’s municipal elections are still ten months away, in order to be able to vote in them, you must be registered to vote in the municipality where you live, by the autumn.

As a result, RTN is today officially launching a campaign along with various Town Halls of the southern Costa Blanca to help and assist residents to get registered, not only on the ‘padron’ but also on the electoral census, in order that they can have that all important vote. This is not a political campaign as RTN is working with all political parties; this is a campaign to make sure that the expat residents of the Costa Blanca, whatever their nationality, get their right to vote and therefore have a voice in how their Town Halls are run.

This campaign has the potential to change the whole political structure of the Town Halls of the area, the likes of which have never been seen and RTN is proud that its campaign has been received so well by the various Town Halls that it has approached.

INCORRECT PAPERWORK

This week, RTN is focusing its campaign in Orihuela Costa. At the last municipal elections in 2007, there were 25,000 European residents living on the coast and yet only 3,500 actually voted. What happened to the other 21,500 people who had the right to vote?

RTN is aware that there were postal problems at the time and that some people were turned away at the polling stations due to the lack of the correct paperwork. RTN is also aware that at the time, it was easier to get access to Iran’s nuclear weapons portfolio than it was to actually get registered on the ‘padron’, let alone get registered to vote. But the Town Hall of Orihuela has assured RTN that this will not be an issue in the coming months and it is happy to put them to the test. So, if you do want to register at the Orihuela Costa Town Hall to vote, please contact RTN’s Southern Area reporter Louise Clarke and she will be happy to come along and witness the process!

UP TO DATE INFORMATION

RTN met up with coastal opposition Councillors and party representatives to discuss with them how to get this campaign up and running. With only eight to ten weeks until voting registrations must be in, it was agreed that time is of the essence and RTN was pleased to bring forward its planned campaign in order to get the message across quickly and efficiently.

During the coming weeks, RTN’s campaign will visit various Town Halls, including San Miguel de Salinas, Rojales and Torrevieja to bring its readers up to date information on how to get registered in the various municipalities and it hopes that more Town Halls in the southern Costa Blanca area will also join its campaign.

By signing on the ‘padron’, you not only get the right to vote; your Town Hall will get money allocated for you for health and municipal services. As a result of the large majority of coastal residents not being signed on the ‘padron’, last year, only 3% of the municipality’s €67 million budget was allocated to the coast. So, when you feel that the Town Hall is ignoring you, if you are not signed up to their ‘padron’, it is because they are. In fact as far as they are concerned, you may as well not exist. That is why it is so important to register.

Keep reading RTN for specific information on how to register at your Town Hall.

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