Patricia Crespo |
Madrid (EFE) They can make you think that we are already in the electoral campaign, but no.
In fact, it hasn’t even started yet. We’re still warming up in the band. We have been -only- four weeks into the pre-campaign, since April 3, and the ball will not roll until May 12.
The playing field, like in a World Cup, is divided into different scenarios.
On the one hand, the regional league party, where the communities that hold elections on May 28 concur: Aragon, Asturias, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, the Valencian Community, Extremadura, Illes Balears, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, and in the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla. On the other, the municipal tournament, where 8,000 mayors play it.
The answer to the main questions that the game schedule for the coming weeks may raise are as follows.
How long does the campaign last and when does it start and end?
The electoral campaign begins on the thirty-eighth day after the call and lasts fifteen days. In this case, therefore, it begins at midnight on Friday, May 12, 2023, and ends at midnight on Friday, May 26, 2023.
And the pre-campaign?
The pre-campaign covers the period between the call for elections, on April 4, and the start of the campaign, on May 12.
What can or cannot be done during the pre-campaign and the campaign?
Since last April 4, when the elections were called, and until they are held, acts organized or financed by the public powers that contain allusions to the achievements obtained, or that use images or expressions that coincide with those of their own campaigns for any of the political entities participating in the elections.
Can you make propaganda in the pre-campaign?
Until the legal start of the campaign, it is prohibited to carry out advertising or electoral propaganda through posters or inserts in the press.
Can works be inaugurated?
Neither. It is prohibited to carry out any act of inauguration of works or services without prejudice to the fact that said works or services may come into operation in said period.
From when and until when will there be surveys?
It is prohibited to publish polls or polls by any means of communication five days before the vote, that is, from May 23.
What happens, for example, if the CIS does a survey on voting intentions?
Well, if it is a survey during the electoral period, it has an obligation to notify the parties participating in the elections of the results of the same within a period of 48 hours from their request.
When will we see the electoral posters?
At the same time the campaign begins, at midnight on Friday, May 12. Then the traditional “sticking of posters” will take place. This practice is still used symbolically within the electoral ritual of the parties, since it was formerly when posters were (literally) posted in the streets, which woke up on the first day of the campaign covered with the faces of the candidates.
Can parties spend as much as they want on electoral advertising?
No. Candidacies can advertise in the press and on the radio, but provided that the cost does not exceed 20% of the spending limit set for the parties according to the electoral process in question.
And after the elections, can electoral propaganda be disseminated?
No. Nor can campaign events be carried out once it has legally ended.
In any case, if someone is left wanting more, there is no need to worry, the campaign is coming soon, and its pre-campaign, of the generals.