Spain's Supreme Court Rejects Vox Bid to Bar Grandchildren of Naturalized Citizens from Voting on Nov. 29

Spain's Supreme Court has rejected a request by Vox and Iustitia Europa to extend a voting suspension to the children of people naturalized under the so-called Grandchildren Law ahead of the November 29 general elections. The court said suspending the vote of these 189,678 people would not be feasible just three weeks before the election, citing serious doubts about the effective execution of the precautionary measures.

The decision affects descendants of Spaniards naturalized under the Democratic Memory Law, which allows people exiled during the Civil War or the Franco regime to recover nationality. The court previously suspended the voting rights of more than 163,000 naturalized people, but as of October 28 only 901 had been able to prove their descent to the authorities.

“We are three weeks away from the celebration of the general elections. The Chamber has serious doubts about the viability of the effective execution of the precautionary measures requested that could now be adopted.”

Iustitia Europa has now appealed the Supreme Court's Monday ruling, arguing that the votes of these descendants could be decisive in constituencies where the margin for awarding the final seat is narrow. The group warns that such ballots could alter the composition of the Congress of Deputies.

Luis María Pardo, lawyer and president of Iustitia Europa, filed the appeal against the order issued by the Fourth Section of the Administrative Litigation Chamber. He argues that a future favorable ruling could be ineffective if the elections have already taken place and the contested votes have been included in the count.

Pardo maintains that correcting the electoral roll after the elections would not guarantee that the possible consequences of those votes on seat distribution could be corrected. He believes the risk should prevail over the administrative difficulties invoked by the Supreme Court to reject the extension of precautionary measures.

The group also argues that the court did not sufficiently explain why urgent checks could not be carried out to identify the affected people before voting. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice delivered to the Supreme Court the list of 160,000 people naturalized under the Grandchildren Law.