Local elections saw the highest participation rates in 1979 and 1982, with abstention rates of 26.23% and 28.58%, respectively. The first democratic local elections in 1976 experienced a 35.42% abstention rate.
From 1985 to 2005, local election abstention rates consistently exceeded 35%, reaching 40.99% in 2009. In 2013, a record abstention rate of 47.4% was recorded, a zenith not surpassed since.
In the most recent local elections on September 26, 2021, the Ministry of Internal Administration’s Secretariat-General reported 9,323,688 registered voters, with a turnout of 5,002,047, or 53.65%.
The 46.35% abstention rate in these elections, the second highest to date, has sparked concern among party leaders. Four years earlier, in 2017, the abstention rate was 45.03%, a decrease from 2013.
Today’s elections are the 14th held in a democratic context for selecting the officials of local authority bodies: municipal councils, municipal assemblies, and parish assemblies.
The registry includes 9,303,840 voters, comprised of 9,262,722 national voters and 41,118 foreign residents, according to the Ministry of Internal Administration’s Secretariat-General.
Voters will elect representatives for 308 municipal councils, 308 municipal assemblies, and 3,221 parish assemblies. Additionally, 37 parishes with fewer than 150 voters will choose their executives in citizen plenaries.
