Spain's Constitutional Court won't lift voting ban on descendants of Spanish exiles

Spain's Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected the Ombudsman's appeal against the Supreme Court's decision to provisionally suspend the voting rights of people who acquired citizenship under the "grandchildren's law." 

The Ombudsman, Spain's independent official who defends citizens' rights, filed a constitutional appeal for the protection of fundamental rights, after the Supreme Court confirmed that the suspension would stay in place for the November 29 election while it opened a period for arguments. 

The Ombudsman had asked the court to lift the suspension, which affects about 160,000 people, as an interim measure while the case continues. 

The Constitutional Court said that the request was "premature" because proceedings are still ongoing before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court's deadline for the affected parties to submit arguments expires Friday.

The grandchildren's law is a provision of the Democratic Memory Law, which Spain's Congress passed in 2022.

It lets people born outside Spain claim Spanish nationality if a parent or grandparent was originally born Spanish, but lost their nationality because of exile for political reasons, ideological reasons, or because of sexual orientation. 

The law is aimed at descendants of those who fled during the Spanish Civil War and Franco's dictatorship.

A directive issued by the Justice Ministry six days after the law was passed, setting out how it should be interpreted, said all Spaniards who left the country between July 18, 1936, and December 31, 1955, would be "presumed" to have been in exile, without having to prove it.

This led Vox, the far-right party, and Iustitia Europa to go to the Supreme Court. They asked the court to suspend the registration of people who acquired nationality under the law, arguing that the ministry had "improperly" expanded who qualifies. 

On September 10, the Supreme Court decided to provisionally suspend the voting rights of those newly naturalized citizens, pending a final ruling.

The State Attorney's Office and Public Prosecutor's Office had asked to lift the suspension, saying there isn't time to review the electoral roll before November 29.

The Supreme Court said the calling of early elections reinforces the need to uphold "the correctness, clarity, and transparency" of the process. 

It said the right to vote is not absolute but is subject to broader public interests, such as "ensuring the absence of irregularities in the electoral roll."