"I am hesitating between two parties, when the postman comes I'll decide"

BarcelonaThe doorbell rings at Carme's house. It's the postwoman, Neus. It's not just any letter. Otherwise, following the covid protocol, she wouldn't have rung the doorbell and would have just left the envelope in the letterbox. But today she had to safeguard the delivery until the last moment and deliver it in hand. It was the ballot paper for the 14-F elections that Carme had ordered by post. When Neus opened the mechanical door of the lift, Carme was already waiting for her on the landing, impatient. It was clear to her which ballot she was going to choose. Under normal conditions, Neus would have simply given her the ballot paper and Carme, once she had chosen the party, would have taken it to the post office. But the pandemic, which is a specialist in creating unprecedented situations, allows for the first time the vote to be casted infront of the post office worker.

Carme received a brown package. Inside there was a ballot paper for each party and a white envelope where the chosen one had to go. Before opening it, she dictated her ID, and then she voted. The same brown package and the white envelope -now full- is again in Neus' hands. "I've always voted for the same party", Carme says, who is 71 years old. Only once has she changed the direction of her vote: "At the time of Aznar, and not to vote for him". This year's elections are the first in which she has voted by post. She admits that she has "missed the ballot box": "I would have to go to Barcelona, and now I live in the Pyrenees". Carme is not shy when it comes to saying which party she voted for, however, she says that in the end who she voted for is not important: "The most important thing is to vote".

Neus has taken Carme's envelope and put it in a small compartment of the trolley. Not in a ballot box but in a zipped pocket. "It's as if I had a lot of money on me", she says. The cart, in fact, is full. "We're on the limit", he says.

Many other envelopes have joined Carme's. Some returned full, others stayed at home waiting for a verdict, and others found no destination: after ringing the doorbell repeatedly there was no answer - so she has to return the next day and if she still can't find anyone, she leaves a notice for them to go to the post office. Sometimes, people look at the post office worker pass by from their windows, noting that it was not their turn. This is the case of Òscar, who is looking forward to it. "I hesitate between two parties. When the postman comes, I'll decide", he explains. And the fact is that voting by post means voting early. Carme has chosen her party just an hour after the first electoral debate. Even so, there is the option of waiting for the campaign to progress further: you can keep the envelope and deliver it to the post office before February 12th. That is, as long as you have requested it -through the web or in person at the Post Office- before February 5th.

Òscar decided to apply online. It will be the second time he votes by post. His debut was in the last municipal elections: "The day before I was in the stands of the Villamarín football stadium watching the final of the Copa del Rey". Barça lost 1 to 2 against Valencia. "The worst end", he says.

Natural habitat

Neus has also reached the end of today's tour. The trolley is overflowing. She deposits Carme's vote - and all the others - in the office. From this moment on, a journey with a return ticket begins: it is transported to the Zone Electoral Board and the Board certifies it at the same time as it crosses Carme off the list. She has already voted. In a staggered way, the envelopes travel to the post office of the town where the voters are registered. They will have to wait in a safe. On February 14, a worker will take them to the polling station, where the president of the polling station will keep them. At the end of the day, they will all enter, for the first time, their natural habitat: a ballot box.