Constitution of polling bureaus

1. The presiding officer, the two members of each polling bureau and their alternates, if any, shall meet at the bureau’s premises at eight o’clock a.m. on the day appointed for the voting. 

2. If the presiding officer does not attend, he shall be replaced by his first alternate. Should the latter also be absent, he is to be replaced by a second alternate, and if the latter has not come either, by the first or the second member. Members, who have failed to attend or have taken over the duties of the president, shall be replaced by their alternates.

3. No polling bureau may be constituted without the presence of a presiding officer and two members. Where this requirement cannot be met, members of the bureau present, attending alternates or, in their default, the competent administrative authority shall make a written record of the facts, sign it and send it by registered mail to the District Commission and also notify it by telegraph or telephone.

4. The Commission shall freely appoint in the above-mentioned case the persons who are to constitute the polling bureau and it may direct that one of the electors present at the premises be appointed to this end. The Commission shall in any case notify the Attorney-General’s Office (Ministerio Fiscal) of the facts for appraisal of a possible criminal liability of the bureau’s members or of the alternates who have failed to attend.

5. Where, in spite of the provisions of the preceding subsection, the bureau cannot be constituted within one hour from the appointed time for the beginning of the poll, the persons referred to in subsection 3 of this Section shall so notify to District Commission, which is to convene a new vote in the bureau within the two following days. A copy of the notice thereof shall be immediately affixed at the door of the voting premises and the Commission shall proceed ex officio to the
appointment of the new bureau’s members.