2020 Spanish presidential election
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The 2020 Spanish presidential election was the 5th presidential election in the Third Spanish Republic. The election was schedule to occur on October 30th, 2020. There was a possibility that the election would be postpone due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however this never occured. Voters had a choice of voting in-person or electronically at home. Incumbent President Santiago Morales of the Democratic Socialist Party easily won re-election, defeating his primary challenger professor Vincent Marcelo of the Democratic Union.
Campaigning officially began on June 30th, however it was been severely regulated due to fears of a surge of COVID-19 cases, which had at that point been continuing to decline. Although the idea has been brought, the election was never postponed, despite a serious push by the ruling Democratic Socialist Party, the party Morales belongs to, to do so. However, both Morales and the FEC have announced opposition to postponement, calling it unconstitutional. The campaign was considered tense, with Marcelo blaming Morales for the large number of COVID-19 cases in Spain, while Morales attacked Marcelo's personal life and educational career. This was one of the first presidential elections that were held separately from legislative elections.
Background
Since the collapse of the Spanish People's Republic and the implementation of the Constitution of Spain in 2000, the President of Spain has been the non-executive and largely ceremonial head of state of the Third Spanish Republic. Until the passage of the Presidential Democratization Act of 2003, the President of Spain was elected by the Federal Senate on the advice of the Prime Minister of Spain. The possibility of directly electing the president was controversial in the Congreso Nacional, as it stripped one of the main functions from the Federal Senate. Despite this, the act was passed and eventually implemented into law. The first presidential election in Spain was held in 2005, with incumbent president Alberto Rivera winning re-election.
In 2015, Federal Senator for the Madrid Capital Community Santiago Morales was able to successfully defeat Cristina Quiento, a member of the Congress of Deputies for Navarre, who was designated as the successor to popular outgoing president Felipe Fernando. Since assuming office in November of 2015, Morales has been noted as one of the most controversial presidents in modern Spanish history. Morales has been known for saying controversial or untrue statements about opponents, critics, and ideas. He is also known for making vulgar and offensive comments and never apologizing for them. Despite this, Morales has generally received moderate or positive approval ratings. Although having little to no influence in the proceedings in the federal government, Morales has presided over Spain during major events in its history including the limited expansion of the powers of the Presidency, the Canary Independence Crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The official candidacy cut off was on 30 June, with the official campaigning period beginning on the same day. However due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, official rallies and campaign events were called off in favor of virtual meetings, to the displeasure of most presidential candidates. Since the start of the campaign period, there has been a strong push to postpone the election to a latter date to prevent the spread of the virus, with Prime Minister Gabriel Perez and his government supporting the motion. However, President Morales and many of the presidential candidates are strongly against any form of postponement, claiming it to unconstitutional. As of August 2020, the election has yet to be postponed. On October 15th, the FEC confirmed that the election would not be postponed, but advised polling booths to extend voting into early November. The legality of this has been thrown into question by the federal government.
Candidates
Democratic Socialist
Incumbent President Santiago Morales was unanimously selected by the Democratic Socialist Party of Spain on June 12th, 2020. However, there was a serious pushback between left wing members of the party, who believed Morales was too conservative to continue serving as president and the spiritual figurehead of the party. In 2019, there was speculation that Morales would not seek re-election, largely due to the ongoing Canary Independence Crisis and his harsh handling of it. However, these rumors would be quashed after he was selected by the Democratic Socialist Party for a second term.
Democratic Union
Vincent Marcelo, a professor from the University of Spanish Morocco, was selected by the Democratic Union on June 17th, 2020 by the central committee of the party. His selection generated controversy for the largely Christian democratic party, as Marcelo was known for his anti-Catholic Church rants and his very public infidelities. Many of the Democratic Union's older members endorsed the right-wing Spanish National Union candidate Rosia Polenos in protest.