Incompatibilities of the introduction of the new data protection rules applied to the spanish electoral system in the light of STC 76/2019

Abstract

Data protection is a particularly relevant subject for the protection of fundamental rights such as the privacy of individuals. This right must be especially protected in the field of electoral processes, where Spanish legislation has undergone some changes that are analysed in this article. In this sense, the focus of this paper is on the recent judgement of the Spanish Constitutional Court, which annuls article 58.1 bis LOREG for incompatibility with the constitutional ordination and with certain aspects of European and national legislation on the matter. As a result, this paper tries to contribute to the discussion about this recent judgement as well as to determinate the implications of this constitutional incompatibility in the matter of data protection applied to electoral processes.