Spain election: Postal service gets more time for mail votes

FILE PHOTO: Spain's far-right Vox party leader Santiago Abascal, left-wing Sumar leader Yolanda Diaz and Prime Minister and Socialist candidate Pedro Sanchez attend a televised debate ahead of snap elections, in Madrid, Spain, July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File Photo

MADRID (Reuters) -Spain's electoral commission on Thursday granted the postal service a half-day extension to the deadline for mail voting ahead of a national election on Sunday, with a record number of people casting ballots by post and a union representative warning Spaniards tend to "leave everything to the last minute".

Correos, as the state-run service is called, asked for the deadline to be extended to 2 p.m. on Friday, from 10 p.m. on Thursday, for voters to hand over their ballots in post offices.