Ayuso urges Spaniards not to vote by mail, citing 'adulterations'
The Madrid president and Vox leader Santiago Abascal have raised concerns about the integrity of postal voting.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

La presidenta madrileña, Isabel Díaz Ayuso Javier Lizon / EFE
Photograph: La Vanguardia (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, has asked Spaniards not to vote by mail in the general elections on November 29, citing possible "adulterations".
- Ayuso expects her party to gain up to seven seats in the Community of Madrid, with three attributed to regularisations.
- Vox leader Santiago Abascal has also warned of the risk of elections being "manipulated" and called for "free, clean and violence-free" elections.
- The Spanish government has accused Ayuso of making "Trumpist" claims and the PP of questioning democracy.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 13 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 11 of the 24 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
57/100
Hype
68/100
24 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
Only 1 of the 13 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, has urged Spaniards not to vote by mail in the general elections scheduled for November 29. She cited concerns about potential "adulterations" in the postal voting process. Ayuso also anticipates an increase of up to seven seats for her party in the Community of Madrid, attributing three of these gains to regularisations.
Santiago Abascal, leader of Vox, has echoed these sentiments, warning of the risk of elections being "manipulated". He called for "free, clean and violence-free" elections and encouraged voters to cast their ballots in person. Some reports indicate that the Spanish government has labelled Ayuso's claims as "Trumpist" and accused the PP of undermining democracy.
Disagreement on electoral system integrity
While Ayuso and Abascal have raised doubts about the integrity of postal voting, other reports suggest the Spanish electoral system has proven reliable in past elections. Catalunyapress reports that the Spanish electoral system "proves in each call that it works".
What the coverage left out
None of the left, centre, or right-rated reports mention the specific figure of three seats gained due to regularisations that was reported by La Vanguardia.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 5 Oct 2026, 21:45, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
1 rated outlet
- La Vanguardia, the sole left-rated report, focused on Ayuso's call not to vote by mail due to "adulterations" and her expectation of gaining seats in Madrid. The report detailed Ayuso's assertion that the upcoming campaign would be "the dirtiest and most excessive" and that the PSOE is "kidnapped by the rot". It also mentioned her framing of the election as a battle between "communism or freedom" and her criticism of the government's actions.
Centre
4 rated outlets
- Centre-rated reports highlighted Ayuso's request for Spaniards not to vote by mail, often framing it as a warning of a "scam" or "electoral fraud". Cadena SER quoted Aimar Bretos stating, "Spain Does Not Deserve Ayuso, an Autonomous President, to Imply that There Will Be Electoral Fraud". ElNacional.cat noted Ayuso was "already in campaign mode" and warned of a "scam", while Marca mentioned she "raised doubts about the process of post-election and the preparation of the electoral roll."
Right
8 rated outlets
- Right-rated reports led with the warnings from both Ayuso and Santiago Abascal regarding potential election "manipulation" and "adulterations". ESdiario stated that Ayuso and Abascal "Agree to Issue the Same Warning and Appeal to a Sanchez 'Capable of Everything'". La Razón reported Abascal asking not to vote by mail because "I Absolutely Don't Trust Anything Pedro Sánchez Can Do". EL ESPAÑOL noted Abascal alerted to the risk of "Manipulation" and asked not to vote by mail, while OKDIARIO highlighted Ayuso's alert of the ‘Pucherazo’.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Ayuso urges Spaniards not to vote by mail, citing 'adulterations'?
- Of the 13 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 8% are rated left, 30% are rated centre, 62% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 24. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Ayuso urges Spaniards not to vote by mail, citing 'adulterations' left or right?
- Neither side dominates it. Of the 13 rated outlets on this story, 8% are rated left, 30% are rated centre, 62% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
- Is the coverage of Ayuso urges Spaniards not to vote by mail, citing 'adulterations' biased?
- Ayuso urges Spaniards not to vote by mail, citing 'adulterations' is one event reported by 24 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Ayuso urges Spaniards not to vote by mail, citing 'adulterations'?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Ayuso urges Spaniards not to vote by mail, citing 'adulterations'?
- 24 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Why is Isabel Díaz Ayuso asking people not to vote by mail?
- Isabel Díaz Ayuso has asked Spaniards not to vote by mail in the general elections on November 29, citing concerns about possible "adulterations" in the process. She also suggested the upcoming campaign would be the "dirtiest and most excessive".
- What are Santiago Abascal's concerns about the election?
- Santiago Abascal, leader of Vox, has warned of the risk of elections being "manipulated" and has called for "free, clean and violence-free" elections. He has also encouraged Spaniards to vote in person and expressed distrust in anything Pedro Sánchez might do regarding the vote.
- What is Ayuso's expectation for her party in Madrid?
- Ayuso expects her party to gain up to seven seats in the Community of Madrid in the upcoming general elections. She stated that three of these anticipated gains are due to regularisations.
Read it at the source
24 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
1Centre
4- Aimar Bretos: "Spain Does Not Deserve Ayuso, an Autonomous President, to Imply that There Will Be Electoral Fraud" (opens Cadena SER in a new tab)
Cadena SER — is Cadena SER biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Ayuso, Already in Campaign Mode, Warns of a Scam: "No One Should Think of Voting by Mail" (opens ElNacional.cat in a new tab)
ElNacional.cat — is ElNacional.cat biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Isabel Díaz Ayuso Puts the First Point of Alert for the Electoral Campaign: "I Ask Everyone Not to Even Think About Voting by Mail" (opens Marca in a new tab)
- Ayuso Asks Spaniards Not to Vote by Mail on 29N and Wait until... (opens europapress.es in a new tab)
europapress.es — is europapress.es biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
8- Ayuso and Abascal Agree to Issue the Same Warning and Appeal to a Sanchez "Capable of Everything" (opens ESdiario in a new tab)
- Abascal warns Spaniards not to trust the polls (opens brusselssignal.eu in a new tab)
brusselssignal.eu — is brusselssignal.eu biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Abascal Sends a Warning to the Spaniards and Asks Not to Vote by Mail: "I Absolutely Don't Trust Anything Pedro Sánchez Can Do" (opens La Razón in a new tab)
- Ayuso Augurs for the "Dirtyest Campaign": "I Ask Everyone Not to Even Think About Voting by Mail" (opens Libertad Digital in a new tab)
Libertad Digital — is Libertad Digital biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Abascal Alerts the Risk of "Manipulation" on 29-N and Asks Not to Vote by Mail: "I Don't Trust What Sanchez Can Do" (opens EL ESPAÑOL in a new tab)
EL ESPAÑOL — is EL ESPAÑOL biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ayuso Alert of the ‘Pucherazo’: «I Ask Everyone Not to Even Think of Voting by Mail» (opens OKDIARIO in a new tab)
- Ayuso Asks the Spaniards Not to Vote by Mail and Augurs for the "Dirtyest Campaign We've Ever Lived" (opens El Debate in a new tab)
- Ayuso Celebrates the Electoral Advancement and Makes a Plea: "I Ask Everyone Not to Even Think About Voting by Mail" (opens El Mundo in a new tab)
Not rated
11- Ayuso Doesn't Trust a Sanchez Willing to Do Anything to Adulterate the Elections: "I Ask Everyone Not to Vote by Mail" (opens Alerta Digital in a new tab)
Alerta Digital — is Alerta Digital biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ayuso and Abascal Already Have the First Excuse for 29-N: to Put Postal Voting Under Suspicion (opens Catalunyapress in a new tab)
Catalunyapress — is Catalunyapress biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- PSOE Thinks About the Elections and Criticizes PP and Vox for Questioning the Vote by Mail (opens The Objective in a new tab)
The Objective — is The Objective biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ayuso and Abascal Already Have the First Excuse of 29-N: Putting Under Suspicion the Vote by Mail (opens Catalunyapress in a new tab)
CatalunyapressOpinion
- Correspondence Vote: Spanish Government Calls Ayuso "Trumpist" and Accuses the PP of Calling Democracy Into Question (opens IOL Portugal in a new tab)
IOL Portugal — is IOL Portugal biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Abascal and Ayuso Question the Vote by Mail, Which Can Be Requested From Tomorrow for the 29N (opens Noticias León in a new tab)
Noticias León — is Noticias León biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Abascal: “It Is Good News that All Spaniards Can Vote and Not a Minority that Has Hijacked the Country Until Now” (opens À Punt in a new tab)
À Punt — is À Punt biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Spain, Abascal Accuses Sánchez: "Rich Manipulation of Elections" (opens Lapresse in a new tab)
Show 3 more
- Aimar Bretos Bursts After Listening to Ayuso Ask that No One Vote by Mail: «Spain Does Not Deserve This» (opens Confidencial Digital in a new tab)
Confidencial Digital — is Confidencial Digital biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Abascal Calls the Face-to-Face Vote on 29-N: «I Don't Trust Anything Sanchez Does» (opens Moncloa in a new tab)
- Ayuso Asks Not to Vote by Mail on 29-N (opens noticiasparamunicipios.com in a new tab)
noticiasparamunicipios.com — is noticiasparamunicipios.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
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