Article 49
(Right to vote)
1. Every citizen who has attained the age of eighteen years has the right to vote, subject to the incapacities
provided for in the general law.
2. The right to vote shall be exercised personally and constitutes a civic duty.
Article 50
(Right of access to public office)
1. Every citizen has the right of access to public office under equal and free conditions.
2. No one may be prejudiced in his appointments, job or professional career or the social benefits to
which he is entitled, due to the exercise of political rights or of public office.
3. In governing the right of access to elected office, the law may only lay down the ineligibilities needed
to guarantee both the electors’ freedom of choice, and independence and absence of bias in the exercise of
the offices in question.
Article 51
(Political associations and parties)
1. Freedom of association includes the right to form or take part in political associations and parties and
through them to work jointly and democratically towards the formation of the popular will and the
organisation of political power.
2. No one may be simultaneously registered as a member of more than one political party, and no one
may be deprived of the exercise of any right because he is or ceases to be registered as a member of any
legally constituted party.
3. Without prejudice to the philosophy or ideology that underlies their manifestoes, political parties may
not employ names that contain expressions which are directly related to any religion or church, or
emblems that can be confused with national or religious symbols.
4. No party may be formed with a name or manifesto objectives that show it has a regional nature or
scope.
5. Political parties must be governed by the principles of democratic transparency, organisation and
management, and participation by all their members.
6. The law shall lay down the rules governing the financing of political parties, particularly as regards the
requisites for and limits on public funding, as well as the requirements to publicise their assets and
accounts.
Article 52
(Right to petition and right of actio popularis)