voting is on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprises all nationals over eighteen and in full enjoyment of their political rights. the only exception was in 1977, when this was limited to nationals "over twenty-one" and in full enjoyment of their political "and" civil rights. amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for spaniards abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (). 348 seats are elected using the d'hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 3 percent of valid votes—which includes blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. parties not reaching the threshold are not taken into consideration for seat distribution. additionally, the use of the d'hondt method may result in an effective threshold over three percent, depending on the district magnitude. each provincial constituency is entitled to an initial minimum of two seats, with the remaining 248 allocated among the constituencies in proportion to their populations. ceuta and melilla are allocated the two remaining seats, which are elected using plurality voting.