2011 Castilian-Leonese regional election

2011 Castilian-Leonese regional election
← 2007 22 May 2011 2015 →
All 84 seats in the Cortes of Castile and León
43 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered2,166,385 Red arrow down0.2%
Turnout1,462,397 (67.5%)
Red arrow down3.2 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Juan Vicente Herrera Óscar López José María González
Party PP PSOE IUCyL
Leader since 16 March 2001 20 September 2008 21 May 2006
Leader's seat Burgos Segovia Valladolid
Last election 48 seats, 49.2% 33 seats, 37.7% 0 seats, 3.1%
Seats won 53 29 1
Seat change Green arrow up5 Red arrow down4 Green arrow up1
Popular vote 739,502 425,777 69,872
Percentage 51.6% 29.7% 4.9%
Swing Green arrow up2.4 pp Red arrow down8.0 pp Green arrow up1.8 pp
  Fourth party
 
Leader Alejandro Valderas
Party UPL
Leader since 27 January 2011
Leader's seat León
Last election 2 seats, 2.7%
Seats won 1
Seat change Red arrow down1
Popular vote 26,660
Percentage 1.9%
Swing Red arrow down0.8 pp
Constituency results map for the Cortes of Castile and León
President before election

Juan Vicente Herrera
PP

Elected President

Juan Vicente Herrera
PP

The 2011 Castilian-Leonese regional election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th Cortes of the autonomous community of Castile and León. All 84 seats in the Cortes were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

The election saw the People's Party (PP), which had formed the government of the region since the second democratic election in 1987, winning its largest majority to date with over 63% of the seats at stake (53 out of 84 seats), with incumbent president Juan Vicente Herrera being subsequently re-elected for a fourth term in office. The opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Leonese People's Union (UPL) both lost ground, with the former securing its worst result since 1995, whereas United Left (IU) re-entered parliament for the first time since the 1999 election. The new Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) party, while achieving a remarkable result for a first-time national party with 3.3% of the share (and scoring in third place in the Ávila and Burgos constituencies), failed to obtain any seats.

Overview

Electoral system

The Cortes of Castile and León were the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Castile and León, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Castilian-Leonese Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.[1] Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Castile and León and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Castilian-Leonese people abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado).[2]

All members of the Cortes of Castile and León were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora, with each being allocated an initial minimum of three seats, as well as one additional member per each 45,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 22,500.[1][3]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Cortes constituency was entitled the following seats:

Seats Constituencies
15 Valladolid
14 León
11 Burgos, Salamanca
7 Ávila, Palencia, Segovia(+1), Zamora
5 Soria

In smaller constituencies, the use of the electoral method resulted in an effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies.[4]

Election date

After legal amendments in 2007, fixed-term mandates were abolished, instead allowing the term of the Cortes of Castile and León to expire after an early dissolution. The election Decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of Castile and León, with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and sixtieth days from publication. The previous election was held on 27 May 2007, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 27 May 2011. The election Decree was required to be published no later than 3 May 2011, with the election taking place up to the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Cortes on Saturday, 2 July 2011.[1][3][5]

The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Cortes of Castile and León and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Cortes were to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.[1]

Parliamentary composition

The Cortes of Castile and León were officially dissolved on 29 March 2011, after the publication of the dissolution decree in the Official Gazette of Castile and León.[6] The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the Cortes at the time of dissolution.[7]

Parliamentary composition in March 2011
Groups Parties Legislators
Seats Total
People's Parliamentary Group PP 48 48
Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 33 33
Mixed Parliamentary Group UPL 2 2

Parties and candidates

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.[3][5]

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy Parties and
alliances 		Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Gov. Ref.
Votes (%) Seats
PP
List
 Juan Vicente Herrera Conservatism
Christian democracy 		49.17% 48 checkY [8]
PSOE
List
 Óscar López Social democracy 37.73% 33 ☒N [9]
[10]
IUCyL
List
 José María González Socialism
Communism 		3.08% 0 ☒N [11]
[12]
[13]
UPL
List
 Alejandro Valderas Regionalism
Autonomism 		2.73% 2 ☒N [14]

Opinion polls

The tables below list opinion polling results in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a poll.

Voting intention estimates

The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 43 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castile and León (42 until 1 January 2010).

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Preferred President

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Junta of Castile and León.

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 22 May 2011 Cortes of Castile and León election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
People's Party (PP) 739,502 51.55 +2.38 53 +5
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 425,777 29.68 –8.05 29 –4
United Left of Castile and León (IUCyL) 69,872 4.87 +1.79 1 +1
Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) 47,040 3.28 New 0 ±0
Leonese People's Union (UPL) 26,660 1.86 –0.87 1 –1
Party of Castile and León (PCAL)1 2 13,537 0.94 –0.06 0 ±0
The Party of Castile and León–Independent Candidacy (PCL–CI) 10,796 0.75 –0.33 0 ±0
Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) 5,368 0.37 New 0 ±0
Social Alternative Movement (MASS) 4,777 0.33 New 0 ±0
Leonese Autonomist Party–Leonesist Unity (PAL–UL) 3,925 0.27 –0.06 0 ±0
Yes for Salamanca (UPSa–C's)3 3,718 0.26 –0.26 0 ±0
Citizens for Blank Votes (CenB) 3,545 0.25 New 0 ±0
Zamoran Independent Electors–Zamoran People's Union (ADEIZA–UPZ) 3,322 0.23 +0.02 0 ±0
Greens of Salamanca (LV)2 2,822 0.20 –0.07 0 ±0
Initiative for the Development of Soria (IDES) 2,680 0.19 –0.06 0 ±0
The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV) 2,619 0.18 New 0 ±0
Party of El Bierzo (PB) 2,401 0.17 +0.08 0 ±0
National Democracy (DN) 2,102 0.15 +0.05 0 ±0
Citizens of Burgos for Old Castile (CiBu) 2,001 0.14 +0.06 0 ±0
Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL) 1,965 0.14 +0.03 0 ±0
Greens and Castilians (LV–PCAL)4 1,553 0.11 –0.06 0 ±0
Civiqus (Civiqus) 1,527 0.11 New 0 ±0
Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) 1,522 0.11 +0.03 0 ±0
Regionalist Unity of Castile and León (URCL) 1,428 0.10 +0.04 0 ±0
Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn) 1,302 0.09 New 0 ±0
Communist Party of the Castilian People (PCPC) 1,254 0.09 +0.02 0 ±0
Independents for San Andrés (IxSA) 859 0.06 New 0 ±0
Merindades of Castile Initiative (IMC) 854 0.06 New 0 ±0
Left Segovia (SdI) 760 0.05 New 0 ±0
Regionalist Party of El Bierzo (PRB) 657 0.05 –0.02 0 ±0
Humanist Party (PH) 529 0.04 +0.01 0 ±0
Communist Unification of Spain (UCE) 492 0.03 New 0 ±0
Family and Life Party (PFyV) 238 0.02 New 0 ±0
Blank ballots 47,008 3.28 +1.30
Total 1,434,412 84 +1
Valid votes 1,434,412 98.09 –1.11
Invalid votes 27,985 1.91 +1.11
Votes cast / turnout 1,462,397 67.50 –3.20
Abstentions 703,988 32.50 +3.20
Registered voters 2,166,385
Sources[15][16][17]
Footnotes:
Popular vote
PP
 
 51.55%
PSOE
 
 29.68%
IUCyL
 
 4.87%
UPyD
 
 3.28%
UPL
 
 1.86%
Others
 
 5.48%
Blank ballots
 
 3.28%
Seats
PP
 
 63.10%
PSOE
 
 34.52%
IUCyL
 
 1.19%
UPL
 
 1.19%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency PP PSOE IUCyL UPL
% S % S % S % S
Ávila 59.1 5 23.7 2 5.3 −
Burgos 50.7 7 27.2 4 4.5 −
León 44.7 8 31.8 5 3.8 − 8.9 1
Palencia 53.0 4 32.8 3 4.4 −
Salamanca 56.7 7 29.2 4 3.2 −
Segovia 54.3 5 31.5 2 4.3 −
Soria 52.0 3 32.9 2 3.1 −
Valladolid 50.2 9 29.1 5 7.8 1
Zamora 54.0 5 30.7 2 4.6 − 1.2 −
Total 51.6 53 29.7 29 4.9 1 1.9 1
Sources[15][16][17]

Aftermath

Investiture
Juan Vicente Herrera (PP)
Ballot → 23 June 2011
Required majority → 43 out of 84 checkY
Yes
  • • PP (53)
53 / 84
No
31 / 84
Abstentions
0 / 84
Absentees
0 / 84
Sources[17]

References

Opinion poll sources
  1. ^ "El PP aumenta su ventaja en Castilla y León". Antena 3 (in Spanish). 11 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Encuesta de TNS para Antena 3 y Onda Cero. Elecciones 22M. Expectativas electorales en Castilla y León" (PDF). TNS Demoscopia (in Spanish). 11 May 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2011.
  3. ^ "El PP blinda sus feudos". La Razón (in Spanish). 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 16 September 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ "Una encuesta de NC Report para La Razón amplía la mayoría absoluta del PP en Castilla y León". ForoCoches (in Spanish). 16 May 2011.
  5. ^ "Herrera lograría el mejor resultado de los 24 años de Gobierno del PP". La Crónica (in Spanish). 10 May 2011. Archived from the original on 15 November 2011.
  6. ^ "Los cuatro inexpugnables". La Razón (in Spanish). 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 26 April 2011.
  7. ^ "El PP aumenta su mayoría absoluta en Castilla y León, según el sondeo de NC Report para La Razón". ForoCoches (in Spanish). 26 April 2011.
  8. ^ "Barómetro electoral autonómico" (PDF). Celeste-Tel (in Spanish). 9 May 2011.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ "Los populares superan su récord absoluto con más de la mitad de los votos". ABC (in Spanish). 8 May 2011.
  10. ^ "El PP aumenta su mayoría absoluta". El Correo (in Spanish). 8 May 2011.
  11. ^ a b c "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas, 2011. Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla y León (Estudio nº 2878. Marzo-Abril 2011)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 5 May 2011.
  12. ^ "El PSOE fija su objetivo: salvar los muebles". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 6 May 2011.
  13. ^ "El PP ampliaría su mayoría absoluta en Castilla y León (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  14. ^ "El PP sumaría dos procuradores a costa de PSOE y UPL, según TNS Demoscopia". Leonoticias (in Spanish). 17 April 2011. Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  15. ^ "IU volvería al Parlamento de Castilla y León (TNS Demoscopia)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 17 April 2011.[dead link‍]
  16. ^ "El PP revalidaría su mayoría absoluta en Castilla y León (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 7 January 2011. Archived from the original on 20 January 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  17. ^ "Caso electoral histórico en más comunidades autónomas (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 22 June 2010.
  18. ^ "El PP refuerza posiciones y el PSCyL corre el riesgo de perder dos escaños en la Comunidad". El Mundo (in Spanish). 15 May 2010.
  19. ^ a b c "Gobernar no desgasta al PP". Público (in Spanish). 13 March 2010. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011.
Other
  1. ^ a b c d Ley Orgánica 14/2007, de 30 de noviembre, de reforma del Estatuto de Autonomía de Castilla y León (Organic Law 14) (in Spanish). 30 November 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  2. ^ Reig Pellicer, Naiara (16 December 2015). "Spanish elections: Begging for the right to vote". cafebabel.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Ley 3/1987, de 30 de marzo, Electoral de Castilla y León (Law 3) (in Spanish). 30 March 1987. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  4. ^ Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  5. ^ a b Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5) (in Spanish). 19 June 1985. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Decreto 1/2011, de 28 de marzo, del Presidente de la Junta de Castilla y León, por el que se convocan elecciones a las Cortes de Castilla y León" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (75): 32744–32745. 29 March 2011. ISSN 0212-033X.
  7. ^ "El Parlamento. Legislaturas anteriores. VII Legislatura". Cortes of Castile and León (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  8. ^ "El PP propondrá a Herrera el día 4 de febrero como candidato a la Junta". El Mundo (in Spanish). Valladolid. Ical. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  9. ^ Izquierdo, Francisco (23 April 2010). "Óscar López anuncia su candidatura "para ser presidente de la Junta"". El Norte de Castilla (in Spanish). Riaza (Segovia). Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  10. ^ "El PSCyL propone a Óscar López que lidere el proyecto para destronar a Herrera". El Mundo (in Spanish). Valladolid. Efe. 6 September 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  11. ^ "González Suárez, nuevo coordinador regional de IU con el 77% de los votos". ABC (in Spanish). 22 May 2005. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  12. ^ "IU designa a José María González como candidato a la Junta de Castilla y León" (in Spanish). Valladolid: Europa Press. 24 June 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  13. ^ "González asume la candidatura de IU con el objetivo de volver a las Cortes". El Mundo (in Spanish). Valladolid. Ical. 16 October 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  14. ^ Caballero, A. (27 January 2011). "La UPL recupera a Alejandro Valderas para que sea el candidato a las Cortes". Diario de León (in Spanish). León. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Elections to the Cortes of Castile and León". servicios.jcyl.es (in Spanish). Junta of Castile and León. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  16. ^ a b "Cortes of Castile and León election results, 22 May 2011" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Castile and León. 9 August 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  17. ^ a b c "Elecciones a Cortes de Castilla y León (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 September 2017.