1995 Zaragoza municipal election
Election in the Spanish municipality of Zaragoza
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A municipal election was held in Zaragoza on 28 May 1995 to elect the 5th City Council of the municipality. All 31 seats in the City Council were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.
6.6% 10.6 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
28 May 1995
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All 31 seats in the City Council of Zaragoza 16 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 497,001 6.6% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 333,394 (67.1%) 10.6 pp | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview
Under the 1978 Constitution, the governance of municipalities in Spain—part of the country's local government system—was centered on the figure of city councils (Spanish: ayuntamientos), local corporations with independent legal personality composed of a mayor, a government council and an elected legislative assembly.[1] The mayor was indirectly elected by the local assembly, requiring an absolute majority; otherwise, the candidate from the most-voted party automatically became mayor (ties were resolved by drawing lots).[2] In the case of Zaragoza, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Zaragoza.
Date
The term of local assemblies in Spain expired four years after the date of their previous election, with election day being fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The election decree was required to be issued no later than 54 days before the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE).[3] The previous local elections were held on 26 May 1991, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 28 May 1995.
Local assemblies could not be dissolved before the expiration of their term, except in cases of mismanagement that seriously harmed the public interest and implied a breach of constitutional obligations, in which case the Council of Ministers could—optionally—decide to call a by-election.[4]
Elections to the assemblies of local entities were officially called on 4 April 1995 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 28 May.[5]
Electoral system
Voting for local assemblies was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered and residing in the municipality and with full political rights (provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence, nor were legally incapacitated), as well as resident non-nationals whose country of origin allowed reciprocal voting by virtue of a treaty or within the framework of Community Law.[6]
Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a five percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each municipality.[7] Each municipality was a multi-member constituency, with a number of seats based on the following scale:[8]
| Population | Councillors |
|---|---|
| <250 | 5 |
| 251–1,000 | 7 |
| 1,001–2,000 | 9 |
| 2,001–5,000 | 11 |
| 5,001–10,000 | 13 |
| 10,001–20,000 | 17 |
| 20,001–50,000 | 21 |
| 50,001–100,000 | 25 |
| >100,001 | +1 per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction +1 if total is an even number |
The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacant seats; instead, any vacancies arising after the proclamation of candidates and during the legislative term were filled by the next candidates on the party lists or, when required, by designated substitutes.[9]
Parties and candidates
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within 10 days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of a determined amount of the electors registered in the municipality for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list. In the case of Zaragoza, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 signatures were required.[10]
Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:
| Candidacy | Parties and alliances |
Leading candidate | Ideology | Previous result | Gov. | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vote % | Seats | ||||||||
| PSOE | List |
 |
Emilio Comín | Social democracy | 42.9% | 15 |  |
[11] | |
| PP | List
|
.jpg) |
Luisa Fernanda Rudi | Conservatism Christian democracy |
21.8% | 7 |  |
[12] | |
| PAR | List
|
|
Francisco Meroño | Regionalism Centrism |
18.3% | 6 | |
||
| IU | List
|
|
Eudaldo Casanova | Socialism Communism |
9.4% | 3 | |
||
| CHA | List
|
|
Antonio Gaspar | Aragonese nationalism Eco-socialism |
2.3% | 0 | |
||
Results
 | ||||||
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | ||
| People's Party (PP) | 155,206 | 46.78 | +25.00 | 15 | +8 | |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 62,390 | 18.81 | −24.06 | 6 | −9 | |
| United Left of Aragon (IU) | 44,047 | 13.28 | +3.88 | 4 | +1 | |
| Aragonese Party (PAR) | 41,558 | 12.53 | −5.74 | 4 | −2 | |
| Aragonese Union (CHA) | 19,783 | 5.96 | +3.63 | 2 | +2 | |
| Independent Federation of Workers and Self-employed (FITA) | 1,237 | 0.37 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Platform of Independents of Spain (PIE) | 963 | 0.29 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Aragonese Unity (UA) | 654 | 0.20 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) | 275 | 0.08 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Blank ballots | 5,655 | 1.70 | +0.24 | |||
| Total | 331,768 | 31 | ±0 | |||
| Valid votes | 331,768 | 99.51 | +0.19 | |||
| Invalid votes | 1,626 | 0.49 | −0.19 | |||
| Votes cast / turnout | 333,394 | 67.08 | +10.60 | |||
| Abstentions | 163,607 | 32.92 | −10.60 | |||
| Registered voters | 497,001 | |||||
| Sources[13][14][15] | ||||||
