1997 Galician regional election
Election in the Spanish region of Galicia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A regional election was held in Galicia on 19 October 1997 to elect the 5th Parliament of the autonomous community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.
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11.9%
1.7 pp | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 October 1997
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All 75 seats in the Parliament of Galicia 38 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 2,565,369 11.9% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 1,603,731 (62.5%) 1.7 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Constituency results map for the Parliament of Galicia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview
Under the 1981 Statute of Autonomy, the Parliament of Galicia was the unicameral legislature of the homonymous autonomous community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a regional president.[1] The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions.[2]
Date
The term of the Parliament of Galicia expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than 25 days before the scheduled expiration date of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Journal of Galicia (DOG), with election day taking place 54 days after the decree's publication.[3] The previous election was held on 17 October 1993, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 17 October 1997. The election decree was required to be published in the DOG no later than 23 September 1997, setting the latest possible date for election day on 22 November 1997.
The regional president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Galicia at any given time and call a snap election, provided that it did not occur before one year after a previous one under this procedure. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.[4]
The Parliament of Galicia was officially dissolved on 26 August 1997 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the DOG, setting election day for 19 October and scheduling for the chamber to reconvene on 18 November.[5]
Electoral system
Voting for the Parliament is based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Galicia and with full political rights, provided that they have not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence, nor were legally incapacitated.[6]
The Parliament of Galicia had a minimum of 60 and a maximum of 80 seats, with electoral provisions fixing its size at 75. All were elected in four multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra, each of which was assigned an initial minimum of 10 seats and the remaining 35 distributed in proportion to population—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a five percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency.[7] The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.[8]
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Parliament constituency was entitled the following seats:[9]
| Seats | Constituencies |
|---|---|
| 24 | La Coruña |
| 22 | Pontevedra(+1) |
| 15 | Lugo |
| 14 | Orense(–1) |
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.[10]
Outgoing parliament
The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.[11][12]
| Groups | Parties | Legislators | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Total | ||||
| People's Parliamentary Group of Galicia | PP | 43 | 43 | ||
| Socialists of Galicia's Parliamentary Group | PSdeG–PSOE | 19 | 19 | ||
| Galician Nationalist Bloc's Parliamentary Group | BNG | 13 | 13 | ||
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 at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list.[13]
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 | ||||||||
| PP | List
|
|
Manuel Fraga | Conservatism Christian democracy |
52.1% | 43 |  |
||
| PSdeG– PSOE/EU– EG/OV |
List
|
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Abel Caballero | Social democracy | 27.1% [a] |
19 |  |
[14] [15] | |
| BNG | List
|
.jpg) |
Xosé Manuel Beiras | Galician nationalism Left-wing nationalism Socialism |
18.4% | 13 | |
||
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; 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Galicia.
- Color key:
Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout |  |
 |
BNG |  |
Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 regional election | 19 Oct 1997 | N/a | 62.5 | 52.2 42 |
19.5 15 |
24.8 18 |
0.9 0 |
27.4 |
| PP[p 1] | 17 Oct 1997 | ? | ? | ? 42/43 |
? 14/15 |
? 18 |
– | ? |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 2] | 6–9 Oct 1997 | 1,000 | ? | 50.0– 52.0 40/42 |
22.0– 24.0 16/19 |
20.0– 22.0 15/18 |
2.0– 3.0 0 |
28.0 |
| Demoscopia/El País[p 3] | 3–8 Oct 1997 | 2,500 | 63–64 | 51.5 41/42 |
23.1 16/18 |
22.8 16/18 |
1.1 0 |
28.4 |
| PP[p 4] | 7 Oct 1997 | ? | ? | 52.3 41/42 |
24.5 17/19 |
20.5 15/16 |
– | 27.8 |
| Opina/La Vanguardia[p 5] | 3–4 Oct 1997 | 1,000 | 65 | 50.7 39/40 |
25.1 21/22 |
21.5 14/15 |
1.2 0 |
25.6 |
| PP[p 6] | 29 Sep 1997 | ? | ? | ? 40/41 |
? 18/19 |
? 16/17 |
– | ? |
| Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 7] | 28 Sep 1997 | ? | ? | ? 39 |
? 19 |
? 17 |
– | ? |
| DECO/PSOE[p 4][p 8] | 23–28 Sep 1997 | 2,265 | ? | 46.1 37/38 |
31.6 23/25 |
19.3 13/14 |
– | 14.5 |
| CIS[p 9][p 10] | 19–26 Sep 1997 | 2,196 | 69.3 | 51.5 41/42 |
25.2 19/20 |
20.5 14 |
1.4 0 |
26.3 |
| Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 11][p 12] | 26 Jul 1997 | 2,904 | ? | 50.0 40 |
24.0 20 |
19.0 15 |
– | 26.0 |
| Infortécnica[p 13] | 20 Jun–8 Jul 1997 | 3,091 | ? | ? 37/41 |
? 19/23 |
? 15/16 |
– | ? |
| DECO/PSOE[p 14] | 10–20 Apr 1997 | 2,000 | ? | ? 36/37 |
? 25/26 |
? 12/13 |
– | ? |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/PP[p 14] | 1–4 Apr 1997 | 1,400 | ? | 48.0 40 |
20.0 18 |
20.0 17 |
– | 28.0 |
| Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 15][p 16] | 22 Nov 1996 | 3,200 | ? | ? 37 |
? 23 |
? 15 |
– | ? |
| 1996 general election | 3 Mar 1996 | N/a | 71.4 | 48.3 (40) |
33.5 (27) |
12.9 (8) |
3.6 (0) |
14.8 |
| 1994 EP election | 12 Jun 1994 | N/a | 50.3 | 54.6 (47) |
24.8 (19) |
11.4 (7) |
5.1 (2) |
29.8 |
| 1993 regional election | 17 Oct 1993 | N/a | 64.2 | 52.1 43 |
23.7 19 |
18.4 13 |
3.0 0 |
28.4 |
Voting preferences
The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | |
|
BNG | |
 |
 |
Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 regional election[b] | 19 Oct 1997 | N/a | 30.9 | 11.6 | 15.3 | 0.5 | N/a | 33.7 | 15.6 |
| CIS[p 17] | 19–26 Sep 1997 | 2,196 | 35.9 | 12.7 | 14.4 | – | 29.2 | 5.0 | 21.5 |
| 1996 general election[b] | 3 Mar 1996 | N/a | 35.6 | 24.2 | 9.7 | 2.7 | N/a | 26.2 | 11.4 |
| 1994 EP election[b] | 12 Jun 1994 | N/a | 28.3 | 12.6 | 5.9 | 2.6 | N/a | 48.2 | 15.7 |
| 1993 regional election[b] | 17 Oct 1993 | N/a | 32.7 | 14.7 | 11.7 | 1.9 | N/a | 34.2 | 18.0 |
Victory preferences
The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.
Victory likelihood
The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.
Preferred President
The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Regional Government of Galicia.
Predicted President
The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood for each leader to become president of the Regional Government of Galicia.
Results
Overall
 | |||||||||||
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | |||||||
| People's Party (PP) | 832,751 | 52.19 | +0.05 | 42 | −1 | ||||||
| Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) | 395,435 | 24.78 | +6.40 | 18 | +5 | ||||||
| Socialists' Party–Galician Left–The Greens (PSdeG–PSOE/EU–EG/Os Verdes)1 | 310,508 | 19.46 | −7.61 | 15 | −4 | ||||||
| United Left (IU) | 13,964 | 0.88 | New | 0 | ±0 | ||||||
| Galician Democracy (DG) | 11,538 | 0.72 | New | 0 | ±0 | ||||||
| Galician People's Front (FPG) | 3,395 | 0.21 | New | 0 | ±0 | ||||||
| Humanist Party (PH) | 2,543 | 0.16 | −0.01 | 0 | ±0 | ||||||
| Party of Self-employed and Professionals (AUTONOMO) | 2,136 | 0.13 | New | 0 | ±0 | ||||||
| Social Democratic Party of Law (SDD) | 1,129 | 0.07 | New | 0 | ±0 | ||||||
| The Move (Movida) | 939 | 0.06 | New | 0 | ±0 | ||||||
| Galician Phalanx of the CNSO (FG–JONS) | 392 | 0.02 | New | 0 | ±0 | ||||||
| Blank ballots | 20,937 | 1.31 | +0.40 | ||||||||
| Total | 1,595,667 | 75 | ±0 | ||||||||
| Valid votes | 1,595,667 | 99.50 | −0.02 | ||||||||
| Invalid votes | 8,064 | 0.50 | +0.02 | ||||||||
| Votes cast / turnout | 1,603,731 | 62.51 | −1.68 | ||||||||
| Abstentions | 961,638 | 37.49 | +1.68 | ||||||||
| Registered voters | 2,565,369 | ||||||||||
| Sources[11][16] | |||||||||||
Footnotes:
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Distribution by constituency
Aftermath
Government formation
2001 motion of no confidence
Notes
- Results for PSdeG–PSOE (23.7%, 19 seats), EU–UG (3.1%, 0 seats) and Os Verdes (0.3%, 0 seats) in the 1993 election.
- Does not include non-resident citizens.