2001 Galician regional election

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 19 October 1997, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 19 October 2001. The election decree was required to be published in the DOG no later than 25 September 2001, setting the latest possible date for election day on 18 November 2001.

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 28 August 2001 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the DOG, setting election day for 21 October and scheduling for the chamber to reconvene on 20 November.^[5]

Electoral system

Voting for the Parliament was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Galicia 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.^[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]

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.^[11]

Outgoing parliament

The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.^[12][13]

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   Exit poll

More information Polling firm/Commissioner, Fieldwork date ...

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout		BNG			Lead
2001 regional election	21 Oct 2001	—N/a	60.2	51.6 41	22.6 17	21.8 17	0.7 0	29.0
Ipsos–Eco/TVG[p 1][p 2][p 3]	21 Oct 2001	25,000	?	52.2 42/44	23.4 18/19	19.1 13/14	0.9 0	28.8
Sigma Dos/Antena 3[p 1][p 2][p 3]	21 Oct 2001	18,000	?	52.0 41/43	25.1 18/19	19.8 14/15	–	26.9
Sondaxe/Tele 5[p 1][p 2][p 3]	12–20 Oct 2001	4,375	?	51.4 42/43	27.1 18/19	19.0 13/14	–	24.3
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	9–13 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.3 41	25.9 19	20.5 15	–	25.4
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	8–12 Oct 2001	2,500	?	50.8 41	26.3 19	20.7 15	–	24.5
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	7–11 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.7 41	25.7 19	20.5 15	–	26.0
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	6–10 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.6 42	25.6 18	20.5 15	–	26.0
USC[p 5]	5–10 Oct 2001	?	?	48.3 39/41	26.8 18/20	23.1 15/18	–	21.5
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	5–9 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.6 41	25.9 19	20.4 15	–	25.7
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	4–8 Oct 2001	2,500	?	50.6 41	26.6 19	20.8 15	–	24.0
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	3–7 Oct 2001	2,500	?	50.0 40	26.8 20	21.2 15	–	23.2
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	2–6 Oct 2001	2,500	?	49.5 39	26.7 20	21.6 16	–	22.8
Celeste-Tel/Terra[p 5][p 6]	5 Oct 2001	?	?	49.7 40	24.4 18	22.7 17	–	25.3
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	1–5 Oct 2001	2,500	?	49.3 40	26.4 19	22.0 16	–	22.9
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	30 Sep–4 Oct 2001	2,500	?	50.6 40	25.6 19	21.7 16	–	25.0
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	29 Sep–3 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.7 42	24.9 17	21.2 16	–	26.8
Opina/Cadena SER[p 7][p 8]	2 Oct 2001	?	?	50.0 39/40	26.0 19/20	20.5 15/17	1.0 0	24.0
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	28 Sep–2 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.8 42	25.0 18	21.0 15	–	26.8
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	27 Sep–1 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.7 42	25.1 18	20.9 15	–	26.6
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	26–30 Sep 2001	2,500	?	51.7 41	25.4 19	20.7 15	–	26.3
CIS[p 9][p 10]	15–30 Sep 2001	2,991	64.0	49.7 39/41	25.2 18/20	21.4 15/17	1.0 0	24.5
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	25–29 Sep 2001	2,500	?	51.2 41	25.6 19	20.8 15	–	25.6
Infortécnica/La Región[p 5][p 6][p 11]	10–17 Sep 2001	?	?	49.6 38/40	24.8 18	23.6 17/19	–	24.8
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 5][p 6][p 12]	3–7 Sep 2001	2,400	?	50.4 40/41	26.0 19	21.2 15/16	–	24.4
Infortécnica/La Región[p 5][p 6]	Aug 2001	?	?	49.1 38/40	26.2 19/20	22.7 16/17	–	22.9
PP[p 13]	29 Jul 2001	2,000	?	? 39/41	? 17/18	? 17/18	–	?
USC[p 5][p 6][p 14][p 15]	18 Jul 2001	?	?	49.9 39/40	25.7 18	23.3 17/18	–	24.2
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 6][p 16][p 17]	14 Jul 2001	?	?	47.1 37/40	27.2 19/20	22.8 16/18	–	19.9
PSOE[p 5][p 6]	Jul 2001	?	?	? 38/39	? 18	? 18/19	–	?
PP[p 18][p 19]	2 Jun 2001	?	?	? 39	? 20	? 16	–	?
Infortécnica/La Región[p 5][p 6]	Jun 2001	?	?	50.7 40	27.0 20	21.4 15	–	23.7
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[c][p 5][p 6][p 20]	14 Apr 2001	?	61.5	50.7	24.4	19.5	–	26.3
Sondaxe/BNG[p 5][p 6][p 21]	24 Mar 2001	?	?	46.2 37	28.0 21	23.0 17	–	18.2
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[c][p 5][p 6][p 22]	1 Jan 2001	?	71.0	48.0	28.5	18.7	–	19.5
USC[p 5][p 6][p 23]	11–23 Dec 2000	?	?	50.1 39	25.5 18	23.9 18	–	24.6
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[c][p 5][p 6][p 24]	23 Sep 2000	?	71.5	48.7	28.5	17.1	–	20.2
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[c][p 5][p 6][p 25]	2 Jul 2000	?	73.8	50.3	28.3	15.7	–	22.0
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[c][p 5][p 6]	2 Apr 2000	?	73.1	48.4	31.6	15.0	–	16.8
2000 general election	12 Mar 2000	—N/a	65.0	54.0 (45)	18.6 (13)	23.7 (17)	1.3 (0)	30.3
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[c][p 5][p 6]	23 Jan 2000	?	71.2	50.3	30.2	18.8	–	20.1
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[c][p 5][p 6]	19 Sep 1999	?	73.9	49.4	30.9	18.0	–	18.5
1999 EP election	13 Jun 1999	—N/a	60.8	49.9 (42)	22.0 (16)	23.6 (17)	1.1 (0)	26.3
1997 regional election	19 Oct 1997	—N/a	62.5	52.2 42	24.8 18	19.5 15	0.9 0	27.4

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Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

More information Polling firm/Commissioner, Fieldwork date ...

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size		BNG			?	N	Lead
2001 regional election[d]	21 Oct 2001	—N/a	29.0	13.3	12.5	0.4	—N/a	35.8	15.7
CIS[p 9]	15–30 Sep 2001	2,991	31.2	13.2	12.1	0.6	34.7	4.5	18.0
2000 general election[d]	12 Mar 2000	—N/a	37.1	13.2	16.2	0.9	—N/a	30.5	20.9
1999 EP election[d]	13 Jun 1999	—N/a	32.4	14.5	15.2	0.7	—N/a	34.4	17.2
1997 regional election[d]	19 Oct 1997	—N/a	30.9	15.3	11.6	0.5	—N/a	33.7	15.6

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Victory preferences

The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.

More information Polling firm/Commissioner, Fieldwork date ...

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size		BNG			Other/ None	?	Lead
CIS[p 9]	15–30 Sep 2001	2,991	35.7	14.7	14.4	0.6	7.3	27.2	21.0

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Preferred President

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Regional Government of Galicia.

More information Polling firm/Commissioner, Fieldwork date ...

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size				Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Fraga PP	Beiras BNG	Touriño PSdeG
CIS[p 9]	15–30 Sep 2001	2,991	37.2	14.8	12.2	13.5	22.4	22.4

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Overall

More information Parties and alliances, Popular vote ...

← Summary of the 21 October 2001 Parliament of Galicia election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	791,885	51.62	−0.57	41	−1
	Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG)	346,430	22.58	−2.20	17	−1
	Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG–PSOE)	334,819	21.83	+2.37	17	+2
	United Left (EU–IU)	10,431	0.68	−0.20	0	±0
	Galician Progressive Democracy (DPG)	6,938	0.45	−0.27	0	±0
	Left of Galicia (EdeG)	5,001	0.33	New	0	±0
	Party of Self-employed and Professionals (AUTONOMO)	4,481	0.29	+0.16	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	4,137	0.27	+0.11	0	±0
	Galician People's Front (FPG)	3,176	0.21	±0.00	0	±0
	Social Democratic Party of Law (SDD)	646	0.04	−0.03	0	±0
Blank ballots		25,988	1.69	+0.38
Total		1,533,932			75	±0
Valid votes		1,533,932	99.30	−0.20
Invalid votes		10,755	0.70	+0.20
Votes cast / turnout		1,544,687	60.16	−2.35
Abstentions		1,022,983	39.84	+2.35
Registered voters		2,567,670
Sources[12][15][16]

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Distribution by constituency

Government formation

More information Ballot →, 5 December 2001 ...

Investiture Nomination of Manuel Fraga (PP)
Ballot →		5 December 2001
Required majority →		38 out of 75 Y
	Yes • PP (41)	41 / 75
	No • BNG (17) • PSdeG (17)	34 / 75
	Abstentions	0 / 75
	Absentees	0 / 75
Sources[12]

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2002 motions of no confidence

More information Ballot →, 12 December 2002 ...

Motion of no confidence Nomination of Xosé Manuel Beiras (BNG) Ballot → 12 December 2002 Required majority → 38 out of 75 N Yes • BNG (17) • PSdeG (17) 34 / 75 No • PP (41) 41 / 75 Abstentions 0 / 75 Absentees 0 / 75 Sources[12]

Motion of no confidence Nomination of Emilio Pérez Touriño (PSdeG) Ballot → 12 December 2002 Required majority → 38 out of 75 N Yes • BNG (17) • PSdeG (17) 34 / 75 No • PP (41) 41 / 75 Abstentions 0 / 75 Absentees 0 / 75 Sources[12]

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