2003 Castilian-Leonese regional election
Election in the Spanish region of Castile and León
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A regional election was held in Castile and León on 25 May 2003 to elect the 6th Cortes of the autonomous community. All 82 seats in the Cortes were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.
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0.4%
5.1 pp | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
25 May 2003
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All 82 seats in the Cortes of Castile and León 42 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 2,177,222 0.4% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 1,581,983 (72.7%) 5.1 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Constituency results map for the Cortes of Castile and León | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview
Under the 1999 Statute of Autonomy, the Cortes of Castile and León 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 Cortes of Castile and León expired four years after the date of its previous ordinary 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 25 days before the scheduled expiration date of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of Castile and León (BOCYL).[3] The previous election was held on 13 June 1999, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 25 May 2003.
The regional president had the prerogative to dissolve the Cortes of Castile and León at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election had been called and that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or during the last year of parliament before its planned expiration, nor before one year after a previous one.[4] 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, except if it happened in the final year before the expiry of the legislative term.[5] Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances would not alter the period to the next ordinary election, with elected lawmakers serving the remainder of its original four-year term.[6]
The election to the Cortes of Castile and León was officially called on 1 April 2003 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOCYL, setting election day for 25 May and scheduling for the chamber to reconvene on 17 June.[7]
Electoral system
Voting for the Cortes was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Castile and León 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.[8]
The Cortes of Castile and León had three seats per each multi-member constituency—corresponding to the provinces of Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora—plus one additional seat per 45,000 inhabitants or fraction above 22,500. All were elected using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency.[9] The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.[10]
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Cortes constituency was entitled the following seats:[11]
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.[12]
Outgoing parliament
The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of the election call.[13][14]
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.[15]
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
|
|
Juan Vicente Herrera | Conservatism Christian democracy |
50.4% | 48 |  |
[16] [17] | |
| PSOE | List |
.jpg) |
Ángel Villalba | Social democracy | 33.1% | 30 |  |
[18] | |
| UPL | List
|
 |
Joaquín Otero | Leonesism Regionalism Autonomism |
3.7% | 3 | |
||
| IUCyL | List
|
|
José Luis Conde | Socialism Communism |
5.4% | 1 | |
[19] | |
| TC–PNC | List |
|
Carlos Rad | Castilian nationalism Progressivism |
1.4% | 1 | |
[20] | |
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; 42 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castile and León.
- Color key:
Exit poll
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout |  |
 |
 |
UPL | TC | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 regional election | 25 May 2003 | N/a | 72.7 | 48.5 48 |
36.8 32 |
3.4 0 |
3.8 2 |
1.2 0 |
11.7 |
| Sigma Dos/Antena 3[p 1] | 25 May 2003 | ? | ? | ? 44/49 |
? 29/33 |
? 1 |
? 3 |
– | ? |
| Ipsos–Eco/RTVE[p 2] | 25 May 2003 | ? | ? | ? 45/47 |
? 32/34 |
? 1/2 |
? 2/3 |
– | ? |
| CIS[p 3][p 4] | 22 Mar–28 Apr 2003 | 2,999 | 74.2 | 45.4 45 |
37.6 32 |
6.0 2 |
3.7 3 |
1.9 0 |
7.8 |
| CIS[p 5][p 6][p 7] | 9 Sep–9 Oct 2002 | 608 | 75.0 | 49.7 | 35.6 | 5.2 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 14.1 |
| 2000 general election | 12 Mar 2000 | N/a | 72.6 | 55.7 (51) |
32.2 (29) |
4.4 (1) |
2.6 (2) |
1.0 (0) |
23.5 |
| 1999 regional election | 13 Jun 1999 | N/a | 67.6 | 50.4 48 |
33.1 30 |
5.4 1 |
3.7 3 |
1.4 1 |
17.3 |
Voting preferences
The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | |
|
|
UPL | TC |  |
 |
Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 regional election[a] | 25 May 2003 | N/a | 36.0 | 27.2 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 0.9 | N/a | 25.3 | 8.8 |
| CIS[p 3] | 22 Mar–28 Apr 2003 | 2,999 | 29.5 | 22.8 | 2.9 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 32.1 | 7.3 | 6.7 |
| CIS[p 5] | 9 Sep–9 Oct 2002 | 608 | 34.2 | 23.5 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 25.2 | 9.9 | 10.7 |
| 2000 general election[a] | 12 Mar 2000 | N/a | 41.2 | 23.6 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 0.7 | N/a | 25.6 | 17.6 |
| 1999 regional election[a] | 13 Jun 1999 | N/a | 34.7 | 22.6 | 3.7 | 2.5 | 1.0 | N/a | 30.7 | 12.1 |
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 Castile and León.
Results
Overall
 | ||||||
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | ||
| People's Party (PP) | 760,510 | 48.49 | −1.96 | 48 | ±0 | |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 576,769 | 36.77 | +3.71 | 32 | +2 | |
| Leonese People's Union (UPL) | 60,331 | 3.85 | +0.15 | 2 | −1 | |
| United Left of Castile and León (IUCyL) | 54,085 | 3.45 | −1.98 | 0 | −1 | |
| Commoners' Land–Castilian Nationalist Party (TC–PNC) | 18,595 | 1.19 | −0.20 | 0 | −1 | |
| Independent Candidacy–The Party of Castile and León (CI–PCL) | 11,180 | 0.71 | +0.25 | 0 | ±0 | |
| The Greens (LV) | 7,424 | 0.47 | +0.42 | 0 | ±0 | |
| The Greens–Cives (LV–Cives) | 1,459 | 0.09 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Union of the Salamancan People (UPSa) | 6,630 | 0.42 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Regionalist Unity of Castile and León (URCL) | 5,323 | 0.34 | −0.43 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Castilian Left (IzCa) | 3,972 | 0.25 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 3,016 | 0.19 | −0.52 | 0 | ±0 | |
| United Zamora (ZU) | 2,579 | 0.16 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Republican Left (IR) | 2,420 | 0.15 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Party of El Bierzo (PB) | 2,286 | 0.15 | −0.11 | 0 | ±0 | |
| The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV) | 2,196 | 0.14 | +0.05 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Leonese United Independent Citizens (CiuLe) | 2,051 | 0.15 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Humanist Party (PH) | 2,038 | 0.13 | −0.03 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Zamoran People's Union (UPZ) | 1,998 | 0.13 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Initiative for the Development of Soria (IDES) | 1,908 | 0.12 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Salamanca–Zamora–León–PREPAL (PREPAL) | 1,620 | 0.10 | −0.11 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Independent Segovian Alternative (ASí) | 1,314 | 0.08 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| The Phalanx (FE) | 1,197 | 0.08 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Regionalist Party of El Bierzo (PRB) | 1,041 | 0.07 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Liberal Centrist Union (UCL) | 652 | 0.04 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Independent Spanish Phalanx–Phalanx 2000 (FEI–FE 2000) | 556 | 0.04 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Spanish Democratic Party (PADE) | 465 | 0.03 | −0.19 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Authentic Phalanx (FA) | 243 | 0.02 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Blank ballots | 36,027 | 2.30 | −0.37 | |||
| Total | 1,568,426 | 82 | −1 | |||
| Valid votes | 1,568,426 | 99.14 | +0.09 | |||
| Invalid votes | 13,557 | 0.86 | −0.09 | |||
| Votes cast / turnout | 1,581,983 | 72.66 | +5.08 | |||
| Abstentions | 595,239 | 27.34 | −5.08 | |||
| Registered voters | 2,177,222 | |||||
| Sources[13][21][22] | ||||||
Distribution by constituency
Aftermath
Notes
- Does not include non-resident citizens.