2019 Castilian-Leonese regional election

Election in the Spanish region of Castile and León From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A regional election was held in Castile and León on 26 May 2019 to elect the 10th Cortes of the autonomous community. All 81 seats in the Cortes were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in eleven other autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain, as well as the 2019 European Parliament election.

Registered2,114,811 Decrease 1.7%
Turnout1,391,502 (65.8%)
Increase 1.1 pp
Quick facts All 81 seats in the Cortes of Castile and León 41 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...
2019 Castilian-Leonese regional election

 2015
26 May 2019
2022 

All 81 seats in the Cortes of Castile and León
41 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered2,114,811 Decrease 1.7%
Turnout1,391,502 (65.8%)
Increase 1.1 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Luis Tudanca Alfonso Fernández Mañueco Francisco Igea
Party PSOE PP Cs
Leader since 18 October 2014 1 April 2017 11 March 2019
Leader's seat Burgos Salamanca Valladolid
Last election 25 seats, 25.9% 42 seats, 37.7% 5 seats, 10.3%
Seats won 35 29 12
Seat change Increase 10 Decrease 13 Increase 7
Popular vote 479,916 433,905 205,855
Percentage 34.8% 31.5% 14.9%
Swing Increase 8.9 pp Decrease 6.1 pp Increase 4.6 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Pablo Fernández Jesús García-Conde Luis Mariano Santos
Party PodemosEquo Vox UPL
Leader since 14 February 2015 10 May 2019 27 March 2015
Leader's seat León Valladolid León
Last election 10 seats, 12.1% 0 seats, 0.7% 1 seat, 1.4%
Seats won 2 1 1
Seat change Decrease 8 Increase 1 Steady 0
Popular vote 68,869 75,731 28,057
Percentage 5.0% 5.5% 2.0%
Swing Decrease 7.1 pp Increase 4.8 pp Increase 0.6 pp

  Seventh party Eighth party
 
Leader Pedro Pascual José Sarrión
Party XAV IUAPCAS/TCALTER
Leader since 9 April 2019 15 February 2015
Leader's seat Ávila Valladolid
Last election Did not contest 1 seat, 4.5%[a]
Seats won 1 0
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 1
Popular vote 9,455 31,580
Percentage 0.7% 2.3%
Swing New party Decrease 2.2 pp


President before election

Juan Vicente Herrera
PP

Elected President

Alfonso Fernández Mañueco
PP

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The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) saw its first plurality in a regional election in Castile and León since 1983, being only the second time in history that the party emerged as the most voted political force in a regional election. Conversely, support for the governing People's Party (PP) collapsed into its worst historical parliamentary showing, whereas the liberal Citizens (Cs) and the far-right Vox made substantial gains at its expense, though support for the latter, which rose from 0.7% to 5.5%, failed to materialize in more than one single seat due to the electoral system. Concurrently, the PodemosEquo alliance suffered a sizeable setback after losing eight out of the ten seats Podemos had won on its own in 2015.

As a result of PP and Cs being able to muster a slim majority of 41 seats in the Cortes, the two centre-right parties were able to form a coalition government—the second in the community's history, after the coalition between the PP and the late Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) that was formed for the 1989–1991 period—under PP candidate Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, who became the region's new president.[1]

Overview

Under the 2007 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.[2] The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions.[3]

Date

The term of the Cortes of Castile and León 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 Gazette of Castile and León (BOCYL), with election day taking place 54 days after the decree's publication.[4] The previous election was held on 24 May 2015, which meant that the chamber's term would have expired on 24 May 2019. The election decree was required to be published in the BOCYL no later than 30 April 2019, setting the latest possible date for election day on 23 June 2019.

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 and that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or before one year after a previous one.[5] 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.[6]

The Cortes of Castile and León was officially dissolved on 2 April 2019 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOCYL, setting election day for 26 May and scheduling for the chamber to reconvene on 21 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.[8][b] Additionally, non-resident citizens were required to apply for voting, a system known as "begged" voting (Spanish: Voto rogado).[10][11]

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.[12] The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.[13]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Cortes constituency was entitled the following seats:[14]

More information Seats, Constituencies ...
Seats Constituencies
15 Valladolid
13 León(–1)
11 Burgos
10 Salamanca(–1)
7 Ávila, Palencia, Zamora
6 Segovia(–1)
5 Soria
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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.[15]

Outgoing parliament

The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.[16][17]

More information Groups, Parties ...
Parliamentary composition in April 2019
Groups Parties Legislators
Seats Total
People's Parliamentary Group PP 42 42
Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 25 25
We Can Castile and León Parliamentary Group Podemos 10 10
Citizens Parliamentary Group Cs 5 5
Mixed Parliamentary Group IUCyL 1 2
UPL 1
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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.[18] Additionally, a balanced composition of men and women was required in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition.[19]

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

Campaign

Debates

After amendments in 2017, the electoral law of Castile and León provided for the presidential candidates of the parties having a parliamentary group in the Cortes to participate in, at least, two leaders' debates to be held during the electoral campaign.[31]

More information Date, Organisers ...
2019 Castilian-Leonese regional election debates
Date Organisers Moderator(s)     P  Present[c]    S  Surrogate[d]  
 NI  Not invited   I  Invited    A  Absent invitee 
PP PSOE Podemos Cs Audience Ref.
14 May CyLTV Nati Melendre
Alejandra Abad
P
Mañueco
P
Tudanca
P
Fernández
P
Igea
?
(228,000)
[32]
[33]
21 May CyLTV Nati Melendre
Alejandra Abad
P
Mañueco
P
Tudanca
P
Fernández
P
Igea
?
(183,000)
[34]
[35]
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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; 41 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castile and León (43 in the 2015 election).

Color key:

  Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls

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

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

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

Overall

More information Parties and alliances, Popular vote ...
Summary of the 26 May 2019 Cortes of Castile and León election results
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 479,91634.84+8.90 35+10
People's Party (PP) 433,90531.50−6.23 29−13
Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs) 205,85514.94+4.67 12+7
Vox (Vox) 75,7315.50+4.82 1+1
We CanEquo (Podemos–Equo) 68,8695.00−7.14 2−8
United LeftAnticapitalists (IUAnticapitalistasPCAS/TCALTER)1 31,5802.29−1.86 0−1
Leonese People's Union (UPL)2 28,0572.04+0.49 1±0
For Ávila (XAV) 9,4550.69New 1+1
Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) 8,6190.63+0.10 0±0
Sorian People's Platform (PPSO) 3,8950.28New 0±0
Coalition for El Bierzo (CB) 3,7250.27−0.10 0±0
Decide Now (Ahora Decide)3 1,9110.14−0.20 0±0
Regionalist Party of El Bierzo (PRB) 1,6020.12+0.07 0±0
Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL) 1,4030.10±0.00 0±0
With You, We Are Democracy (Contigo) 1,2870.09New 0±0
Social Unity of Bierzo Electors (USE Bierzo) 1,2590.09New 0±0
Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE) 1,0010.07New 0±0
Regionalist Union of Castile and León (Unión Regionalista)4 9920.07+0.01 0±0
Democratic Centre Coalition (CCD)5 9250.07−0.87 0±0
Centered (centrados) 9200.07New 0±0
Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE de las JONS) 6270.05−0.08 0±0
Ávila Free of Tolls (ÁvilaLP) 5520.04New 0±0
Grouped Rural Citizens (CRA) 4720.03−0.09 0±0
Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) 2150.02−0.08 0±0
Tradition and Future (TyF) 1910.01New 0±0
For a Fairer World (PUM+J) 1480.01New 0±0
Blank ballots 14,5661.06−1.38
Total 1,377,678 81−3
Valid votes 1,377,67899.01+1.08
Invalid votes 13,8240.99−1.08
Votes cast / turnout 1,391,50265.80+1.13
Abstentions 723,30934.20−1.13
Registered voters 2,114,811
Sources[16][36][37]
Footnotes:
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Popular vote
PSOE
34.84%
PP
31.50%
Cs
14.94%
Vox
5.50%
PodemosEquo
5.00%
IUAnticapitalists
2.29%
UPL
2.04%
XAV
0.69%
Others
2.16%
Blank ballots
1.06%
Seats
PSOE
43.21%
PP
35.80%
Cs
14.81%
PodemosEquo
2.47%
Vox
1.23%
UPL
1.23%
XAV
1.23%

Distribution by constituency

More information Constituency, PSOE ...
Constituency PSOE PP Cs Vox Podemos UPL XAV
% S % S % S % S % S % S % S
Ávila 28.3 2 36.1 3 13.0 1 5.7 3.9 9.6 1
Burgos 37.0 5 28.1 3 17.3 2 6.1 7.2 1
León 35.2 6 27.4 4 11.0 1 4.2 5.5 1 10.2 1
Palencia 35.9 3 34.5 3 15.1 1 5.7 4.6
Salamanca 33.3 4 38.5 4 15.6 2 4.8 4.0 0.3
Segovia 33.8 3 33.5 2 16.4 1 5.6 5.3
Soria 40.7 3 27.6 2 11.3 4.3 5.1
Valladolid 34.7 6 29.5 5 17.7 3 6.9 1 4.7
Zamora 36.2 3 33.8 3 13.9 1 5.1 3.5 0.7
Total 34.8 35 31.5 29 14.9 12 5.5 1 5.0 2 2.0 1 0.7 1
Sources[16][36][37]
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Aftermath

Government formation

More information Ballot →, 9 July 2019 ...
Investiture
Nomination of Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (PP)
Ballot → 9 July 2019
Required majority → 41 out of 81 checkY
Yes
  • PP (29)
  • Cs (12)
41 / 81
No
38 / 81
Abstentions
2 / 81
Absentees
0 / 81
Sources[16][38]
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Notes

  1. Results for IUEquo (4.1%, 1 seat) and PCAS–TC–Pacto (0.3%, 0 seats) in the 2015 election.
  2. Amendments in 2018 granted the right to vote to those legally incapacitated.[9]
  3. Denotes a main invitee attending the event.
  4. Denotes a main invitee not attending the event, sending a surrogate in their place.
  5. Does not include non-resident citizens.

References

Bibliography

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