2020 Basque regional election

Election in the Spanish region of the Basque Country From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A regional election was held in the Basque Country on 12 July 2020 to elect the 12th Parliament of the autonomous community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election. It was held concurrently with a regional election in Galicia. The election was initially scheduled for 5 April 2020 but was postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Registered1,794,316 Increase 0.6%
Turnout911,089 (50.8%)
Decrease 9.2 pp
Quick facts All 75 seats in the Basque Parliament 38 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...
2020 Basque regional election
← 2016
12 July 2020
2024 →
All 75 seats in the Basque Parliament
38 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered1,794,316 Increase 0.6%
Turnout911,089 (50.8%)
Decrease 9.2 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Iñigo Urkullu Maddalen Iriarte Idoia Mendia
Party EAJ/PNV EH Bildu PSE–EE (PSOE)
Leader since 2 December 2007 3 February 2020 20 September 2014
Leader's seat Álava Gipuzkoa Biscay
Last election 28 seats, 37.4% 18 seats, 21.1% 9 seats, 11.9%
Seats won 31 21 10
Seat change Increase 3 Increase 3 Increase 1
Popular vote 349,960 249,580 122,248
Percentage 38.7% 27.6% 13.5%
Swing Increase 1.3 pp Increase 6.5 pp Increase 1.6 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Miren Gorrotxategi Carlos Iturgaiz None[a]
Party Elkarrekin
Podemos–IU		 PP+Cs Vox
Leader since 27 February 2020 24 February 2020 —
Leader's seat Biscay Biscay —
Last election 11 seats, 14.8% 9 seats, 12.1%[b] 0 seats, 0.1%
Seats won 6 6 1
Seat change Decrease 5 Decrease 3 Increase 1
Popular vote 72,113 60,650 17,569
Percentage 8.0% 6.7% 1.9%
Swing Decrease 6.8 pp Decrease 5.4 pp Increase 1.8 pp
Lehendakari before election

Iñigo Urkullu
EAJ/PNV

 Elected Lehendakari

Iñigo Urkullu
EAJ/PNV

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On 4 February 2020, Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu had discussed holding a snap election within a cabinet meeting, fulfilling a legal requirement previous to any election call and sparking speculation that a regional election was imminent.[2][3][4] Six days later, on 10 February, Urkullu confirmed the election for 5 April, seeking to distance himself from the convoluted political landscape in Catalonia after a 2020 election in the region was announced by Catalan president Quim Torra.[5][6][7] The announcement of the Basque election prompted Galician president Alberto Núñez Feijóo to trigger a snap election in Galicia as well.[8][9] However, on 16 March it was announced that the vote would be postponed for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, shortly after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's declaration of a nationwide lockdown in the country starting on the previous day.[10][11][12]

Urkullu's Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) maintained its status as the largest party in the Basque Parliament with its best result since 1984, which coupled to an increase in support of one seat for the centre-left Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE-EE)—its coalition partner during the previous legislature—allowed Urkullu to establish a majority coalition government. The left-wing regional nationalist EH Bildu topped its best historical result, benefitting from the collapse of the United We Can–United Left (Elkarrekin Podemos) alliance, which lost nearly half its support. The PP+Cs alliance compromising both the People's Party (PP) and Citizens (Cs) lost roughly half of the seats won by the PP in the 2016 election, although Cs entered the regional parliament for the first time with 2 seats whereas the PP was allocated the alliance's remaining 4. The far-right Spanish unionist Vox entered the Parliament for the first time with one seat. Equo was not able to secure parliamentary representation after having won one seat as a member of the Elkarrekin Podemos alliance in 2016.

Overview

Under the 1979 Statute of Autonomy, the Basque Parliament was the unicameral legislature of the Basque Autonomous Community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a lehendakari.[13] The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions.[14]

Date

The term of the Basque Parliament 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 the Basque Country (BOPV), with election day taking place 54 days after the decree's publication.[15] The previous election was held on 25 September 2016, which meant that the chamber's term would have expired on 25 September 2020. The election decree was required to be published in the BOPV no later than 1 September 2020, setting the latest possible date for election day on 25 October 2020.

The lehendakari had the prerogative to dissolve the Basque Parliament at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process.[16] In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a lehendakari within a 60-day period from the Parliament's reconvening, the chamber was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.[17]

On 4 February 2020, it was revealed that Iñigo Urkullu was considering holding a snap election within a short timeframe and that he had fulfilled legal requirements for it by raising such hypothesis within a cabinet meeting,[18][19] with 5 April being regarded as the most likely date.[2] The decision of Catalan president Quim Torra on 29 January to announce a snap Catalan regional election to be held at some point throughout 2020 was said to have raised concerns within Urkullu's government, as the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) sought to prevent the next Basque regional election from being held simultaneously to prevent any interference from the Catalan political debate into the Basque campaign.[3][20][21]

Asked in a plenary session of parliament on 7 February on whether he would be dissolving the chamber within the following days, Urkullu refused to either explicitly confirm or reject such hypothesis, but asked opposition parties for a commitment to approve as many legislation as possible "now and in the future".[22][23] Sources within the Basque government pointed out that, for an election to be held on 5 April, the dissolution decree would have to be published in the BOPV on 11 February, and that if a snap election was to be eventually called the announcement of it happening could be delayed up to that day.[24][25] Finally, Urkullu confirmed on 10 February the election date for 5 April, with the subsequent dissolution of parliament to be made official on the next day.[6][26][27]

The Basque Parliament was officially dissolved on 11 February 2020 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOPV.[28] As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the election's original date was suspended on 17 March,[29][30] with it being rescheduled for 12 July 2020 on 18 May after the easing of virus spreading conditions and a reduction in the infection rate, resulting in the lockdown established by the state of alarm lasting from 15 March to 21 June.[10][31]

Electoral system

Voting for the Parliament was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Basque Country and with full political rights, provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence.[32][c] Additionally, non-resident citizens were required to apply for voting, a system known as "begged" voting (Spanish: Voto rogado).[34][35]

The Basque Parliament had 75 seats. All were elected in three multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, each of which was assigned a fixed number of 25 seats to provide for an equal parliamentary representation of the three provinces—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency.[36] The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.[37]

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.[38]

Outgoing parliament

The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.[39][40]

More information Groups, Parties ...
Parliamentary composition in February 2020
Groups Parties Legislators
Seats Total
Basque Nationalists Parliamentary Group EAJ/PNV 28 28
EH Bildu Parliamentary Group EH Bildu 18 18
United We Can Parliamentary Group Podemos 8 11
EzAn–IU 2
Equo 1
Basque Socialists Parliamentary Group PSE–EE (PSOE) 9 9
Basque People's Parliamentary Group PP 9 9
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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.[41] 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.[42]

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

More information Candidacy, Parties and alliances ...
Candidacy Parties and
alliances		 Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Gov. Ref.
Vote % Seats
EAJ/PNV
List
 Iñigo Urkullu Basque nationalism
Christian democracy
Social democracy		 37.4% 28 Yes [43]
EH Bildu
List
 Maddalen Iriarte Basque independence
Abertzale left
Socialism		 21.1% 18 No [44]
[45]
[46]
Elkarrekin
Podemos–IU
List
 Miren Gorrotxategi Left-wing populism
Direct democracy
Democratic socialism		 14.8% 11 No [47]
[48]
[49]
Equo
Berdeak–
Verdes
List
 José Ramón Becerra Green politics No [50]
PP+Cs
List
 Carlos Iturgaiz Conservatism
Liberalism
12.1%
[b]		 9 No [51]
[52]
[53]
[54]
PSE–EE
(PSOE)
List
 Idoia Mendia Social democracy 11.9% 9 Yes [55]
Vox
List
 None[a] Right-wing populism
Ultranationalism
National conservatism		 0.1% 0 No [1]
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In August 2018, Pilar Zabala, the leader of Elkarrekin Podemos, announced that she would not seek reelection and would leave politics by the end of the legislature.[56] Ahead of the election, Equo was excluded from the coalition after the party had broken up with the Unidas Podemos nationwide alliance to join Más País in the lead up to the November 2019 Spanish general election.[57]

Alfonso Alonso had been initially scheduled to repeat as the leading candidate for the People's Party (PP) in the regional election, having been confirmed for the post on 10 February 2020.[58][59] However, the negotiation of a coalition with Citizens (Cs) which the Basque PP received with heavy criticism, amid claims of having been overruled and swept aside by the party's national leadership in the coalition talks,[60][61] triggered an internal clash which led national PP leader Pablo Casado to force Alonso's removal as candidate on 23 February and propose Carlos Iturgaiz for the post instead.[52]

Campaign

Timetable

The key dates are listed below (all times are CET):[62][63][64]

  • 10 February: The election decree is issued with the countersign of the lehendakari, after deliberation in the Government.
  • 11 February: Formal dissolution of parliament.
  • 17 March: Election postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic; all election procedures and preparations are suspended until further notice.[29]
  • 18 May: The election decree is newly issued with the countersign of the lehendakari, after deliberation in the Government.
  • 19 May: Start of prohibition period on the inauguration of public works, services or projects.
  • 22 May: Initial constitution of historical territory and zone electoral commissions with judicial members.
  • 25 May: Division of constituencies into polling sections and stations.
  • 29 May: Deadline for parties and federations to report on their electoral alliances.
  • 1 June: Deadline for electoral register consultation for the purpose of possible corrections.
  • 8 June: Deadline for parties, federations, alliances, and groupings of electors to present electoral lists.
  • 10 June: Publication of submitted electoral lists in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV).
  • 13 June: Deadline for non-resident citizens (electors residing abroad (CERA) and citizens temporarily absent from Spain) to apply for voting.
  • 15 June: Official proclamation of validly submitted electoral lists.
  • 16 June: Publication of proclaimed electoral lists in the BOPV.
  • 17 June: Deadline for the selection of polling station members by sortition.
  • 25 June: Deadline for the appointment of non-judicial members to historical territory and zone electoral commissions.
  • 26 June: Official start of electoral campaigning.[65]
  • 2 July: Deadline to apply for postal voting.
  • 7 July: Start of legal ban on electoral opinion polling publication; deadline for CERA citizens to vote by mail.
  • 8 July: Deadline for postal and temporarily absent voting.
  • 10 July: Last day of electoral campaigning;[65] deadline for CERA voting.
  • 11 July: Official election silence ("reflection day").
  • 12 July: Election day (polling stations open at 9 am and close at 8 pm or once voters present in a queue at/outside the polling station at 8 pm have cast their vote); provisional vote counting.
  • 17 July: Start of general vote counting, including CERA votes.
  • 21 July: Deadline for the general vote counting.
  • 1 August: Deadline for the proclamation of elected members.
  • 8 August: Deadline for the publication of definitive election results in the BOPV.

Party slogans

More information Party or alliance, Original slogan ...
Party or alliance Original slogan[d] English translation Ref.
EAJ/PNV « Gure bidean »
« Hacemos Euskadi »
« Euskadi zutik, ¡saldremos! »		 "On our way"
"We make the Basque Country"
"Stand up Basque Country, we will get out!"		 [66]
[67][68]
EH Bildu « Erantzun berrien garaia da/Tiempo de respuestas. Egiteko prest » "Time for answers. Ready to do it" [69][70]
Elkarrekin Podemos « Podemos gobernar. Gobernatzeko prest » "We can govern. Ready to govern" [71]
PP+Cs « Un plan para el futuro »
« Etorkizunerako plana »		 "A plan for the future" [72]
PSE–EE (PSOE) « Ni un paso atrás »
« Aurrera goaz »
« Soluciones, erantzunak »		 "No step backwards"
"We go forward"
"Solutions, answers"		 [73][74]
[75][76]
Equo « Votemos distinto, salgamos mejores »
« Bozka aldatu, Euskadi hobetu »		 "Let's vote different, let's get better"
"Change the vote, improve the Basque Country"		 [77]
Vox « Habla por ti » "Speak by yourself" [78]
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Debates

More information Date, Organisers ...
2020 Basque regional election debates
Date Organisers Moderator(s)     P  Present[e]    S  Surrogate[f]    NI  Not invited   A  Absent invitee 
PNV EH Bildu EP PP+Cs PSE–EE Equo Audience Ref.
24 June Coordinadora de
ONGD de Euskadi		 Xabier Madariaga S
Arrizabalaga		 S
Otero		 P
Gorrotxategi		 S
Barrio		 S
Sánchez		 P
Becerra		 — [79]
[80]
26 June Cadena SER Eva Domaika S
Erkoreka		 S
Casanova		 P
Gorrotxategi		 S
Barrio		 P
Mendia		 NI — [81]
[82]
2 July ETB 1[g] Xabier Usabiaga P
Urkullu		 P
Iriarte		 P
Gorrotxategi		 S
Garrido		 P
Mendia		 P
Becerra		 1.5%
(8,000)		 [83]
[84]
6 July El Correo Marta Madruga
Olatz Barriuso		 S
Arrizabalaga		 S
Casanova		 P
Gorrotxategi		 P
Iturgaiz		 P
Mendia		 NI — [85]
[86]
7 July Euskadi Irratia[g] Maite Artola S
Egibar		 S
Kortajarena		 S
Martinez		 S
Garrido		 S
Andueza		 P
Becerra		 — [83]
[87]
7 July Radio Vitoria Pilar Ruiz de Larrea S
Suso		 S
Otero		 S
Martinez		 S
Barrio		 S
Sánchez		 P
Becerra		 — [83]
[88]
7 July ETB 2 Xabier García Ramsden P
Urkullu		 P
Iriarte		 P
Gorrotxategi		 P
Iturgaiz		 P
Mendia		 P
Becerra		 11.1%
(276,000)		 [89]
[90]
9 July Radio Euskadi Dani Álvarez S
Erkoreka		 S
Casanova		 S
Soto		 S
Barrio		 S
Pastor		 P
Becerra		 — [91]
[92]
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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.

Graphical summary

Local regression trend line of poll results from 25 September 2016 to 12 July 2020, with each line corresponding to a political party.

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 Basque Parliament.

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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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 ...
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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.

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

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become lehendakari.

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

The table below shows registered voter turnout during the election. Figures for election day do not include non-resident citizens, while final figures do.

More information Province, Time (Election day) ...
Province Time (Election day) Final
12:00 17:00 20:00
2016 2020 +/– 2016 2020 +/– 2016 2020 +/– 2016 2020 +/–
Álava 13.92% 13.51% −0.41 42.48% 33.21% −9.27 61.09% 50.31% −10.78 59.74% 49.00% −10.74
Biscay 14.51% 13.49% −1.02 44.86% 36.40% −8.46 62.82% 52.52% −10.30 60.48% 50.40% −10.08
Gipuzkoa 17.53% 15.48% −2.05 44.46% 36.67% −7.79 61.87% 54.57% −7.30 59.38% 52.18% −7.20
Total 15.40% 14.14% –1.26 44.38% 36.02% –8.36 62.26% 52.86% –9.40 60.02% 50.78% –9.24
Sources[93]
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Results

Overall

More information Parties and alliances, Popular vote ...
← Summary of the 12 July 2020 Basque Parliament election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) 349,96038.70+1.34 31+3
Basque Country Gather (EH Bildu) 249,58027.60+6.47 21+3
Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE (PSOE)) 122,24813.52+1.66 10+1
United We Can–United Left (Podemos/Ahal Dugu, Ezker Anitza–IU) 72,1137.97−6.79 6−5
People's Party+Citizens (PP+Cs)1 60,6506.71−5.42 6−3
Vox (Vox) 17,5691.94+1.87 1+1
Equo Greens–Basque Country Greens (Equo Berdeak–Verdes) 11,7181.30New 0±0
Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA/ATTKAA) 4,8950.54−0.27 0±0
Blank Seats (EB/AZ) 2,4650.27+0.15 0±0
Zero Cuts–The Greens–Municipalists (Recortes Cero–LV–M) 1,3040.14−0.12 0±0
For a Fairer World (PUM+J) 1,1030.12New 0±0
Free for the Basque Country (LxE/EaL) 6990.08New 0±0
Communist Party of the Workers of the Basque Country (PCTE/ELAK) 5490.06New 0±0
Foralist League (LFF) 3090.03New 0±0
Humanist Party (PH) 2790.03±0.00 0±0
Libertarian Party (P–LIB) 1760.02New 0±0
Spanish Christian Democratic Union (UCDE) 1210.01New 0±0
Welcome (Ongi Etorri) 640.01−0.03 0±0
Blank ballots 8,5400.94+0.31
Total 904,342 75±0
Valid votes 904,34299.26−0.30
Invalid votes 6,7470.74+0.30
Votes cast / turnout 911,08950.78−9.24
Abstentions 883,22749.22+9.24
Registered voters 1,794,316
Sources[39][94][95]
Footnotes:
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Popular vote
EAJ/PNV
 
 38.70%
EH Bildu
 
 27.60%
PSE–EE (PSOE)
 
 13.52%
EP–IU
 
 7.97%
PP+Cs
 
 6.71%
Vox
 
 1.94%
Equo
 
 1.30%
Others
 
 1.32%
Blank ballots
 
 0.94%
Seats
EAJ/PNV
 
 41.33%
EH Bildu
 
 28.00%
PSE–EE (PSOE)
 
 13.33%
EP–IU
 
 8.00%
PP+Cs
 
 8.00%
Vox
 
 1.33%

Distribution by constituency

More information Constituency, PNV ...
Constituency PNV EH Bildu PSE–EE EP–IU PP+Cs Vox
% S % S % S % S % S % S
Álava 31.9 9 24.6 6 15.5 4 8.0 2 11.4 3 3.8 1
Biscay 42.2 12 23.7 6 13.5 3 8.5 2 6.8 2 1.9 −
Gipuzkoa 36.1 10 34.9 9 12.8 3 7.1 2 4.6 1 1.3 −
Total 38.7 31 27.6 21 13.5 10 8.0 6 6.7 6 1.9 1
Sources[39][94][95]
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Aftermath

Government formation

More information Ballot →, 3 September 2020 ...
Investiture
Ballot → 3 September 2020
Required majority → 38 out of 75
40 / 75
 checkY
21 / 75
 X markN
Abstentions/Blank ballots
  • • EP (6)
  • • PP (4)
  • • Cs (2)
  • • Vox (1)
13 / 75
Absentees
1 / 75
Sources[39][96]
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Notes

  1. [a]
    Vox did not field a single candidate for the post of Lehendakari.[1]
  2. [b]
    Results for PP (10.1%, 9 seats) and C's (2.0%, 0 seats) in the 2016 election.
  3. [c]
    Amendments in 2018 granted the right to vote to those legally incapacitated.[33]
  4. [d]
    The crossed-out slogans depicted below are the ones proposed for the 5 April election before its postponement.
  5. [e]
    Denotes a main invitee attending the event.
  6. [f]
    Denotes a main invitee not attending the event, sending a surrogate in their place.
  7. [g]
    Basque-spoken debate.
  8. [h]
    Within PP+Cs.
  9. [i]
    Widespread fear to coronavirus pandemic-scenario.
  10. [j]
    Main scenario.
  11. [k]
    Mild fear to coronavirus pandemic-scenario.
  12. [l]
    Does not include non-resident citizens.

References

Bibliography

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