2020 Galician regional election

Election in the Spanish region of Galicia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A regional election was held in Galicia on 12 July 2020 to elect the 11th Parliament of the autonomous community.[1] All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election. It was held concurrently with a regional election in the Basque Country. The election was initially scheduled for 5 April 2020 but was postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

Registered2,697,490 Decrease 0.2%
Turnout1,320,955 (49.0%)
Decrease 4.6 pp
Quick facts All 75 seats in the Parliament of Galicia 38 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...
2020 Galician regional election
← 2016
12 July 2020
2024 →
All 75 seats in the Parliament of Galicia
38 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered2,697,490 Decrease 0.2%
Turnout1,320,955 (49.0%)
Decrease 4.6 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo Ana Pontón Gonzalo Caballero
Party PP BNG PSdeG–PSOE
Leader since 15 January 2006 28 February 2016 8 October 2017
Leader's seat Pontevedra A Coruña Pontevedra
Last election 41 seats, 47.6% 6 seats, 8.3% 14 seats, 17.9%
Seats won 42 19 14
Seat change Increase 1 Increase 13 Steady 0
Popular vote 627,762 311,340 253,750
Percentage 48.0% 23.8% 19.4%
Swing Increase 0.4 pp Increase 15.5 pp Increase 1.5 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of Galicia
President before election

Alberto Núñez Feijóo
PP

 Elected President

Alberto Núñez Feijóo
PP

Close

In early February 2020, concerns about a possible snap election in the Basque Country to be called for 5 April raised speculation on whether regional president Alberto Núñez Feijóo would be willing to advance the Galician regional election to be held concurrently with the Basque one, as had happened in 2009, 2012 and 2016, despite Feijóo's earlier claims that his will was against bringing about a premature end to the legislature.[3][4] On 10 February, Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu's confirmation of a Basque election for 5 April prompted Feijóo to precipitate the end of the Galician legislature and announce a regional election for the same day.[5][6][7] 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.[2][8][9]

Feijóo's ruling People's Party (PP) maintained its dominance at the regional level, maintaining its vote share and seat count from the 2016 election. The Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) picked up the vast majority of losses from Galicia in Common–Renewal–Tides (GeC–AM), the successor alliance to En Marea after several party splits, seeing their results spike by over 15% to second place of the vote and seeing their seat count increase by 13 to their best result since 1997. The Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG–PSOE) remained in third place, neither gaining nor losing any seats compared to the previous election. Support for GeC–AM plummeted in comparison to En Marea's results in 2016, failing to cross the electoral threshold and losing all 14 of the seats they held prior to the vote. The far-right Vox, which had seen a rise in support in the region during the November 2019 general election, failed to cross the electoral threshold and suffered from tactical voting to Feijóo's PP.

Background

A vote of no confidence in June 2018 had seen the downfall of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, of Galician descent, and his succession by Pedro Sánchez from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). After eight convoluted months in which the PSOE had led a very precarious minority government, Sánchez called a general election for 28 April 2019, in which the People's Party (PP) did not come out in top place in Galicia for the first time in history,[10] with the party having won all previous elections—general, local, European and regional—since its inception in 1989.[11][12] The local and European Parliament elections held on 26 May 2019 saw the PSOE's local branch, the Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG), sweeping across the region and winning control of all main Galician cities but Pontevedra and Ourense: A Coruña, Ferrol, Lugo, Santiago de Compostela and Vigo, the latter seeing an humiliating defeat for Galician president Alberto Núñez Feijóo after his local candidate scored a bare 13% of the vote to the PSdeG of incumbent mayor Abel Caballero's 67%.[13] The electoral victories of 2019 and the weaknesses of the ruling PP after eleven years in the Xunta de Galicia prompted prospects of the PSdeG being returned to the regional government under the leadership of Gonzalo Caballero, nephew of Vigo's mayor.[14][15]

Concurrently, the political space held by the En Marea party had broken up after internal disputes. In late 2018, a crisis concerning the election of a new party leadership resulted in a split between members supporting Luis Villares and En Marea's founding member parties, Podemos, Renewal–Nationalist Brotherhood (Anova) and United Left (EU). Villares was elected as new En Marea leader on 24 December 2018 amid accusations of fraud and vote rigging,[16][17] prompting Podemos, Anova and EU to withdraw from En Marea, dubbing it as a "failed" political project.[18][19][20] Podemos and EU would contest both the April and the November 2019 general elections under the En Común–Unidas Podemos brand,[21][22] forming the Galicia en Común sub-group within Unidas Podemos in the Congress of Deputies.[23] In September 2019, legislators from Podemos, Anova and EU formed the Grupo Común da Esquerda in the Parliament of Galicia, forcing En Marea loyalists into the Mixed Group.[24][25]

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.[26] The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions.[27]

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.[28] 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 DOG no later than 1 September 2020, setting the latest possible date for election day on 25 October 2020.

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.[29]

The decision of Catalan president Quim Torra on 29 January 2020 to announce a snap Catalan regional election to be held at some point throughout 2020 was said to have raised concerns within the Basque government of Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu, whose party, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), sought to prevent the next Basque regional election—which was due by autumn of 2020 at the latest—from being held simultaneously to prevent any interference from the Catalan political debate into the Basque campaign.[30] This in turn increased pressure on Galician president Alberto Núñez Feijóo to unveil the Galician election date, with speculation mounting on whether he would coordinate the electoral timing with that of a hypothetical snap Basque election—as had happened in 2009, 2012 and 2016[31]—or would let the legislature reach its natural end, thus bringing the election to the autumn of 2020.[3][4]

Asked on the issue on 7 February, Feijóo did not rule out a simultaneous call with the Basque election, but vindicated that the autonomy of adopting such a decision was "his" and that he would not be discussing hypothetical scenarios—on the possibility of Urkullu announcing a snap election within the next few days—until they happened.[32][33] La Vanguardia reported on 9 February that Feijóo could be interested in waiting for an autumn election to be held concurrently with the Catalan one,[34] at a time when he had not yet revealed whether he would be running for a fourth time in office.[35] On 10 February, Urkullu confirmed the Basque election for 5 April,[36][37] with Feijóo commenting that he would be making a choice on the date of the Galician election "immediately" but that it would not be affected by Urkullu's decision.[38][39] In response to the Basque announcement, Feijóo summoned his government to an urgency meeting later in the same day and decided to trigger a snap election to be held simultaneously on 5 April.[6][7]

The Parliament of Galicia was officially dissolved on 11 February 2020 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the DOG.[40] As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the election's original date was suspended on 18 March,[41][1] 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.[2][42] The date for the reconvening of the chamber was set for 7 August.[43]

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.[44][a] Additionally, non-resident citizens were required to apply for voting, a system known as "begged" voting (Spanish: Voto rogado).[46][47]

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.[48] The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.[49]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Parliament constituency was entitled the following seats:[50]

More information Seats, Constituencies ...
Seats Constituencies
25 A Coruña
22 Pontevedra
14 Lugo, Ourense
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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.[51]

Outgoing parliament

The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.[52][53]

More information Groups, Parties ...
Parliamentary composition in February 2020
Groups Parties Legislators
Seats Total
People's Parliamentary Group of Galicia PP 41 41
Socialists of Galicia's Parliamentary Group PSdeG–PSOE 14 14
Common Group of the Left
Parliamentary Group		 Podemos 6 9
EU 1
Anova 1
MA 1
Galician Nationalist Bloc's Parliamentary Group BNG 6 6
Mixed Parliamentary Group En Marea 5 5
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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.[54] 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.[55]

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
PP
List
 Alberto Núñez Feijóo Conservatism
Christian democracy		 47.6% 41 Yes [56]
[57]
GeC–AM
List
 Antón Gómez-Reino Left-wing populism
Direct democracy
Democratic socialism
19.1%
[b]		 14 No [58]
[59]
PSdeG–
PSOE
List
 Gonzalo Caballero Social democracy 17.9% 14 No [60]
BNG
List
 Ana Pontón Galician nationalism
Left-wing nationalism
Socialism		 8.3% 6 No [61]
Cs
List
 Beatriz Pino Liberalism 3.4% 0 No [62]
MG
List
 Pancho Casal Galician nationalism
Democratic socialism
0.3%
[c]		 0 No [63]
[64]
[65]
Vox
List
 None[d] Right-wing populism
Ultranationalism
National conservatism		 Did not contest No [66]
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On 11 February Gonzalo Pérez Jácome, leader of the Ourensan Democracy (DO) party—which secured 4.4% of the vote in the Ourense province in the 2016 election—and mayor of Ourense with PP support, announced that he would be voting for Feijóo amid speculation that DO would be joining PP's electoral lists ahead of the regional election.[67][68] An electoral alliance with Citizens was proposed by Cs spokesperson Inés Arrimadas but was rejected by Feijóo.[69][70]

En Marea leader Luis Villares announced on 19 February his farewell from politics and his return to his judge post, casting doubt about En Marea's fate in the election ahead and whether the party would end up running in the election or withdrawing from the electoral contest.[71][72] After the election was suspended and rescheduled for 12 July, the party announced that it would be contesting within the Marea Galeguista alliance together with Commitment to Galicia (CxG) and the Galicianist Party (PG).[63][64]

Campaign

Timetable

The key dates are listed below (all times are CET):[73][74]

  • 10 February: The election decree is issued with the countersign of the president, after deliberation in the Council of Government.
  • 11 February: Formal dissolution of parliament.
  • 18 March: Election postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic; all election procedures and preparations are suspended until further notice.[41]
  • 18 May: The election decree is newly issued with the countersign of the president, after deliberation in the Council of Government.
  • 19 May: Start of prohibition period on the inauguration of public works, services or projects.
  • 22 May: Initial constitution of provincial 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 Journal of Galicia (DOG).
  • 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 DOG.
  • 17 June: Deadline for the selection of polling station members by sortition.
  • 25 June: Deadline for the appointment of non-judicial members to provincial and zone electoral commissions.
  • 26 June: Official start of electoral campaigning.[75]
  • 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;[75] 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.
  • 20 July: General counting of votes, including the counting of CERA votes.
  • 23 July: Deadline for the general vote counting.
  • 1 August: Deadline for the proclamation of elected members.
  • 12 August: Deadline for the reconvening of parliament (date determined by the election decree, which for the 2020 election was set for 7 August).[76]
  • 10 September: Final deadline for definitive results to be published in the DOG.

Party slogans

More information Party or alliance, Original slogan ...
Party or alliance Original slogan[e] English translation Ref.
PP « Galicia é moito »
« Galicia, Galicia, Galicia »		 « Galicia means a lot »
"Galicia, Galicia, Galicia"		 [77]
[78][79]
PSdeG–PSOE « A hora do cambio »
« Faino por Galicia. Faino por ti »		 "Time for change"
"Do it for Galicia. Do it for you"		 [80]
[81]
GeC–AM « Gobernar e transformar Galicia »
« É o momento! Construírmos o futuro »		 « Governing and transforming Galicia »
"It's time! Building the future"		 [82]
[83]
BNG « Galiza en marchA! »
« Unha nova GalizA! »		 "Galicia on the move!"
"A new Galicia!"		 [84][85]
[86]
MG « Fagámolo » "Let's do it" [87]
Cs « Moito que gañar » "A lot to gain" [88]
Vox « Galicia es verde » "Galicia is green" [89][90]
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Debates

More information Date, Organisers ...
2020 Galician regional election debates
Date Organisers Moderator(s)     P  Present[f]    S  Surrogate[g]  
PP PSdeG GeC–AM BNG MG Cs Vox Audience Ref.
29 June TVG Marta Darriba
Alejandro López		 P
Feijóo		 P
Caballero		 P
G.Reino		 P
Pontón		 P
Casal		 P
Pino		 S
Morado		 15.8%(127,000) [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 Parliament of Galicia.

Color key:

  Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls   Exit poll

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 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 ...
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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 +/–
A Coruña 14.70% 18.79% +4.09 42.02% 42.84% +0.82 62.55% 57.97% −4.58 54.05% 49.63% −4.42
Lugo 15.20% 18.20% +3.00 42.73% 41.89% −0.84 65.22% 59.97% −5.25 53.55% 48.27% −5.28
Ourense 18.24% 21.70% +3.46 44.49% 42.69% −1.80 66.12% 60.79% −5.33 48.70% 43.92% −4.78
Pontevedra 14.21% 19.85% +5.64 42.29% 43.60% +1.31 63.85% 58.95% −4.90 55.14% 50.44% −4.70
Total 15.01% 19.42% +4.41 42.49% 42.97% +0.48 63.75% 58.88% –4.87 53.63% 48.97% –4.66
Sources[93]
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Results

Overall

More information Parties and alliances, Popular vote ...
← Summary of the 12 July 2020 Parliament of Galicia election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
People's Party (PP) 627,76247.96+0.40 42+1
Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) 311,34023.79+15.46 19+13
Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG–PSOE) 253,75019.39+1.52 14±0
Galicia in Common–Renewal–Tides (Podemos–EU–Anova)1 51,6303.94−15.13 0−14
Vox (Vox) 26,7972.05New 0±0
Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs) 9,8400.75−2.63 0±0
Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) 6,0570.46−0.60 0±0
Galicianist Tide (En Marea–CxG–PG)2 2,8830.22−0.07 0±0
Zero Cuts–Common Space–The Greens–Municipalists (RC–EsCo–OV–M) 1,8350.14−0.02 0±0
Equo Galicia (Equo) 9560.07New 0±0
Communist Party of the Workers of Galicia (PCTG) 8960.07New 0±0
For a Fairer World (PUM+J) 8130.06New 0±0
Blank Seats (EB) 5590.04−0.04 0±0
Citizens of Galicia Democratic Action (ADCG) 5590.04−0.01 0±0
United for the Future! (Unidos SI–UDP–DEF) 5330.04+0.02 0±0
Libertarian Party (P–LIB) 3120.02+0.01 0±0
Democratic Centre Coalition–Self-employed (CCD–AUTONOMO) 2660.02New 0±0
Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) 2300.02New 0±0
With You, We Are Democracy (Contigo) 1170.01New 0±0
XXI Convergence (C21) 400.01−0.02 0±0
Blank ballots 11,7740.90−0.08
Total 1,308,949 75±0
Valid votes 1,308,94999.09+0.09
Invalid votes 12,0060.91−0.09
Votes cast / turnout 1,320,95548.97−4.66
Abstentions 1,376,53551.03+4.66
Registered voters 2,697,490
Sources[52][94]
Footnotes:
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Popular vote
PP
 
 47.96%
BNG
 
 23.79%
PSdeG–PSOE
 
 19.39%
GeC–AM
 
 3.94%
Vox
 
 2.05%
Others
 
 1.98%
Blank ballots
 
 0.90%
Seats
PP
 
 56.00%
BNG
 
 25.33%
PSdeG–PSOE
 
 18.67%

Distribution by constituency

More information Constituency, PP ...
Constituency PP BNG PSdeG
% S % S % S
A Coruña 49.2 14 24.9 7 16.8 4
Lugo 54.6 9 21.5 3 17.4 2
Ourense 53.1 8 19.9 3 19.7 3
Pontevedra 42.4 11 24.7 6 23.1 5
Total 48.0 42 23.8 19 19.4 14
Sources[52][94]
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Aftermath

Government formation

Further information: Fourth government of Alberto Núñez Feijóo
More information Ballot →, 3 September 2020 ...
Investiture
Nomination of Alberto Núñez Feijóo (PP)
Ballot → 3 September 2020
Required majority → 38 out of 75 checkY
Yes
  • • PP (42)
42 / 75
No
33 / 75
Abstentions
0 / 75
Absentees
0 / 75
Sources[52][95]
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2022 investiture

Further information: First government of Alfonso Rueda
More information Ballot →, 12 May 2022 ...
Investiture
Nomination of Alfonso Rueda (PP)
Ballot → 12 May 2022
Required majority → 38 out of 75 checkY
Yes
  • • PP (42)
42 / 75
No
33 / 75
Abstentions
0 / 75
Absentees
0 / 75
Sources[52][96]
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Notes

  1. [a]
    Amendments in 2018 granted the right to vote to those legally incapacitated.[45]
  2. [b]
    Results for En Marea in the 2016 election.
  3. [c]
    Results for CxG in the 2016 election.
  4. [d]
    Vox did not field a single candidate for the post of president of the Regional Government of Galicia.[66]
  5. [e]
    The crossed-out slogans depicted below are the ones proposed for the 5 April election before its postponement.
  6. [f]
    Denotes a main invitee attending the event.
  7. [g]
    Denotes a main invitee not attending the event, sending a surrogate in their place.
  8. [h]
    Within Marea Galeguista.
  9. [i]
    Widespread fear to coronavirus pandemic-scenario.
  10. [j]
    Main scenario.
  11. [k]
    Within PP.
  12. [l]
    Within PP+Cs.
  13. [m]
    Does not include non-resident citizens.

References

Bibliography

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