2023 Riojan regional election

The Parliament of La Rioja was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of La Rioja, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Riojan Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.^[1] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in La Rioja and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Amendments to the electoral law in 2022 abolished the "begged" or expat vote system (Spanish: Voto rogado), under which Spaniards abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote.^[2] The expat vote system was attributed responsibility for a major decrease in the turnout of Spaniards abroad during the years it had been in force.^[3]

The 33 members of the Parliament of La Rioja were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally.^[1][4]

The term of the Parliament of La Rioja expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Parliament were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 26 May 2019, setting the election date for the Parliament on 28 May 2023.^[1][4][5]

The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of La Rioja and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election was due and some time requirements were met: namely, that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or within the legislature's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution. 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. 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.^[1]

The election to the Parliament of La Rioja was officially triggered on 4 April 2023 after the publication of the election decree in the Official Gazette of La Rioja (BOR), scheduling for the chamber to convene on 22 June.^[6]

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in La Rioja, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.^[4][5]

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

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Previous result		Gov.	Ref.
						Vote %	Seats
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Concha Andreu	Social democracy	38.7%	15		[7]
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Gonzalo Capellán	Conservatism Christian democracy	33.1%	12		[8] [9]
	CS	List Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (CS)		Ángel Daniel Íñiguez	Liberalism	11.5%	4		[10]
	Podemos–IU	List We Can (Podemos) United Left (IU) – Communist Party of La Rioja (PCE–LR) – The Dawn Marxist Organization (La Aurora (OM)) – Republican Left (IR)		Henar Moreno	Left-wing populism Direct democracy Democratic socialism	6.6%	2		[11]
	PR+EV	List Riojan Party (PR+) Empty Spain (EV)		Inmaculada Sáenz	Regionalism Progressivism	4.6%	0		[12] [13] [14]
	Vox	List Vox (Vox)		Ángel Alda	Right-wing populism Ultranationalism National conservatism	3.9%	0		[15]

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.

Local regression trend line of poll results from 26 May 2019 to 28 May 2023, with each line corresponding to a political party.

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; 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of La Rioja.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout							PLRi	Lead
2023 regional election	28 May 2023	—N/a	67.8	31.9 12	45.4 17	0.9 0	5.1 2	3.6 0	7.6 2	2.6 0	13.5
NC Report/La Razón[p 1]	22 May 2023	?	?	33.8 12	43.1 15/16	–	5.4 1/2	6.0 2	6.7 2	–	9.3
KeyData/Público[p 2]	18 May 2023	?	69.7	34.8 13	42.5 15/16	2.2 0	5.5 2	4.9 0/1	6.5 2	–	7.7
EM-Analytics/El Plural[p 3][p 4]	11–17 May 2023	600	?	37.0 14	39.7 15	2.1 0	5.2 1	5.2 1	6.8 2	3.0 0	2.7
EM-Analytics/El Plural[p 5][p 6]	4–10 May 2023	600	?	37.3 14	39.3 15	2.3 0	5.3 1	5.5 1	6.7 2	3.1 0	2.0
SW Demoscopia/Cadena SER[b][p 7]	24 Apr–5 May 2023	1,741	?	39.7	39.9	1.1	5.5	3.6	5.9	1.1	0.2
GAD3/ABC[p 8]	28 Apr–3 May 2023	1,004	?	34.0 12/13	42.1 15/16	–	5.5 2	5.1 0/1	7.9 2/3	–	8.1
EM-Analytics/El Plural[p 9][p 10]	26 Apr–3 May 2023	600	?	37.6 13	42.0 15	2.4 0	5.4 1	5.5 2	6.1 2	2.9 0	4.4
Simple Lógica/elDiario.es[p 11]	18–26 Apr 2023	457	?	35.6 13/14	41.2 14/15	1.4 0	6.8 2	5.4 1	7.1 2	–	5.6
CIS[p 12][p 13]	10–26 Apr 2023	466	?	36.8 13/14	39.2 14/15	2.5 0	9.9 2/4	3.6 0	5.6 1/2	–	2.4
EM-Analytics/El Plural[p 14][p 15]	19–25 Apr 2023	600	?	36.1 13	40.8 15	2.5 0	5.2 1	5.4 2	5.9 2	3.7 0	4.7
EM-Analytics/El Plural[p 16][p 17]	12–18 Apr 2023	600	?	36.2 13	41.6 15	2.5 0	5.4 2	5.3 1	5.9 2	2.9 0	5.4
EM-Analytics/El Plural[p 18][p 19]	5–11 Apr 2023	600	?	36.5 13	41.1 15	2.3 0	6.0 2	5.2 1	6.0 2	2.8 0	4.6
EM-Analytics/El Plural[p 20][p 21]	27 Mar–4 Apr 2023	600	?	37.4 13	42.5 15	2.8 0	5.8 2	5.4 1	6.0 2	–	5.1
KeyData/Público[p 22]	3 Apr 2023	?	69.7	34.6 13	42.6 16	2.6 0	5.4 1	5.7 1	6.3 2	–	8.0
Sigma Dos/PP[p 23][p 24]	14–23 Mar 2023	1,300	?	32.8 12	41.6 15/16	2.0 0	5.7 2	5.3 1/2	6.9 2	1.5 0	8.8
NC Report/La Razón[p 25]	27 Feb–3 Mar 2023	?	66.3	34.3 12	43.3 16	2.5 0	5.3 1	6.6 2	5.9 2	–	9.0
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 26][p 27]	20–26 Jan 2023	730	?	34.2 12/13	41.8 15/16	2.8 0	6.1 2	4.3 0/1	7.4 2/3	–	7.6
GAD3/PP[p 28]	19–25 Jan 2023	1,357	?	35.4 13	43.3 16	2.8 0	4.7 0/1	5.4 1/2	6.3 2	–	7.9
SW Demoscopia/PSOE[b][p 29]	14 Dec–12 Jan 2023	1,750	?	41.9	39.3	0.8	3.0	2.2	5.2	–	2.6
EM-Analytics/Electomanía[p 30]	30 Oct–13 Dec 2022	91	?	39.8 15	39.5 14	3.0 0	7.2 2	4.3 0	6.2 2	–	0.3
CIS[b][p 31][p 32]	17 Nov–2 Dec 2022	191	?	44.9 14/19	32.7 12/15	0.6 0/1	6.3 0/4	0.6 0	5.7 0/3	–	12.2
NueveCuatroUno[p 33]	1 May 2022	?	?	31.0 11	47.0 17	3.9 0	5.4 1	6.5 2	6.3 2	–	16.0
EM-Analytics/Electomanía[p 34]	31 Jan–14 Mar 2022	?	?	40.1 14	34.8 13	2.9 0	8.1 3	4.4 0	8.4 3	–	5.3
EM-Analytics/Electomanía[p 35]	2 Feb 2022	?	?	39.7 15	36.7 14	3.1 0	7.7 2	4.3 0	7.7 2	–	3.0
NueveCuatroUno[p 36]	12 Dec 2021	?	?	35.8 13	35.3 13	4.0 0	6.6 2	5.1 1	11.6 4	–	0.5
EM-Analytics/Electomanía[p 37]	3 Aug–12 Sep 2021	?	?	40.5 15	38.1 14	3.8 0	5.6 2	4.4 0	6.1 2	–	2.4
EM-Analytics/Electomanía[p 38]	16 Jun–23 Jul 2021	?	?	39.8 15	38.9 15	2.9 0	5.1 1	4.6 0	7.3 2	–	0.9
SyM Consulting[p 39][p 40]	22–23 Mar 2021	741	68.7	41.5 15/16	35.1 13/14	4.6 0	5.3 2	4.3 0	5.6 2	–	6.4
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 41]	31 Jan 2021	850	?	37.5 13	35.4 13	6.3 2	6.3 2	4.9 0	8.3 3	–	2.1
SyM Consulting[p 42][p 43]	1–3 Jun 2020	793	69.5	33.5 12	37.1 13/14	5.9 2	7.8 2/3	4.2 0	9.1 3	–	3.6
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 44][p 45]	1 Apr–15 May 2020	?	?	42.9 16	34.8 13	6.4 2	4.7 0	4.7 0	5.5 2	–	8.1
NueveCuatroUno[p 46]	5–6 May 2020	1,375	?	30.0 11	34.8 13	7.9 3	6.0 2	5.8 2	6.0 2	–	4.8
November 2019 general election	10 Nov 2019	—N/a	67.0	34.9 (12)	34.2 (12)	7.1 (2)	9.9 (3)	–	11.5 (4)	–	0.7
2019 regional election	26 May 2019	—N/a	65.9	38.7 15	33.1 12	11.5 4	6.6 2	4.6 0	3.9 0	–	5.6

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size							?	N	Lead
2023 regional election	28 May 2023	—N/a	22.8	32.4	0.6	3.6	2.6	5.4	—N/a	27.5	9.6
SW Demoscopia/Cadena SER[p 7]	24 Apr–5 May 2023	1,741	27.6	27.8	0.8	3.8	2.5	4.1	20.4	10.0	0.2
CIS[p 12]	10–26 Apr 2023	466	26.5	26.2	1.3	5.9	2.2	4.3	25.1	4.4	0.3
SW Demoscopia/PSOE[p 29]	14 Dec–12 Jan 2023	1,750	30.4	28.5	0.6	2.2	1.6	3.8	23.9	3.5	1.9
CIS[p 31]	17 Nov–2 Dec 2022	191	26.0	21.5	0.5	3.8	0.5	3.6	32.5	5.9	4.5
November 2019 general election	10 Nov 2019	—N/a	24.5	24.0	5.0	6.9	–	8.0	—N/a	28.7	0.5
2019 regional election	26 May 2019	—N/a	26.9	23.0	8.0	4.6	3.2	2.7	—N/a	29.7	3.9

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of La Rioja.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size									Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Andreu PSOE	Capellán PP	León CS	Íñiguez CS	Moreno UP	Pérez UP	Sáenz PR+EV	Alda Vox
SW Demoscopia/Cadena SER[p 7]	24 Apr–5 May 2023	1,741	29.4	28.5	–	1.0	4.0	–	3.2	3.9	3.5	26.5	0.9
SW Demoscopia/PSOE[p 29]	14 Dec–12 Jan 2023	1,750	31.3	26.5	0.4	–	2.6	0.6	1.5	2.5	9.1	25.3	4.8