1987 Aragonese regional election

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

A regional election was held in Aragon on 10 June 1987 to elect the 2nd Cortes of the autonomous community. All 67 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, as well as the 1987 European Parliament election.

Registered928,584 Increase 1.0%
Turnout647,257 (69.7%)
Increase 3.0 pp
Quick facts All 67 seats in the Cortes of Aragon 34 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...
1987 Aragonese regional election
← 1983
10 June 1987
1991 →
All 67 seats in the Cortes of Aragon
34 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered928,584 Increase 1.0%
Turnout647,257 (69.7%)
Increase 3.0 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Santiago Marraco Hipólito Gómez de las Roces Ángel Cristóbal Montes
Party PSOE PAR AP
Leader since November 1979 December 1977 1987
Leader's seat Zaragoza Zaragoza Zaragoza
Last election 33 seats, 46.8% 13 seats, 20.5% 13 seats (CP)[a]
Seats won 27 19 13
Seat change Decrease 6 Increase 6 Steady 0
Popular vote 228,170 179,922 99,082
Percentage 35.7% 28.1% 15.5%
Swing Decrease 11.1 pp Increase 7.6 pp n/a
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader José Luis Merino Antonio de las Casas Mariano Alierta
Party CDS CAA–IU PDP
Leader since 1983 1987 1987
Leader's seat Zaragoza Zaragoza Zaragoza (lost)
Last election 1 seat, 3.3% 1 seat, 4.0%[b] 5 seats (CP)[a]
Seats won 6 2 0
Seat change Increase 5 Increase 1 Decrease 5
Popular vote 65,406 31,352 7,887
Percentage 10.2% 4.9% 1.2%
Swing Increase 6.9 pp Increase 0.9 pp n/a
Constituency results map for the Cortes of Aragon
President before election

Santiago Marraco
PSOE

 Elected President

Hipólito Gómez de las Roces
PAR

Close

Affected by their national trends, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the People's Alliance (AP) lost support compared to the previous election, falling from 46.8% and 22.6% to 35.7% and 15.5%, and from 33 and 18 seats to 27 and 13, respectively. The latter had suffered from an internal crisis and the breakup of the People's Coalition in 1986, losing 30% of its 1983 vote and finishing third as a result, with the Regionalist Aragonese Party (PAR) scoring a strong second place with 28.1% and 19 seats. The centrist Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), a party led by the former Spanish prime minister Adolfo Suarez, saw sizeable gains and achieved a kingmaker position with 10.2% and 6 seats. United Left (IU) made a small advance of 0.9 percentage points and 1 seat, but was not able to capitalize on the PSOE's losses.

The two main centre-right parties, the PAR and AP, were able to muster 32 seats in the Cortes compared to the PSOE's 27. As a result, PAR leader Hipólito Gómez de las Roces was elected as new president of Aragon, replacing Santiago Marraco at the helm of a minority administration with AP's support and the CDS's abstention. In March 1989, AP, now refounded as the People's Party (PP), entered the government and formed a coalition with the PAR for the remainder of the legislature.

Overview

Under the 1982 Statute of Autonomy, the Cortes of Aragon 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 Aragon expired four years after the date of its previous ordinary election. 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 Aragon (BOA), with election day taking place between 54 and 60 days after the decree's publication.[4] The previous election was held on 8 May 1983, which meant that the chamber's term would have expired on 8 May 1987. The election decree was required to be published in the DOE no later than 14 April 1987, setting the latest possible date for election day on 13 June 1987.

The Cortes of Aragon could not be dissolved before the expiration date of parliament, except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the Cortes's reconvening. In such a case, the chamber was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected lawmakers serving the remainder of its original four-year term.[5]

The election to the Cortes of Aragon was officially called on 14 April 1987 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOA, setting election day for 10 June.[6]

Electoral system

Voting for the Cortes was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Aragon 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.[7]

The Cortes of Aragon had a minimum of 60 and a maximum of 75 seats, with electoral provisions fixing its size at 67. All were elected in three multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Huesca, Teruel and Zaragoza, each of which was assigned an initial minimum of 13 seats and the remaining 28 distributed in proportion to population (with the seat-to-population ratio in the most populated province not exceeding 2.75 times that of the least populated one)—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency.[8] The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.[9]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Cortes constituency was entitled the following seats:[10]

More information Seats, Constituencies ...
Seats Constituencies
33 Zaragoza(+1)
18 Huesca
16 Teruel
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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.[11]

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.[12]

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
PSOE
List
 Santiago Marraco Social democracy 46.8% 33 Yes [13]
[14]
AP
List
 Ángel Cristóbal Montes Conservatism
National conservatism
22.6%
[a]		 18 No [14]
[15]
PDP
List
 Mariano Alierta Christian democracy No [16]
[17]
PAR
List
 Hipólito Gómez de las Roces Regionalism
Centrism		 20.5% 13 No [14]
CAA–IU
List
 Antonio de las Casas Socialism
Communism
4.0%
[b]		 1 No [18]
CDS
List
 José Luis Merino Centrism
Liberalism		 3.3% 1 No [14]
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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; 34 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Aragon.

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 Government of Aragon.

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

Overall

More information Parties and alliances, Popular vote ...
← Summary of the 10 June 1987 Cortes of Aragon election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 228,17035.68−11.15 27−6
Regionalist Aragonese Party (PAR) 179,92228.14+7.63 19+6
People's Alliance (AP)1 99,08215.49n/a 13±0
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 65,40610.23+6.94 6+5
Aragon Alternative Convergence–United Left (CAA–IU)2 31,3524.90+0.94 2+1
Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE–UC) 8,4351.32New 0±0
People's Democratic Party–Centrists of Aragon (PDP)1 7,8871.23n/a 0−5
Aragonese Union (UA/CHA) 6,1540.96New 0±0
Humanist Platform (PH) 2,4390.38New 0±0
Republican Popular Unity (UPR) 1,4350.22New 0±0
Blank ballots 9,1861.44+0.79
Total 639,468 67+1
Valid votes 639,46898.80+0.22
Invalid votes 7,7891.20−0.22
Votes cast / turnout 647,25769.70+2.96
Abstentions 281,32730.30−2.96
Registered voters 928,584
Sources[1][19][20][21][22]
Footnotes:
Close
Popular vote
PSOE
 
 35.68%
PAR
 
 28.14%
AP
 
 15.49%
CDS
 
 10.23%
CAA–IU
 
 4.90%
PTE–UC
 
 1.32%
PDP
 
 1.23%
Others
 
 1.57%
Blank ballots
 
 1.44%
Seats
PSOE
 
 40.30%
PAR
 
 28.36%
AP
 
 19.40%
CDS
 
 8.96%
CAA–IU
 
 2.99%

Distribution by constituency

More information Constituency, PSOE ...
Constituency PSOE PAR AP CDS CAA–IU
% S % S % S % S % S
Huesca 36.1 7 25.2 5 15.2 3 11.9 2 5.2 1
Teruel 35.8 7 17.7 3 27.3 5 10.2 1 2.9 −
Zaragoza 35.5 13 30.9 11 13.3 5 9.8 3 5.2 1
Total 35.7 27 28.1 19 15.5 13 10.2 6 4.9 2
Sources[1][19][20][21][22]
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Aftermath

Government formation

More information Ballot →, 21 July 1987 ...
Investiture
Nomination of Hipólito Gómez de las Roces (PAR)
Ballot → 21 July 1987 23 July 1987
Required majority → 34 out of 67 ☒N Simple checkY
Yes
  • • PAR (19)
  • • AP (13)
32 / 67
32 / 67
No
29 / 67
29 / 67
Abstentions
6 / 67
6 / 67
Absentees
0 / 67
0 / 67
Sources[1]
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Notes

  1. [a]
    Within the AP–PDP–UL alliance in the 1983 election: AP (13 seats) and PDP (5 seats).[1]
  2. [b]
    Results for PCE in the 1983 election.
  3. [c]
    Within CP.
  4. [d]
    Does not include non-resident citizens.

References

Bibliography

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