Biscay (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
Biscay (Basque: Bizkaia, Spanish: Vizcaya) is one of the 52 electoral districts (Spanish: circunscripciones) used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is situated in the Basque Country and the largest city is Bilbao where around 30% of the electorate of almost a million live. At the time of the 2008 election, Barakaldo and Getxo were the only other large municipalities with electorates over 50,000.[1]
Contents
Boundaries and electoral system
Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution [2] the boundaries must be the same as the province of Vizcaya and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. The electoral system used is closed list proportional representation with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method. Only lists which poll 3% or more of all valid votes cast, including votes "en blanco" i.e. for "none of the above" can be considered for seats. Under article 12 of the constitution, the minimum voting age is 18. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Electoral procedures
The laws regulating the conduct and administration of elections are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General.[3]) Under this law, the elections in Vizcaya, as in other districts, are supervised by the Electoral Commission (Junta Electoral), a permanent body composed of eight Supreme Court judges and five political scientists or sociologists appointed by the Congress of Deputies. The Electoral commission is supported in its work by the Interior Ministry. On election day, polling stations are run by electoral boards which consist of groups of citizens selected by lottery.[4]
The format of the ballot paper is designed by the Spanish state, however, the law allows political parties to produce and distribute their own ballot papers, either by mailing them to voters or by other means such as street distribution, provided that they comply with the official model. The government then covers the cost of all printed ballot papers. These must then be marked by voters, either in the polling station or outside the polling station and placed inside sealed envelopes which are then placed inside ballot boxes in the polling station. Following the close of polls, the ballots are then counted in each individual polling station in the presence of representatives of the political parties and candidates. The ballots are then immediately destroyed, with the exception of those considered invalid or challenged by the candidates' representatives, which are retained for further scrutiny. The result is that full recounts are impossible.[5]
Eligibility
Article 67.3 of the Spanish Constitution prohibits dual membership of both chambers of the Cortes or of the Cortes and regional assemblies, meaning that candidates must resign from regional assemblies if elected. Article 70 also makes active judges, magistrates, public defenders, serving military personnel, active police officers and members of constitutional and electoral tribunals ineligible.[2] Additionally, under Article 11 of the Political Parties Law, June 2002 (Ley Orgánica 6/2002, de 27 de junio, de Partidos Políticos), parties and individual candidates may be prevented from standing by the Spanish Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo), if they are judged to have violated Article 9 of that law which prohibits parties which are perceived to discriminate against people on the basis of ideology, religion, beliefs, nationality, race, gender or sexual orientation (Article 9a), foment or organise violence as a means of achieving political objectives (Article 9b) or support or compliment the actions of "terrorist organisations" (Article 9c).[6] Article 55, Section 2 of the 1985 electoral law also disqualifies director generals or equivalent leaders of state monopolies and public bodies such as the Spanish state broadcaster RTVE.[3] Lastly, following changes to the electoral law which took effect for the 2007 municipal elections, candidates' lists must be composed of at least 40% of candidates of either gender and each group of five candidates must contain at least two males and two females.[4]
Ban on Batasuna
The most notable effect of the Political Parties Law was that the political party Batasuna was banned on the grounds that it was part of the "terrorist network" of the armed separatist group ETA. In August 2002 Batasuna was initially suspended for three years by the judge Baltasar Garzon. The following month, the PP government began seeking a permanent ban. Batasuna lost their appeal against the ban in October 2002 and in March 2003, the Spanish Supreme Court permanently banned Batasuna.[7]
Presenting candidates
Parties and coalitions of different parties which have registered with the Electoral Commission can present lists of candidates (Article 44, 1985 electoral law). Groups of electors which have not registered with the commission can also present lists, provided that they obtain the signatures of 1% of registered electors in a particular district (Article 169).[3]
Number of members
In the general elections from 1977 until 1989 Vizcaya returned 10 members. That figure was reduced to 9 members for the 1993 General Election onwards. Vizcaya was one of the few districts whose electorate fell between 2000 and 2004 and it returns one member more than Asturias despite the latter now having a larger electorate.[8] As a result it lost a seat at the 2008 General Election being reduced to eight members.[9]
Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population.[10] These laws are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General) The practical effect of this law has been to overrepresent smaller provinces at the expense of larger provinces.
Vizcaya had a ratio of 109,064 voters per deputy in 2004 [11] above the Spanish average of 98,777 voters per deputy.[12]
Summary of seats won 1977–2011
| 1977 | 1979 | 1982 | 1986 | 1989 | 1993 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Euskadiko Ezkerra (EE) | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Democratic Centre Union (UCD) | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
| People's Party (PP) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Batasuna (HB) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Amaiur | 2 | ||||||||||
| Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) | 1 | ||||||||||
| United Left (IU) | 1 |
Note: Seats shown for the PP include seats won by their predecessors, the Popular Alliance and Popular Coalition before 1989. They ran in an electoral alliance with the UCD in 1982. Euskadiko Ezkerra merged with the PSOE after the 1989 election.
| 1977 | 1979 | 1982 | 1986 | 1989 | 1993 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) | 31.0 | 29.2 | 33.4 | 29.3 | 27.9 | 29.5 | 29.2 | 34.2 | 37.3 | 31.2 | 32.6 |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 25.3 | 19.1 | 29.6 | 26.6 | 20.8 | 24.9 | 23.8 | 22.9 | 26.8 | 37.0 | 21.4 |
| Euskadiko Ezkerra (EE) | 5.4 | 5.9 | 6.6 | 8.4 | 7.9 | ||||||
| Democratic Centre Union (UCD) | 16.4 | 16.0 | 12.0 | ||||||||
| People's Party (PP) | 6.7 | 4.2 | 10.7 | 9.7 | 15.3 | 18.4 | 27.3 | 18.7 | 18.4 | 17.7 | |
| United Left (IU) | 5.4 | 5.8 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 3.6 | 7.1 | 9.7 | 5.8 | 8.9 | 4.4 | 3.8 |
| Batasuna (HB) | 14.5 | 13.1 | 15.9 | 15.1 | 12.5 | 9.9 | |||||
| Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 1.5 | 5.0 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | ||||
| Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) | 7.9 | 6.3 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 3.1 | * | ||||
| Amaiur | 19.2* |
*Amaiur was an electoral coalition consisting of Eusko Alkartasuna, Aralar, Alternatiba and various independents.
Note:PP's predecessors contested the 1979 election under the label "Unión Foral" [13]
Results
2011 election
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco) | 208,683 | 32.6 | 3 | Josu Iñaki Erkoreka*, Aitor Esteban, Pedro María Azpiazu |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) | 136,853 | 21.4 | 2 | Eduardo Madina, José María Benegas# |
| Amaiur | 122,796 | 19.2 | 2 | Onintza Enbeita Maguregi, Jon Iñarritu García |
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 113,401 | 17.7 | 1 | Leopoldo Barreda de los Ríos |
| Plural Left | 24,205 | 3.8 | 0 | |
| Union, Progress and Democracy | 10,886 | 1.7 | 0 | |
| Equo | 7,387 | 1.2 | 0 | |
| Animalist Party Against Mistreatment to Animals | 3,278 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| Citizens for Blank Votes | 2,886 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| Others | 2,220 | 0.3 | 0 |
*On 19 December 2012, Erkoreka was replaced by Isabel Sánchez Robles.
#Benegas died on 25 August 2015.
2008 General Election
The 2008 election was overshadowed by the killing of a former PSOE councillor by ETA[14] in the town of Mondragón in the neighbouring district of Guipúzcoa which led to a suspension of campaigning. Whether as a result of this or not, PSOE-EE recorded their best over vote share in the district, overtaking the Basque Nationalist PNV for the first time ever and recording the second highest increase in their vote share in any of the 52 districts. With the reduction in representation in the district, both PNV and PP lost seats, with PSOE-EE gaining a seat. IU, having come within 2500 votes of winning a seat in 2004, had one of their worst results here, with only the Balearic Islands seeing a larger drop in their vote share. Both the PNV and PP lost a seat.In the case of the PP, an increase of 576 votes would have given them the final seat.
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) | 233,371 | 36.99 | 4 | Eduardo Madina, Arantza Mendizábal*, José María Benegas, Josu Montalbán Goicoechea |
| Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco) | 196,242 | 31.10 | 3 | Josu Iñaki Erkoreka, Aitor Esteban, Pedro María Azpiazu |
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 116,110 | 18.40 | 1 | Ignacio Astarloa |
| United Left | 27,471 | 4.35 | 0 | |
| Eusko Alkartasuna | 19,605 | 3.11 | 0 | |
| Aralar | 9,740 | 1.54 | 0 | |
| Union, Progress and Democracy | 5,997 | 0.95 | 0 | |
| Others | 11,800 | 1.90 | 0 |
*On 23 May 2008 Mendizábal was substituted by Óscar Seco Revilla
2004 General Election
While Bilbao produced a result close to the average, PSOE did better in the second town of Barakaldo polling nearly 40%. PP had a better than avaerage performance in Getxo taking second place with 29% of the vote. PNV had their best performances in the northern coastal towns. In Bermeo they polled 52%, while in the neighbouring municipalities of Gorliz and Plentzia at the end of the Bilbao Metro they polled nearly 60%.
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco) | 258,488 | 37.29 | 4 | Pedro María Azpiazu, Josu Iñaki Erkoreka, Aitor Esteban, Margarita Uría |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) | 185,514 | 26.76 | 3 | José María Benegas, Eduardo Madina, Arantza Mendizábal |
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 129,889 | 18.74 | 2 | Marisa Arrúe, Ignacio Astarloa |
| United Left | 59,493 | 8.58 | 0 | |
| Eusko Alkartasuna | 30,096 | 4.34 | 0 | |
| Aralar | 12,791 | 1.85 | 0 | |
| Others | 8,160 | 2.44 | 0 |
Source:[15]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Spanish Constitution
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ BBC 17 March 2003
- ↑ Asturias 2004 electorate
- ↑ Vizcaya representation reduced
- ↑ General features of Spanish electoral system
- ↑ Vizcaya election result 2004
- ↑ 2004 Spanish election
- ↑ Unión Foral in 1979 election.
- ↑ ETA blamed for killing PSOE former councillor
- ↑ Interior ministry link to election results
External links
