Galician parliamentary election, 1997

Galician parliamentary election, 1997

19 October 1997
All 75 seats in the Parliament of Galicia 38 seats needed for a majority
Registered	2,565,131 11.9%
Turnout	1,603,731 (62.5%) 1.7 pp
First party Second party Third party   170x170px 170x170px Leader Manuel Fraga Xosé Manuel Beiras Abel Caballero Party PP BNG PSdeG Leader since 1989 1982 26 October 1996 Last election 43 seats, 52.1% 13 seats, 18.4% 19 seats, 27.1% Seats won 42 18 15 Seat change 1 5 4 Popular vote 832,751 395,435 310,508 Percentage 52.2% 24.8% 19.5% Swing 0.1 pp 6.4 pp 7.6 pp
President before election Manuel Fraga PP Elected President Manuel Fraga PP

The 1997 Galician parliamentary election was held on Sunday, 19 October 1997, to elect the 5th Parliament of Galicia, the regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia. At stake were all 75 seats in the Parliament, determining the President of the Xunta of Galicia.

Electoral system

The 75 members of the Parliament of Galicia were elected in 4 multi-member districts, corresponding to Galicia's four provinces, using the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation. Each district was entitled to an initial minimum of 10 seats, with the remaining 35 seats being allocated among the four provinces in proportion to their populations. For the 1997 election, seats were distributed as follows: Corunna (24), Lugo (15), Ourense (14) and Pontevedra (22).

Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. Only lists polling above 5% of the total vote in each district (which includes blank ballots—for none of the above) were entitled to enter the seat distribution.

Opinion polls

Vote

Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The lead column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two parties with the highest figures. Poll results use the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. However, if such date is unknown, the date of publication will be given instead.

Date	Polling Firm/Source	PP	PSdeG	BNG	IU	Oth.	Lead
19 Oct 1997	Regional Election	52.2	19.5	24.8	0.9	2.6	27.4
Exit polls
12 Oct	Demoscopia	51.5	23.1	22.8	1.1	1.5	28.4
7 Oct	PP	52.3	24.5	20.5		2.7	27.8
3–4 Oct	Opina	50.7	25.1	21.5	1.2	1.5	25.6
19–26 Sep	CIS	51.5	25.2	20.5	1.4	1.4	26.3
26 Jul	Sondaxe	50.0	24.0	19.0		7.0	26.0
1–4 Apr	Obradoiro	48.0	20.0	20.0		12.0	28.0
1997
1996
1995
1994
17 Oct 1993	Regional Election	52.1	23.7	18.4	3.1	2.7	28.4

Seat projections

Opinion polls showing seat projections are displayed in the table below. The highest seat figures in each polling survey have their background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Galicia.

38 seats needed for majority

Date	Polling Firm/Source	PP	PSdeG	BNG	IU	Others
19 Oct 1997	Regional Election	42	15	18	0	0
Exit polls
12 Oct	Demoscopia	41−42	16−18	16−18	0	0
7 Oct	PP	41−42	17−19	15−16	0	0
23–28 Sep	PSOE	37−38	23−25	13−14	0	0
3–4 Oct	Opina	39−40	21−22	14−15	0	0
29 Sep	PP	40−41	18−19	16−17	0	0
29 Sep	Sondaxe	39	19	17	0	0
19–26 Sep	CIS	41−42	19−20	14	0	0
26 Jul	Sondaxe	40	20	15	0	0
20 Jun–8 Jul	Infortécnica	37−41	19−23	15−16	0	0
10–20 Apr	PSOE	37	26	12	0	0
1–4 Apr	Obradoiro	40	18	17	0	0
1997
1996
1995
1994
17 Oct 1993	Regional Election	43	19	13	0	0

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 19 October 1997 Galician Parliament election results →

File:Parliament of Galicia election, 1997 results.svg
Party		Vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	832,751	52.19	0.05	42	1
	Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG)	395,435	24.78	6.40	18	5
	Socialist Party of Galicia-Galician Left-The Greens (PSdeG-EG-OV)	310,508	19.46	7.61	15	4
	United Left (IU)	13,964	0.88	New	0	±0
	Galician Democracy (DG)	11,538	0.72	New	0	±0
	Galician People's Front (FPG)	3,395	0.21	New	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	2,543	0.16	0.01	0	±0
	Freelance and Professionals' Party (AUTONOMO)	2,136	0.13	New	0	±0
	Social Democratic Party of Law (SDD)	1,129	0.07	New	0	±0
	The Move (Movida)	939	0.06	New	0	±0
	Spanish Falange of the JONS (FE-JONS)	392	0.02	New	0	±0
	Blank ballots	20,937	1.31	0.40
Total		1,595,667	100.00		75	±0
Valid votes		1,595,667	99.50	0.02
Invalid votes		8,064	0.50	0.02
Votes cast / turnout		1,603,731	62.52	1.67
Abstentions		961,400	37.48	1.67
Registered voters		2,565,131
Source: Argos Information Portal

Vote share
PP			52.19%
BNG			24.78%
PSdeG-EG-OV			19.46%
Others			2.26%
Blank ballots			1.31%

Parliamentary seats
PP			56.00%
BNG			24.00%
PSdeG-EG-OV			20.00%