Badajoz (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

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Location of Badajoz electoral district in Spain.
Location of Badajoz electoral district in Spain.

Badajoz is one of the 52 electoral districts (circunscripciónes) used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It was first contested in modern times in the 1977 General Election. It is the largest electoral district in Congress in terms of geographical area.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries and electoral system

Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution [1] the boundaries must be the same as the province of Badajoz 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.


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[edit] Eligibility

Article 67.3 of the Spanish Constitution prohibits dual membership of the Cortes and regional assemblies, meaning that candidates must resign from Regional Assemblies if successfully 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]

[edit] Number of members

In the general elections of 1977, 1979 and 1982 Badajoz returned 7 members. That figure was reduced to 6 members for the 1986 election and it has stayed at that figure since then.

Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population. [3] 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.

In 2004 Spain had 34,571,831 voters giving an average of 98,777 voters per deputy [4]. In Badajoz the ratio was slightly below that at 89,775.[5]

[edit] Summary of seats won 1977-2008

1977 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1996 2000 2004 2008
Democratic Centre Union (UCD) 4 4
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 3 3 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 3
People's Party (PP) 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3

Seats shown for the People's Party include seats won by their predecessors, the Popular Alliance and the Popular Coalition before 1989.

[edit] Results

[edit] 2004 General Election

[discuss] – [edit]
Summary of the 14 March 2004 Congress of Deputies election results in Badajoz.
Parties and alliances Votes % Seats Members elected
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) 219,172 51.66 3 Francisco Fernández Marugán, José Luis Galache, María Pérez
People's Party (Partido Popular) 176,699 41.65 3 Germán López, Carmen Matador, María Sánchez
United Left 16,589 3.90 0
Los Verdes 1,886 0.44 0
Others 4,296 1.45 0

Source: [6]

[edit] 2000 General Election

[discuss] – [edit]
Summary of the 12 March 2000 Congress of Deputies election results in Badajoz.
Parties and alliances Votes % Seats Members elected
People's Party (Partido Popular) 187,273 47.00 3 Juan Barrero†, Carmen Matador, Francisco Zambrano
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) 178,396 44.77 3 Francisco Amarillo, Francisco Fernández Marugán, María Pérez
United Left 21,402 5.37 0
Los Verdes 1,874 0.47 0
United Extramadura (Extremadura Unida) 1,723 0.44 0
Others 4,296 0.74 0

†Barrero was replaced by Germán López on 16th October 2000.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Spanish Constitution
  2. ^ Spanish Constitution
  3. ^ General features of Spanish electoral system
  4. ^ 2004 Spanish election
  5. ^ Badajoz 2004 election results
  6. ^ Interior ministry link to election results
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Electoral districts of the Spanish Congress of Deputies