Burgos (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

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Location of Burgos electoral district in Spain
Location of Burgos electoral district in Spain

Burgos 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 is one of the nine electoral districts which correspond to the provinces of Castile and León. Burgos is the largest municipality accounting 139,000 voters - 45% of the total electorate. Miranda de Ebro and Aranda de Duero are the next largest municipalities although both have less than 30,000 voters. Burgos was one of the relatively few districts where the electorate fell between 2000 and 2004.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries and electoral system

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

Burgos has returned four members at every election since the restoration of democracy.

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 has been to overrepreseent smaller provinces like Burgos at the expense of larger provinces. Burgos had a ratio of 75,795 voters per deputy in 2004 [4] a figure below the Spanish average of 98,777 voters per deputy. [5]

[edit] Summary of seats won 1977–2008

1977 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1996 2000 2004 2008
Democratic Centre Union (UCD) 3 3
People's Party (PP) 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 2
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2

Seats shown for the Peoples Party include seats won by their predecessors the Popular Alliance in 1982 and the Popular Coalition in 1986.

[edit] Results

The parties of the centre right have topped the poll in every election since the restoration of democracy. Burgos municipality produced a result very close to the average in 2004. PSOE polled better in the smaller municipalities leading PP by 17% in Miranda de Ebro and 4% in Aranda de Duero.

[edit] 2004 General Election

[discuss] – [edit]
Summary of the 14 March 2004 Congress of Deputies election results in Burgos.
Parties and alliances Votes % Seats Members elected
People's Party (Partido Popular) 122,415 51.96 2
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) 91,727 38.93 2
United Left 7,703 3.27 0
Tierra Comunera 3,218 1.37 0
Others 4,488 1.90 0

Source: [6]

[edit] 2000 General Election

[discuss] – [edit]
Summary of the 12 March 2000 Congress of Deputies election results in Burgos.
Parties and alliances Votes % Seats Members elected
People's Party (Partido Popular) 129,501 58.36 3
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) 64,358 29.01 1
United Left 10,153 4.58 0
Tierra Comunera 9,862 4.44 0
Others 2,305 1.10 0

[edit] External links

[edit] References

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