Girona (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
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Girona 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 four electoral districts which correspond to the provinces of Catalonia. Girona is the largest municipality although it only has 60,000 voters out of the total electorate of 457,000. Figueres is the second largest municipality with 28,000 voters. There are no other municipalities with electorates over 25,000. The district has traditionally been one of the weakest for the national parties of the right and it was one of only two districts in the 2004 election (along with Lleida) where the Popular Party failed to win a seat.
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[edit] Boundaries and electoral system
Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution [1] the boundaries must be the same as the province of Girona 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% of the total vote (which includes votes "en blanco" i.e. for none of the above) can be considered. 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 from 1977 onwards Girona returned 5 members. That figure was increased to 6 members for the 2004 General Election.
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 for example Spain had 34,571,831 voters giving an average of 98,777 voters per deputy [4]. In Girona however the number of voters per deputy was only 76,215. [5]
[edit] Summary of seats won 1977–2008
| 1977 | 1979 | 1982 | 1986 | 1989 | 1993 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Convergence and Union (CiU) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSC-PSOE) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Democratic Centre Union (UCD) | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| People's Party (PP) | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) | 2 | 1 |
Note: Seats shown for the PP include seats won by their predecessor, the Popular Alliance in 1982.
PSOE has contested elections under the label Socialist Party of Catalonia (Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya).
Democratic Convergence of Catalonia contested the 1977 election under the label Democratic Pact for Catalonia (Pacte Democràtic per Catalunya). After 1977 they have contested elections as part of an alliance with Democratic Union of Catalonia called Convergence and Unity (Convergència i Unió).
Republican Left of Catalonia contested the 1977 election as part of an electoral alliance called Catalan Left - Electoral Democratic Front (Esquerra de Catalunya-Front Electoral Democràtic) as openly republican parties were unable to contest the 1977 elections. [6]
Democratic Centre Union fought the 1979 election as part of an alliance called Catalan Centrists (Centristes de Catalunya.)
[edit] Results
The 2000 General Election saw the PP gain a seat for the first time since 1982. In the 2004 election they narrowly lost their seat to Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), missing out by less than 800 votes for the final seat. The 2004 election saw ERC make a breakthrough, winning their first seats since the restoration of democracy.
[edit] 2004 General Election[7]
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socialists' Party of Catalonia/Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) | 113,089 | 31.62 | 2 | |
| Convergence and Union (Convergència i Unió) | 96,928 | 27.10 | 2 | |
| Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) | 83,482 | 23.34 | 2 | |
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 40,959 | 11.45 | ||
| Initiative for Catalonia Greens-United and Alternative Left | 15,070 | 4.21 | ||
| Confederation of The Greens (Els Verds) | 1,836 | 0.51 | 0 | |
| Others | 3,606 | 0.70 | 0 |
[edit] 2000 General Election[8]
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Convergence and Union (Convergència i Unió) | 121,116 | 41.05 | 2 | |
| Socialists' Party of Catalonia/Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) | 83,741 | 28.38 | 2 | |
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 46,992 | 15.93 | 1 | |
| Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) | 25,534 | 8.65 | ||
| Initiative for Catalonia Greens | 5,346 | 1.81 | ||
| United and Alternative Left | 4,644 | 1.57 | ||
| Confederation of The Greens (Els Verds) | 1,790 | 0.61 | 0 | |
| Others | 1,877 | 0.64 | 0 |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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