Islas Baleares (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
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Islas Baleares (Balearic Islands) 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 corresponds to the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Palma de Mallorca is by far the largest town with 265,000 voters - over 40% of the electorate. There are no other municipalities with more than 25,000 voters.
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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 Balearic Islands province 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
From the 1977 General Election onwards Islas Baleares returned six members. This was increased to seven members for the 1993 General Election and then to eight members for the 2004 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 has been to overrepresent smaller provinces at the expense of larger provinces. Islas Baleares had a ratio of 85,979 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) | 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Popular Alliance / People's Party (PP) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
[edit] Results
[edit] 2004 General Election
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 215,737 | 45.89 | 4 | |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) | 185,623 | 39.48 | 4 | |
| United Left-PSM-ERC-Verds | 40,289 | 8.57 | 0 | |
| Others | 19,397 | 4.10 | 0 |
Source: [6]
[edit] 2000 General Election
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 214,348 | 53.87 | 5 | |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) | 116,515 | 29.28 | 2 | |
| PSM | 23,482 | 5.90 | 0 | |
| United Left | 15,928 | 4.00 | 0 | |
| Verds | 9,556 | 2.40 | 0 | |
| Mallorcan Union (UM) | 8,372 | 2.10 | 0 | |
| Others | 3,755 | 0.96 | 0 |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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