Tarragona (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
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Tarragona 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. Tarragona and Reus are the largest municipalities.
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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 Tarragona 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
From the 1977 onwards Tarragona returned five members. This figure was increased to six members for the 1993 election and it has remained 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 for example Spain had 34,571,831 voters giving an average of 98,777 voters per deputy [4]. In Tarragona however the number of voters per deputy was only 86,098. [5]
[edit] Summary of seats won 1977–2008
| 1977 | 1979 | 1982 | 1986 | 1989 | 1993 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Centre Union (UCD) | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSC-PSOE) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Convergence and Union (CiU) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC-PCE) | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| People's Party (PP) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) | 1 |
Note: Seats shown for the PP include seats won by their predecessors, the Popular Alliance and the Popular Coalition in 1982 and 1986.
PSOE has contested elections under the label Socialist Party of Catalonia (Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya).
Seats shown for Convergence and Union include seats won in the 1977 election under the label Democratic Pact for Catalonia (Pacte Democràtic per Catalunya)
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 2004 election saw Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) more than triple their vote to gain a seat from CiU. PSOE regained the seat that they had lost to the PP in 2000. The latter election was the only election to date when the PP managed to win more than one seat here in what is one of their weakest areas. PP's voteshare of 17% was one of their worst in the entire election, with only the other three Catalan provinces and Guipúzcoa producing worse vote shares for them.
[edit] 2004 General Election
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socialists' Party of Catalonia/Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) | 136,660 | 35.5 | 3 | |
| Convergence and Union (Convergència i Unió) | 82,954 | 21.5 | 1 | |
| Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) | 76,330 | 19.8 | 1 | |
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 65,528 | 17.0 | 1 | |
| Initiative for Catalonia Greens-United and Alternative Left | 14,694 | 3.8 | 0 | |
| Others | 5,449 | 1.4 | 0 |
Source: [7]
[edit] 2000 General Election
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socialists' Party of Catalonia/Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) | 101,817 | 32.4 | 2 | |
| Convergence and Union (Convergència i Unió) | 97,616 | 31.1 | 2 | |
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 76,468 | 24.3 | 2 | |
| Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) | 19,277 | 6.1 | 0 | |
| Initiative for Catalonia Greens | 6,585 | 2.1 | 0 | |
| United and Alternative Left | 4,405 | 1.4 | 0 | |
| Others | 3,850 | 1.2 | 0 |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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