Almería (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Almeria is one of the 52 electoral districts (circunscripciones) 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 one of eight districts which correspond to the provinces of Andalusia. Almería is the only town with over 100,000 voters accounting for nearly a third of the electorate. The next largest municipalities are El Ejido and Roquetas de Mar.^[1]

Boundaries and electoral system

Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution ^[2] the boundaries must be the same as the province of Almería 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.

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 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]

Number of members

From the 1977 until 2004 Almería returned five members. This figure was increased to six members for the 2008 election.^[3]

Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population.^[4] 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.^[5] In Almería the ratio was below that at 85,462.^[6]

Summary of seats won 1977-2008

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

Vote share summary 1977-2008

Results

2008 General Election

Almería saw the biggest swing of the entire election. The PSOE vote drop was the largest of any district and the PP's vote increase was only larger in the neighbouring district of Malaga. This resulted in the PP receiving their best ever result.

2004 General Election

The PP led the PSOE in all the three largest municipalities, leading by 3% in Almería, 7% in Roquetas de Mar and 15% in El Ejido. Despite this, the PSOE regained the seat that they had lost to the PP four years earlier.

Source:^[7]

2000 General Election

External links

• List of members by year

References

1. ^ electorates by municipality
2. ^ ^{a b} Spanish Constitution
3. ^ representation increased
4. ^ General features of Spanish electoral system
5. ^ 2004 Spanish election
6. ^ Almería 2004 election results
7. ^ Interior ministry link to election results