Castellón (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Castellón is one of the 52 electoral districts (Spanish: 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 three districts which correspond to the provinces of the autonomous community of Valencia. Castellón de la Plana is the largest town with just over a quarter of the electorate. Villarreal is the only other municipality with an electorate over 30,000.^[1] The constituency produced a close result in 2004 although the People's Party (PP) increased their lead over the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in 2008.

Boundaries and electoral system

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

Castellón has returned five members from the 1977 election onwards.

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 like Castellón at the expense of larger provinces.

In 2008 for example Spain had 35,073,179 voters giving an average of 100,209 voters per deputy.^[4] In Castellón the ratio was below that at 82,217.^[5]

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. This includes seats won in 1982 as part of an electoral alliance with Unió Valenciana, a regional party.

The independent candidate subsequently joined the UCD group in congress. ^[6]

Vote share Summary 1977-2008

Results

Castellón produced one of the closest results in 2004 with the PP narrowly taking the fifth seat ahead of the PSOE. In the largest municipalities the results were similarly close. Castellón de la Plana produced a near dead heat with PSOE finishing just 28 votes (0.03%) ahead of the PP, while the PSOE were also 651 votes (2.45%) ahead in Villarreal. In 2008, the PP increased their lead overall and led in Castellon by just over 3000 votes (3.4%) and by 1000 votes (4.0%) in Villarreal.

2008 General Election

2004 General Election

2000 General Election

source:^[7]

External links

• List of members by year

References

1. ^ Number of voters by Municipality in 2008
2. ^ ^{a b} Spanish Constitution
3. ^ General features of Spanish electoral system
4. ^ 2008 Spanish election
5. ^ Castellón 2008 election results
6. ^ 1977 elected Independent candidate's profile
7. ^ Interior ministry link to election results