Gipuzkoa (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Gipuzkoa 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 is situated in the Basque Country and the largest city is Donostia-San Sebastián.

Boundaries and electoral system

Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution ^[1] the boundaries must be the same as the province of Gipuzkoa 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.^[1]

Number of members

In the general elections from 1977 until 1989 Gipuzkoareturned seven members. That figure was reduced to six members from the 1993 General Election onwards. Gipuzkoa was one of the few districts whose electorate fell between 2000 and 2004.

Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population.^[2] These laws are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General) Gipuzkoa had a ratio of 96,970 voters per deputy in 2004 ^[3] a figure very close to the Spanish average of 98,777 voters per deputy.^[4]

Summary of seats won 1977–2008

Note: Seats shown for the PP include seats won by their predecessors, the Popular Alliance and Popular Coalition before 1989. Euskadiko Ezkerra merged with the PSOE after 1989.

Vote share summary 1977–2008

^aThe results correspond to those for the United Gipuzkoa (Guipúzcoa Unida) coalition.
^bThe results correspond to those of the Basque Socialist Party (Euskadiko Alderdi Sozialista-Partido Socialista Vasco) which later became a major part of the Batasuna electoral coalition.

Results

The 2008 election was overshadowed by the killing of a former PSOE councillor by ETA^[5] in the town of Mondragón in the district which led to a suspension of campaigning. This appeared to have an impact on the results as PSOE had their largest increase of all 52 districts here, while their next biggest came in the neighbouring districts of Álava and Biscay. Consequently they won three seats for the first time and gained the seat held by Eusko Alkartasuna, who lost their individual representation in Congress (although they are represented in Navarre as part of the coalition Navarra Yes.)

2008 General Election

2004 General Election

2000 General Election

Source:^[6]

External links

• List of members by year
• Number of voters by Municipality in 2008

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Spanish Constitution
2. ^ General features of Spanish electoral system
3. ^ Guipúzcoa election result 2004
4. ^ 2004 Spanish election
5. ^ ETA blamed for killing PSOE former councillor
6. ^ Interior ministry link to election results