Andalusian parliamentary election, 2012

Andalusian parliamentary election, 2012
Andalusia
25 March 2012

All 109 seats in the Parliament of Andalusia
55 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered 6,392,620 Increase2.6%
Turnout 3,885,137 (60.8%)
Decrease11.9 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Javier Arenas José Antonio Griñán Diego Valderas
Party PP PSOE-A IU
Leader since 18 April 2004 23 April 2009 10 October 2000
Last election 47 seats, 38.5% 56 seats, 48.4% 6 seats, 7.1%
Seats won 50 47 12
Seat change Increase3 Decrease9 Increase6
Popular vote 1,570,833 1,527,923 438,372
Percentage 40.7% 39.6% 11.3%
Swing Increase2.2 pp Decrease8.8 pp Increase4.2 pp

Province-level units won by PSOE-A (red) and PP (blue)

President before election

José Antonio Griñán
PSOE-A

Elected President

José Antonio Griñán
PSOE-A

The 2012 Andalusian parliamentary election was held on Sunday, 25 March 2012, to elect the 9th Parliament of Andalusia, the regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. At stake were all 109 seats in the Parliament, determining the President of the Regional Government of Andalusia.

Despite predictions that the People's Party (PP) could win an absolute majority of seats for the first time in its history, it failed to gain enough seats to do so. While the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) lost its overall majority of seats and scored second in this region for the first time ever in a regional election, they continued in power thanks to a coalition agreement with United Left (IU), which doubled its number of seats.[1]

Electoral system

The 109 members of the Parliament of Andalusia were elected in 8 multi-member districts, corresponding to Andalusia's eight provinces, using the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation system. Each district was entitled to an initial minimum of 8 seats, with the remaining 45 seats allocated among the eight provinces in proportion to their populations, on the condition that the number of seats in each district did not exceed 2 times those of any other. For the 2012 election, seats were distributed as follows: Almeria (12), Cadiz (15), Cordoba (12), Granada (13), Huelva (11), Jaen (11), Malaga (17) and Seville (18).

Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. Only lists polling above 3% of valid votes in each district (which includes blank ballotsfor none of the above) were entitled to enter the seat distribution.[2][3]

Background

Date

Several dates were considered for the election. Initially scheduled for 4[4] or 18 March, the result of the general election in November made it advisable for Griñán to push the date further away to the last Sunday of March, in order to push the legislature to the limit and distance himself from the November election.[5]

This has been the first time since 1996 that an Andalusian parliamentary election has not been held concurrently with a Spanish general election, as then-PM José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero had chosen to hold the 2012 general election 4 months ahead of schedule, in 20 November 2011.

2011 general election

The 2011 general election resulted in a resounding victory for the opposition People's Party of Mariano Rajoy, which won in both seats and popular vote for the first time ever in this autonomous community since the Spanish transition to democracy. The PP won 1,985,612 votes (45.57%) and 33 seats to PSOE's 1,594,893 votes (36.60%) and 25 seats, after losing 800,000 votes and 11 seats from those won in 2008. United Left won 2 seats from Sevilla and Malaga and 8.27% of the share with 360,212 votes.

Results projections based on the results of the general election gave the People's Party an absolute majority with 58 seats (out of 109 up for election), with the PSOE in a distant second place with 43 seats. United Left would keep its 6 seats on the projections while UPyD could enter the Parliament with 2 seats. Had those results been confirmed, it would have meant the end of a 30-year-long hegemony of Socialist rule in the community: the party being in power since the creation of the Andalusian autonomous community.[6]

Opinion polls

Vote

Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The lead column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two parties with the highest figures. Poll results use the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. However, if such date is unknown, the date of publication will be given instead.

Seats

Opinion polls showing seat projections are displayed in the table below. The highest seat figures in each polling survey have their background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. 55 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Andalusia.

Results

Overall

Summary of the 25 March 2012 Andalusian Parliament election results
Party Vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Won +/−
People's Party (PP) 1,570,833 40.67 Increase2.22 50 Increase3
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia (PSOE-A) 1,527,923 39.56 Decrease8.85 47 Decrease9
United Left The Greens-Assembly for Andalusia (IULV-CA) 438,372 11.35 Increase4.29 12 Increase6
Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) 129,407 3.35 Increase2.73 0 ±0
Andalusian Party (PA) 96,770 2.51 Decrease0.25 0 ±0
Equo (EQUO) 20,383 0.53 New 0 ±0
Animal Rights Party (PACMA) 8,781 0.23 New 0 ±0
Blank Seats (Eb) 5,660 0.15 New 0 ±0
Jaded.org (Hartos.org) 4,966 0.13 New 0 ±0
Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) 4,119 0.11 Increase0.05 0 ±0
Blank ballots 35,081 0.91 Decrease0.15
Total 3,862,747 100.00 109 ±0
Valid votes 3,862,747 99.42 Increase0.05
Invalid votes 22,390 0.58 Decrease0.05
Votes cast / turnout 3,885,137 60.78 Decrease11.89
Abstentions 2,507,483 31.06 Increase11.89
Registered voters 6,392,620
Source: Argos Information Portal
Vote share
PP
 
40.67%
PSOE-A
 
39.56%
IULV-CA
 
11.35%
UPyD
 
3.35%
PA
 
2.51%
Others
 
1.67%
Blank ballots
 
0.91%
Parliamentary seats
PP
 
45.87%
PSOE-A
 
43.12%
IULV-CA
 
11.01%

Results by province

Election results by province.

Post-election

Investiture voting

On 3 May 2012, as a result of the PSOE-IU coalition agreement, José Antonio Griñán was re-elected as regional President. One IU deputy, Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, cast an invalid vote in protest for not being able to elect a candidate of his own party.

3 May 2012
Investiture voting for José Antonio Griñán Martínez (PSOE)

Absolute majority: 55/109
Vote Parties Votes
Yes Yes PSOE (47), IU (11)
58 / 109
No PP (50)
50 / 109
Abstentions
0 / 109
Invalid votes IU (1)
1 / 109
Source: Historia Electoral

In July 2013, President Griñán announced he would resign after a successor for the office had been chosen from among his party. As regional minister Susana Díaz was the only person able to gather the required guarantees to stand in the primary election that was to held for such a purpose, she was unanimously proclaimed as the party's candidate for the Presidency of the Junta of Andalusia. As a result, on 5 September 2013 the Andalusian Parliament elected Díaz as Griñán's successor.

5 September 2013
Investiture voting for Susana Díaz Pacheco (PSOE)

Absolute majority: 55/109
Vote Parties Votes
Yes Yes PSOE (47), IU (11)
58 / 109
No PP (48)
48 / 109
Abstentions
0 / 109
2 PP and 1 IU deputy missed the voting.
Source: Historia Electoral

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 This survey shows its poll results projected over candidacy votes (that is, votes going for political parties, excluding blank ballots). The vote percentage in the official election is calculated including blank ballots into the estimation. In order to obtain data comparable to both the official results as well as those of other surveys, a rule of three has been applied to the survey projections, with the results of the calculation being shown instead.

References