Lleida (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Location of Lleida electoral district in Spain

Lleida 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 one of four electoral districts which correspond to the provinces of Catalonia. Lleida is the largest municipality accounting for 97,000 voters out of the total of 313,000. The district has traditionally been one of the weakest for the national parties of the right and it was one of only two districts in the 2004 election (along with Girona) where the Popular Party failed to win a seat, though they regained the seat at the 2008 election.

Boundaries and electoral system

Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution ^[1] the boundaries must be the same as the province of Lleida 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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Electoral procedures

The laws regulating the conduct and administration of elections are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General.^[2]) Under this law, the elections in Lleida, as in other districts, are supervised by the Electoral Commission (Junta Electoral), a permanent body composed of eight Supreme Court judges and five political scientists or sociologists appointed by the Congress of Deputies. The Electoral commission is supported in its work by the Interior Ministry. On election day, polling stations are run by electoral boards which consist of groups of citizens selected by lottery.^[3]

The format of the ballot paper is designed by the Spanish state, however, the law allows political parties to produce and distribute their own ballot papers, either by mailing them to voters or by other means such as street distribution, provided that they comply with the official model. The government then covers the cost of all printed ballot papers. These must then be marked by voters, either in the polling station or outside the polling station and placed inside sealed envelopes which are then placed inside ballot boxes in the polling station. Following the close of polls, the ballots are then counted in each individual polling station in the presence of representatives of the political parties and candidates. The ballots are then immediately destroyed, with the exception of those considered invalid or challenged by the candidates' representatives, which are retained for further scrutiny. The result is that full recounts are impossible.^[4]

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

From the 1977 onwards Lleida has returned four members.

Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population.^[5] 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.^[6] In Lleida however the number of voters per deputy was only 78,090.^[7]

Summary of seats won 1977–2008

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.^[8]

Democratic Centre Union fought the 1979 election as part of an alliance called Catalan Centrists (Centristes de Catalunya.)

Vote share summary 1977-2008

Results

2008 General Election

Summary of the 11 March 2008 Congress of Deputies election results in Lleida.

The 2004 election produced a very close result. PSOE won the fourth seat but an increase of either 236 (0.2%) votes for Convergence and Union or 370 votes (0.3%) for the PP would have been enough to give either of those parties the fourth seat. Although the PSOE won a second seat for the first time since 1989, their vote increase here was their lowest in all 52 constituencies. Republican Left (ERC) won their first seat in the district since the restoration of democracy.

2004 General Election

Summary of the 14 March 2004 Congress of Deputies election results in Lleida.

2000 General Election

Summary of the 12 March 2000 Congress of Deputies election results in Lleida.

Source:^[9]

External links

• List of members by year
• Number of voters by Municipality in 2008 accessed 11 April 2009

References