Palencia (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Palencia province

Palencia 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 is one of the nine electoral districts which correspond to the provinces of Castile and León. With 68,000 voters in 2004, Palencia is by far the largest municipality accounting for 45% of the total electorate. It is the only municipality with more than 10,000 voters.^[1] Palencia was one of the relatively few districts where the electorate fell between 2000 and 2004. The electorate fell again between 2004 and 2008. It is currently one of the smallest districts, ranking 45th out of 52 in terms of the size of its electorate.

Boundaries and electoral system

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

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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

Palencia has returned three members at every election since the restoration of democracy.

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 has been to overrepresent smaller provinces like Palencia at the expense of larger provinces. Palencia had a ratio of 50,893 voters per deputy in 2004 ^[4] a figure far below the Spanish average of 98,777 voters per deputy. ^[5]

Summary of seats won 1977–2008

Seats shown for the Peoples Party include seats won by their predecessors the Popular Alliance in 1982 and the Popular Coalition in 1986.

Vote share summary 1977-2008

Results

Palencia has generally favoured the parties of the right, although the PSOE narrowly managed to poll the most votes in 1982 and 1986. They outpolled the PP in Palencia municipality in 2004 for the first time since 1986, although the PP maintained a clear lead overall. The PSOE maintained a narrow lead in Palencia at the 2008 election.

2004 General Election

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

Source: ^[6]

2004 General Election

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

Source: ^[6]

2000 General Election

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

External links

• List of members by year

References

1. ↑ Number of voters by Municipality in 2008
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Spanish Constitution
3. ↑ General features of Spanish electoral system
4. ↑ Palencia election result 2004
5. ↑ 2004 Spanish election
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Interior ministry link to election results