Ciudad Real (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Location of Ciudad Real electoral district in Spain

Ciudad Real 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 five electoral districts that correspond to the provinces of Castilla La Mancha. With nearly 55,000 voters out of the total electorate of 398,000 Ciudad Real is the largest municipality. The second-largest is Puertollano with just over 40,000 voters. Alcázar de San Juan (22,000 voters) was the only other municipality with more than 20,000 voters.

The district has been notable for close contests in recent years, with the final seat changing hands at each of the last three elections. The 2008 election saw the People's Party (PP) lead the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) by just 1.0%, the second-smallest difference between the two parties after Melilla meaning that the seat is again likely to be closely contested in the 2012 general election.

Boundaries and electoral system

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

Number of members

From the 1977 General Election onwards Ciudad Real has returned five members.

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) The practical effect of this has been to overrepreseent smaller provinces at the expense of larger provinces. Ciudad Real had a ratio of 79,669 voters per deputy in 2008,^[3] a figure below the Spanish average of 100,209 voters per deputy.

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.

Vote share summary 1977-2008

Results

The final seat has changed hands in each of the last three elections. The PP gained the seat from the PSOE in the 2000 election by a comfortable margin. PSOE regained the seat in the 2004 election. However they beat the PP by less than 5,000 votes or 1.5%. This was their second-smallest lead over the PP in any marginal seat in the 2004 election after Teruel. The PP narrowly regained the seat in the 2008 election. Similarly the 1996 election produced a very close result with PSOE winning the fifth seat by just over 500 votes.

At municipal level, PP had a convincing lead of nearly 20% over the PSOE in 2008 in Ciudad Real municipality. Puertollano produced the opposite result with PSOE leading PP by 20%. Alcázar de San Juan produced a closer result with PSOE leading PP by 4%.

2008 General Election

Summary of the 9 March 2008 Congress of Deputies election results in Ciudad Real.

2004 General Election

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

2000 General Election

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

1996 General Election

Summary of the 3 March 1996 Congress of Deputies election results in Ciudad Real.

1993 General Election

Summary of the 6 June 1993 Congress of Deputies election results in Ciudad Real.

Source: ^[4]

External links

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

References

1. 1 2 Spanish Constitution
2. ↑ General features of Spanish electoral system
3. ↑ Ciudad Real election result 2008
4. ↑ Interior ministry link to election results