Basque regional election, 1980
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All 60 seats in the Basque Parliament 31 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 1,554,527 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 929,051 (59.8%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Constituency results map for the Basque Parliament | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1980 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 9 March 1980, to elect the 1st Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 60 seats in the Parliament were up for election.
The Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) won 25 seats, People's Unity (HB) came second with 11 seats, the Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) came third with 9 seats. The Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) and Basque Country Left (EE) won 6 seats each.
Electoral system
The 60 members of the Basque Parliament were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 3 per 100 of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. Additionally, the use of the D'Hondt method might result in an effective threshold over three percent, dependant on the district magnitude.[1] Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Guipúzcoa. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of 20 seats each, to provide for an equal representation of the three provinces in Parliament as required under the regional Statute of Autonomy.[n 1][n 2][3] Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage, with all nationals over eighteen, registered in the Basque Country and in full enjoyment of all political rights entitled to vote.
The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure at least the signature of 0.1 per 100 of the electors entered in electoral register of the constituency for which they were seeking election—needing to secure, in any case, the signature of 500 electors—. Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within fifteen days from the election call.[4]
The regional Statute required for the first regional election to be held within 180 days from the Statute's approval.[n 3] Additionally, the chamber was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called if an investiture process failed to elect a Lehendakari within a 60-day period from the Parliament re-assembly.[3]
Results
Overall
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| Parties and coalitions | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Won | +/− | ||
| Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) | 349,102 | 37.95 | — | 25 | — | |
| Popular Unity (HB) | 151,636 | 16.48 | — | 11 | — | |
| Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) | 130,221 | 14.16 | — | 9 | — | |
| Basque Country Left (EE) | 89,953 | 9.78 | — | 6 | — | |
| Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) | 78,095 | 8.49 | — | 6 | — | |
| People's Alliance (AP) | 43,751 | 4.76 | — | 2 | — | |
| Communist Party of the Basque Country (PCE/EPK) | 36,845 | 4.01 | — | 1 | — | |
| Communist Movement of the Basque Country (EMK/MCE) | 10,959 | 1.19 | — | 0 | — | |
| Parties with less than 1.0% of the vote | 25,713 | 2.80 | — | 0 | — | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socialists' Unification of the Basque Country (ESEI) | 6,280 | 0.68 | — | 0 | — | |
| Revolutionary Communist League (LKI/LCR) | 5,182 | 0.56 | — | 0 | — | |
| Workers' Party of the Basque Country (ORT–PTE) | 3,448 | 0.37 | — | 0 | — | |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (historical) (PSOE–H) | 2,760 | 0.30 | — | 0 | — | |
| Carlist Party (EKA/PC) | 2,434 | 0.26 | — | 0 | — | |
| Workers' Socialist Party (PST) | 2,099 | 0.23 | — | 0 | — | |
| Communist Unity (UC) | 2,044 | 0.22 | — | 0 | — | |
| Spanish Falange of the JONS (FE–JONS) | 1,466 | 0.16 | — | 0 | — | |
| Blank ballots | 3,570 | 0.39 | — | |||
| Total | 919,845 | 100.00 | 60 | — | ||
| Valid votes | 919,845 | 99.01 | — | |||
| Invalid votes | 9,206 | 0.99 | — | |||
| Votes cast / turnout | 929,051 | 59.76 | — | |||
| Abstentions | 625,476 | 40.24 | — | |||
| Registered voters | 1,554,527 | |||||
| Source(s): Basque Government, historiaelectoral.com | ||||||
Distribution by constituency
| Constituency | PNV | HB | PSE | EE | UCD | AP | PCE/EPK | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | |
| Álava | 30.1 | 7 | 14.1 | 3 | 14.0 | 3 | 9.2 | 2 | 19.7 | 4 | 5.7 | 1 | 3.0 | – |
| Biscay | 40.0 | 9 | 16.4 | 4 | 14.4 | 3 | 7.8 | 1 | 6.8 | 1 | 5.8 | 1 | 4.8 | 1 |
| Guipúzcoa | 37.3 | 9 | 17.6 | 4 | 13.8 | 3 | 13.5 | 3 | 7.6 | 1 | 2.7 | – | 3.0 | – |
| Total | 38.0 | 25 | 16.5 | 11 | 14.2 | 9 | 9.8 | 6 | 8.5 | 6 | 4.8 | 2 | 4.0 | 1 |
Notes
- ↑ This meant that Álava was allocated the same number of seats as Biscay and Gipuzkoa, despite their populations being, as of 1 January 1980: 251,850, 1,179,666 and 690,009, respectively.[2]
- ↑ As no specific electoral law was in force at the time, the electoral system was regulated under the general rules of the Electoral Rules Decree of 1977 as well as Transitional Provision One of the regional Statute of Autonomy.
- ↑ As per Transitory Provision One of the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979, the Basque General Council was to call an election within sixty days after the date of approval of the Statute, with election day being held within four months after the call. As a result, an election could not be held later than the 180th day from the date of approval of the Statute.
References
- ↑ "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
- ↑ "Principales series desde 1971. Resultados por Provincias. Población residente por fecha, sexo y edad". ine.es (in Spanish). National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- 1 2 Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979, Organic Law No. 3 of December 18, 1979 Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved on 17 July 2017.
- ↑ Electoral Rules Decree of 1977, Royal Decree-Law No. 20 of March 18, 1977 Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved on 27 December 2016.
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