Navarrese regional election, 2011

Navarrese regional election, 2011

22 May 2011
All 50 seats in the Parliament of Navarre 26 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	485,386 2.9%
Turnout	327,281 (67.4%) 6.4 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Yolanda Barcina Roberto Jiménez Patxi Zabaleta Party UPN PSN–PSOE NaBai 2011 Leader since 19 April 2009 28 June 2008 16 September 2006 Leader's seat Navarre Navarre Navarre Last election 22 seats, 42.2% 12 seats, 22.5% 12 seats, 23.6% Seats won 19 9 8 Seat change 3 3 4 Popular vote 111,474 51,238 49,827 Percentage 34.5% 15.9% 15.4% Swing 7.7 pp 6.6 pp 8.2 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Maiorga Ramírez Santiago Cervera José Miguel Nuin Party B–EA/AE–EA PP I-E Leader since 2011 10 December 2009 2010 Leader's seat Navarre Navarre Navarre Last election Did not contest Did not contest 2 seats, 4.3% Seats won 7 4 3 Seat change 7 4 1 Popular vote 42,916 23,551 18,457 Percentage 13.3% 7.3% 5.7% Swing New party New party 1.4 pp
President before election Miguel Sanz UPN Elected President Yolanda Barcina UPN

The 2011 Navarrese regional election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th Parliament of the Foral Community of Navarre. All 50 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in 12 other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

The Navarrese People's Union (UPN) had formed the government of the region since the 1996. Between 1991 and 2008 UPN had an agreement with the People's Party (PP), functioning as PP sister party in the region in exchange for the PP itself not contesting elections in Navarre. The pact was broken in October 2008 following a dispute over a budgetary vote in the Congress of Deputies.^[1] As a result, this was the first regional election since 1987 in which both parties ran separately.

Another novelty for this election was that incumbent President Miguel Sanz had announced his intention not to run for a fifth term in office,^[2] being replaced as UPN candidate by Mayor of Pamplona Yolanda Barcina.^[3]

UPN remained the first political party of Navarre, albeit with a diminished popular vote due to the PP split. The PSN-PSOE obtained the worst result of its history up until that point, but recovered the 2nd place it had lost to Nafarroa Bai in 2007, which dropped to 3rd place as a result of Bildu's entry into Parliament.

Electoral system

The 50 members of the Parliament of Navarre 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 regionally. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution.^[4][5] Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage, with all nationals over eighteen, registered in Navarre and in full enjoyment of all political rights entitled to vote. Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Navarrese abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado).^[6]

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 1 per 100 of the electors entered in electoral register of Navarre. 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 ten days from the election call.^[4][7][8]

A 2010 statutory amendment abolished the fixed-term mandate fixing elections for the fourth Sunday of May every four years, instead allowing for them to be held up to 30 days from the legislature's expiry date, which would take place four years after the previous election. The President of Navarre had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election was due and some time requirements were met—namely, that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or within the legislature's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution under this procedure—. Additionally, the chamber was to be automatically dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process failed to elect a regional President within a three-month period from the election date.^[5][7]

Opinion polls

Vote

Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. 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. When a specific poll does not show a data figure for a party, the party's cell corresponding to that poll is shown empty.

Seat projections

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. 26 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Navarre.

Results

← Summary of the 22 May 2011 Parliament of Navarre election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	Navarrese People's Union (UPN)	111,474	34.48	–7.70	19	–3
	Socialist Party of Navarre (PSN–PSOE)	51,238	15.85	–6.64	9	–3
	Navarre Yes 2011 (NaBai 2011)	49,827	15.41	–8.21	8	–4
	Unite–Basque Solidarity–Progress Alternative (B–EA/AE–EA)	42,916	13.28	New	7	+7
	People's Party (PP)	23,551	7.29	New	4	+4
	Left (I–E)	18,457	5.71	+1.36	3	+1
	Democrats' Convergence of Navarre (CDN)	4,654	1.44	–2.93	0	–2
	Greens of Navarre (VN–NB)	4,235	1.31	New	0	±0

Aftermath

Investiture

After legal amendments in 2010, investiture processes to elect the President of Navarre required for an absolute majority—more than half the votes cast—to be obtained in the first ballot. If unsuccessful, a new ballot would be held 24 hours later requiring only of a simple majority—more affirmative than negative votes—to succeed. If such majorities were not achieved, successive candidate proposals would be processed under the same procedure. In the event of the investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a three-month period from the election date, the Parliament would be automatically dissolved and a snap election called.^[5]

Vote of no confidence

References