Galician regional election, 1985

Galician regional election, 1985

24 November 1985
All 71 seats in the Parliament of Galicia 36 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	2,226,449 2.4%
Turnout	1,277,897 (57.4%) 11.1 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Xerardo Fernández Albor Fernando González Laxe Pablo González Mariñas Party AP–PDP–PL–CdG PSdG–PSOE CG Leader since 1981 19 June 1985 23 July 1985 Leader's seat La Coruña La Coruña La Coruña Last election 26 seats, 30.5% 16 seats, 19.6% Did not contest Seats won 34 22 11 Seat change 8 6 11 Popular vote 516,218 361,946 163,425 Percentage 40.9% 28.7% 12.9% Swing 10.4 pp 9.1 pp New party   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Camilo Nogueira Xosé Manuel Beiras Party PSG–EG BNG Leader since 1980 1982 Leader's seat Pontevedra La Coruña Last election 1 seat, 3.4% 3 seats, 6.3% Seats won 3 1 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 71,599 53,072 Percentage 5.7% 4.2% Swing 2.3 pp 2.1 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of Galicia
President before election Xerardo Fernández Albor AP–PDP–PL–CdG Elected President Xerardo Fernández Albor AP–PDP–PL–CdG

The 1985 Galician regional election was held on Sunday, 24 November 1985, to elect the 2nd Parliament of the Autonomous Community of Galicia. All 71 seats in the Parliament were up for election

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of Galicia was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Galicia, having legislative power in matters of regional competence as underlined by the Spanish Constitution and the Galician Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to grant or revoke confidence from a President of the Xunta.^[1] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, with all nationals over eighteen, registered in Galicia and in full enjoyment of all political rights entitled to vote.

The 71 members of the Parliament of Galicia 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.^[2] Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of La Coruña, Lugo, Orense and Pontevedra. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of seats: 22 for La Coruña, 15 for Lugo, 15 for Orense and 19 for Pontevedra.^[3][1]

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 the constituency for which they were seeking election. 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.^[3][4][5]

Election date

Article 11 of the Statute of Autonomy for Galicia of 1981 established that the term of the Parliament expired four years from the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. Article 12 of the Parliament of Galicia Elections Law of 1985 required for the election Decree to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of the Parliament. The Decree was to be published on the following day in the Official Journal of Galicia, with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. The previous election was held on 20 October 1981, which meant that the legislature's term would expire on 20 October 1985. The election Decree was required to be published no later than 26 September 1985, with the election taking place on the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament at Monday, 25 November 1985.^[1][3]

Additionally, under Article 17 of the Xunta and President Law of 1983 the Parliament was to be dissolved and a snap election called if an investiture process failed to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot.^[6]

Opinion polls

Individual 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 that date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance of a tie, the figures with the highest percentages are shaded. in the case of seat projections, they are displayed in bold and in a different font. The lead column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two parties with the highest figures. 36 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Galicia.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout								Lead
1985 regional election	24 Nov 1985	N/A	57.4	40.9 34	28.7 22	4.2 1	5.7 3	0.8 0	3.3 0	12.9 11	12.2
Alef/El País[p 1][p 2]	13–14 Nov 1985	1,200	?	40.0 32/34	30.6 23/25	6.1 2/3	4.9 2	1.0 0	7.5 4	8.1 5/6	9.4
Aresco/ABC[p 3]	4–8 Nov 1985	1,050	?	41.3 35/40	28.8 21/25	4.2 0/2	4.9 0/3	2.0 0	6.6 2/5	7.1 3/7	12.5
Alef/El País[p 4]	23–25 Oct 1985	1,000	64.7	40.0 32/36	31.9 23/27	6.0 3	–	2.0 2	7.3 3/4	7.3 4/5	8.1
Sofemasa/CEOE[p 5]	24 Jun–7 Jul 1985	1,865	?	45.1 38	31.9 27	2.9 0	3.5 2	1.0 0	3.5 1	5.9 3	13.2
Typol/AP[p 6]	15 Jan 1985	2,003	65.5	38.9 32	33.5 27	6.2 2	3.5 2	2.7 0	3.7 1	9.2 7	5.4
1981 regional election	20 Oct 1981	N/A	46.3	30.5 26	19.6 16	6.3 3	3.4 1	2.9 1	–	–	2.7

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 24 November 1985 Parliament of Galicia election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	People's Coalition (AP–PDP–PL–CdG)1	516,218	40.89	+10.37	34	+8
	Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdG–PSOE)	361,946	28.67	+9.05	22	+6
	Galician Coalition (CG)	163,425	12.94	New	11	+11
	Galician Socialist Party–Galician Left (PSG–EG)2	71,599	5.67	+2.27	3	+2
	Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG)3	53,072	4.20	–2.07	1	–2
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	41,411	3.28	New	0	±0

Distribution by constituency

Aftermath

Investiture vote

First investiture attempt

Second round: 17 January 1986
Simple majority required

Candidate: Xerardo Fernández Albor
Choice		Vote
		Parties	Votes
	Yes	AP–PDP–PL–CdG (34)	34 / 71
	NNo	PSdG–PSOE (22), CG (11), PSG–EG (3), BNG (1)	37 / 71
	Abstentions		0 / 71
Source: historiaelectoral.com

Second investiture attempt

First round: 21 February 1986
Simple majority required

Candidate: Xerardo Fernández Albor
Choice		Vote
		Parties	Votes
	YYes	AP–PDP–PL–CdG (34)	34 / 71
	No	PSdG–PSOE (22), PSG–EG (3), BNG (1)	26 / 71
	Abstentions	CG (11)	11 / 71
Source: historiaelectoral.com

Opinion poll sources

References

External links

• Results Electoral History (in Spanish)

Elections and referendums in Galicia
Regional elections	1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2012 2016 next
General elections	1977 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1996 2000 2004 2008 2011 2015 2016 next
European Parliament elections	1987 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 next
Referendums	1936 1980