Galician regional election, 2012

21 October 2012

All 75 seats in the Parliament of Galicia
38 seats needed for a majority

Opinion polls

Registered

2,697,717

1.9%

Turnout

1,481,379 (54.9%)

9.5 pp

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Alberto Núñez Feijóo	Pachi Vázquez	Xosé Manuel Beiras
Party	PP	PSdeG–PSOE	AGE
Leader since	15 January 2006	25 April 2009	4 September 2012
Leader's seat	Pontevedra	Ourense	A Coruña
Last election	38 seats, 46.7%	25 seats, 31.0%	0 seats, 1.0%
Seats won	41	18	9
Seat change	3	7	9
Popular vote	661,281	297,584	200,828
Percentage	45.8%	20.6%	13.9%
Swing	0.9 pp	10.4 pp	12.9 pp

	Fourth party

Leader	Francisco Jorquera
Party	BNG
Leader since	15 January 2012
Leader's seat	A Coruña
Last election	12 seats, 16.0%
Seats won	7
Seat change	5
Popular vote	146,027
Percentage	10.1%
Swing	5.9 pp

Constituency results map for the Parliament of Galicia

President before election

Alberto Núñez Feijóo
PP

Elected President

Alberto Núñez Feijóo
PP

The 2012 Galician regional election was held on Sunday, 21 October 2012, to elect the 9th Parliament of the Autonomous Community of Galicia. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with a regional election in the Basque Country.

This was a snap election held several months before scheduled. Incumbent President Alberto Núñez Feijóo stood for re-election for a 2nd consecutive term in office, running for the People's Party (PP). For the Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG-PSOE) ran its Secretary-General Pachi Vázquez. Former congressman Francisco Jorquera ran for the left-wing Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG), while former BNG leader Xosé Manuel Beiras, stood for Galician Left Alternative (AGE), a newly formed left-wing alliance between United Left and Anova, Beiras' split party from BNG.

The election resulted in a surprise result for both Núñez Feijóo, who enlarged his absolute majority from 38 and 41 seats, and Beiras' coalition AGE, which won 200,000 votes and 14% of the share, scoring in third position. In contrast, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party obtained one of the worst results in the history of the party in Galicia. All in all, the enlarged PP majority came as a result of the enormous fragmentation of the left vote within several parties, as Feijóo's party lost almost 130,000 votes from 2009.

Overview

Background

The election was held amid a climate of falling popularity in Mariano Rajoy's government, with the electoral campaign being heavily marked by the austerity measures approved by the People's Party government. In July 2012, a 65 billion euros worth spending cut and a VAT rise from 18% to 21% was passed; such measures being heavily criticised because they were a breach of a key election promise.^[1]^[2] The PP vote share immediately plummeted in opinion polls from 40% to 34%. This raised fears within Núñez Feijóo's regional government about the possibility of losing the party's absolute majority in the Galician Parliament election scheduled for early 2013.^[3]

On 21 August 2012, Basque premier Patxi López announced that he was bringing forward the Basque election date to 21 October 2012, after the People's Party had announced that it was withdrawing its support to López' Socialist government in the Basque Country.^[4] As a result, President Feijóo announced that he was calling the election earlier in order for it to coincide with the Basque election.^[5]

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.^[6] 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. Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Galicians abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado).^[7]

The 75 members of the Parliament of Galicia were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5 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 five percent, dependant on the district magnitude.^[8] Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra. Each constituency was entitled to an initial minimum of 10 seats, with the remaining 35 allocated among the constituencies in proportion to their populations.^[9]^[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 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.^[9]^[10]^[11]

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 in the event that the President did not make use of his prerogative of early dissolution. 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 1 March 2009, which meant that the legislature's term would expire on 1 March 2013. The election Decree was required to be published no later than 5 February 2013, with the election taking place on the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament at Saturday, 6 April 2013.^[6]^[9]

Article 24 of the Xunta and President Law of 1983 granted the President the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament at any given time and call a snap election, provided that it did not occur before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution under this procedure. Additionally, under Article 17 of the Law the Parliament was to be dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process failed to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot.^[12]

Opinion polls

Party vote

Poll results are listed in the tables 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.

Color key:

Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls

Polling firm/Link	Fieldwork/ publication date	Sample size	TO										Lead
Polling firm/Link	Fieldwork/ publication date	Sample size	TO										Lead

Regional Election	21.10.12	N/A	54.9%	45.8	20.6	10.1	1.5	—	13.9	—	1.0	1.1	25.2

Sondaxe	16-10-12–19.10.12	?	?	44.3	26.4	11.5	1.9	–	10.9	–	0.8	0.5	17.9
Sondaxe	15-10-12–18.10.12	?	?	46.1	25.2	11.6	1.4	–	10.2	–	1.2	0.5	20.9
Sondaxe	14-10-12–17.10.12	?	?	47.1	25.2	11.9	1.6	–	8.7	–	1.1	0.6	21.9
Sondaxe	13-10-12–16.10.12	?	?	47.7	25.1	11.7	1.5	–	8.4	–	1.4	0.6	22.6
Sondaxe	12-10-12–15.10.12	?	?	48.3	25.0	11.9	0.8	–	9.0	–	1.3	0.6	23.3
Ipsos	14.10.12	1,400	62.7%	46.4	25.8	13.3	2.5	–	4.3	–	1.7	1.0	20.6
Sondaxe	11-10-12–14.10.12	?	?	48.5	24.5	12.3	0.9	–	9.6	–	0.6	0.6	24.0
Sondaxe	10-10-12–13.10.12	?	?	47.6	24.2	13.8	1.0	–	9.7	–	0.6	0.6	23.4
NC Report	01-10-12–13.10.12	1,000	59.3%	45.1	27.0	14.0	–	–	6.2	–	–	–	18.1
Sondaxe	09-10-12–12.10.12	?	?	46.9	24.6	13.5	0.9	–	8.9	–	0.6	0.6	22.3
Sondaxe	08-10-12–11.10.12	?	?	49.3	25.2	12.6	0.5	–	7.6	–	1.0	0.6	24.1
Sigma Dos	08-10-12–11.10.12	1,200	?	50.5	21.4	13.1	–	–	8.7	–	–	1.8	29.1
Sondaxe	07-10-12–10.10.12	?	?	47.0	25.0	12.7	0.9	–	6.9	–	0.8	0.9	22.0
My Word	03-10-12–10.10.12	1,200	?	42.2	21.5	13.9	3.1	–	7.8	–	1.8	1.6	20.7
Sondaxe	06-10-12–09.10.12	?	?	46.4	25.7	13.3	1.0	–	6.4	–	0.9	0.9	20.7
Sondaxe	05-10-12–08.10.12	?	?	47.3	24.1	15.1	0.9	–	5.4	–	1.3	0.7	23.2
NC Report	07.10.12	?	?	42.4	27.3	12.9	–	–	–	–	–	–	15.1
Sondaxe	04-10-12–07.10.12	?	?	45.7	25.3	15.2	0.9	–	6.2	–	0.9	0.6	20.4
Sondaxe	03-10-12–06.10.12	?	?	45.4	27.2	16.0	0.8	–	4.9	–	1.4	0.6	18.2
Sondaxe	02-10-12–05.10.12	1,600	?	44.3	26.0	15.8	0.7	–	5.0	–	1.1	1.1	18.3
DYM	01-10-12–04.10.12	816	?	49.0	22.3	13.3	–	–	10.9	–	1.8	–	26.7
NC Report	30.09.12	?	?	42.7	25.6	11.2	–	–	–	–	–	–	17.1
CIS	08-09-12–25.09.12	3,956	?	44.1	28.2	15.6	1.0	–	4.6	–	–	–	15.9
NC Report	23.09.12	?	?	43.4	26.1	10.9	–	–	–	–	–	–	17.3
Low Cost	17-09-12–23.09.12	1,000	61.5%	45.1	28.5	12.0	2.3	–	6.5	–	–	–	16.6
NC Report	16.09.12	?	?	41.0	27.7	11.7	–	–	–	–	–	–	13.3
NC Report	09.09.12	?	?	39.5	27.3	10.9	–	–	–	–	–	–	12.2
Sondaxe	31-08-12–05.09.12	1,700	55.8%	43.4	26.4	11.5	–	–	6.1	–	–	–	17.0
NC Report	28.08.12–01.09.12	592	54.9%	40.6	28.4	11.9	4.1	4.4	–	5.0	3.1	–	12.2
Sondaxe	12.04.12–14.04.12	1,700	54.6%	46.1	26.9	13.3	–	2.9	–	–	–	–	19.2
General Election	20.11.11	N/A	62.2%	52.5	27.8	11.2	1.2	4.1	—	—	—	—	24.7
Municipal Elections	22.05.11	N/A	69.5%	44.9	26.0	16.5	—	1.9	—	—	—	—	18.9
Sondaxe	14.02.11–23.02.11	3,600	65.3%	48.8	25.9	15.1	–	–	–	–	–	–	22.9
Sondaxe	18.11.10–30.11.10	3,600	68.8%	48.7	27.1	14.9	–	–	–	–	–	–	21.6
Sondaxe	19.01.10–27.01.10	1,200	69.6%	47.9	26.6	14.6	–	–	–	–	–	–	21.3
EP Election	07.06.09	N/A	43.3%	50.0	35.3	9.1	1.2	1.3	—	—	—	—	14.7

Regional Election	01.03.09	N/A	64.4%	46.7	31.0	16.0	1.4	1.0	—	—	—	—	15.7

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. 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Galicia.

Color key:

Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls Exit poll

Polling firm/Link	Fieldwork/ publication date
Polling firm/Link	Fieldwork/ publication date

Regional Election	21.10.12	41	18	7	0	—	9	—	0	0

Ipsos-Eco Consulting	21.10.12	39/42	18/20	7/8	0	–	8/10	–	0	0
Sondaxe	16-10-12–19.10.12	39	20	8	0	–	8	–	0	0
Sondaxe	15-10-12–18.10.12	40	20	8	0	–	7	–	0	0
Sondaxe	14-10-12–17.10.12	41	20	8	0	–	6	–	0	0
Sondaxe	13-10-12–16.10.12	40	21	9	0	–	5	–	0	0
ASCA	15.10.12	44	16/17	8/9	0	–	5/6	–	0	0
Infortécnica	15.10.12	36/38	20/22	12/14	0	–	2/4	–	0/1	0/1
PP	15.10.12	37	23	11	0	–	2	–	0	2
Sondaxe	12-10-12–15.10.12	40	21	9	0	–	5	–	0	0
Ipsos	14.10.12	37/41	22/24	9/11	0	–	3/4	–	0	0
Sondaxe	11-10-12–14.10.12	40	21	9	0	–	5	–	0	0
Sondaxe	10-10-12–13.10.12	39	21	10	0	–	5	–	0	0
NC Report	01-10-12–13.10.12	38/39	23	11	0	–	2/3	–	0	0
Sondaxe	09-10-12–12.10.12	39	21	10	0	–	5	–	0	0
Sondaxe	08-10-12–11.10.12	41	21	9	0	–	4	–	0	0
Sigma Dos	08-10-12–11.10.12	41/44	17/19	9	0	–	5/6	–	0	0
Sondaxe	07-10-12–10.10.12	40	21	9	0	–	5	–	0	0
My Word	03-10-12–10.10.12	37/38	19/20	11/12	0	–	6/7	–	0	0
Sondaxe	06-10-12–09.10.12	40	22	10	0	–	3	–	0	0
Sondaxe	05-10-12–08.10.12	41	20	11	0	–	3	–	0	0
Sondaxe	04-10-12–07.10.12	39	21	11	0	–	4	–	0	0
PSdeG	06.10.12	37	23	9/10	0	–	5/6	–	0	0
Sondaxe	03-10-12–06.10.12	39	23	12	0	–	1	–	0	0
Sondaxe	02-10-12–05.10.12	39	22	12	0	–	2	–	0	0
DYM	01-10-12–04.10.12	40/41	18/19	8	0	–	7	–	1	0
PSdeG	03.10.12	37	25	9/10	0	–	3/4	–	0	0
CIS	08-09-12–25.09.12	38	23/24	12/13	0	–	1	–	0	0
NC Report	23.09.12	37/39	23/25	7/8	0/2	–	2/4	–	1/2	0
Low Cost	17-09-12–23.09.12	39/41	24	8/9	0	–	3/4	–	0	0
NC Report	16.09.12	36/38	24/26	9/10	0/1	–	3	–	0	0
NC Report	09.09.12	35/37	24/26	9/10	0/2	–	3	–	0	0
Sondaxe	31-08-12–05.09.12	39	24	9	0	–	3	–	0	0
NC Report	28.08.12–01.09.12	34/37	24/25	10	0/2	1/2	–	2	0	–
ASCA	02.07.12	35/36	23/24	7	0/1	1/2	–	7		–
ASCA	10.05.12	36/38	23	7	0/1	0/1	–	7		–
Sondaxe	12.04.12–14.04.12	41	24	10	0	0	–	–	–	–
General Election	20.11.11	(44)	(23)	(8)	(0)	(0)	—	—	—	—
Sondaxe	14.02.11–23.02.11	42	21/22	11/12	0	0	–	–	–	–
Sondaxe	18.11.10–30.11.10	40	23	12	0	0	–	–	–	–
Sondaxe	19.01.10–27.01.10	40	23	12	0	0	–	–	–	–
EP Election	07.06.09	(42)	(27)	(6)	(0)	(0)	—	—	—	—

Regional Election	01.03.09	38	25	12	0	0	—	—	—	—

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 21 October 2012 Parliament of Galicia election results →
Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats

Parties and coalitions		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	661,281	45.80	–0.88	41	+3
	Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG–PSOE)	297,584	20.61	–10.41	18	–7
	Galician Left Alternative (United Left–Anova) (AGE)¹	200,828	13.91	+12.94	9	+9
	Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG)	146,027	10.11	–5.90	7	–5
	Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)	21,335	1.48	+0.07	0	±0
	Blank Seats (EB)	17,141	1.19	New	0	±0
	Civil Society and Democracy (SCD)	15,990	1.11	New	0	±0
	Commitment to Galicia (CxG)²	14,586	1.01	–0.10	0	±0

Parties with less than 1.0% of the vote		30,628	2.12	—	±0
	Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)	8,041	0.56	New	±0
	Ourensan Democracy (DO)	4,245	0.29	+0.23	±0
	Land Party (PT)	3,131	0.22	New	±0
	Communists of Galicia (PCPE–CdG)	1,664	0.12	New	±0
	Communist Unification of Spain (UCE)	1,556	0.11	New	±0
	Pirates of Galicia (Pirata.gal)	1,551	0.11	New	±0
	Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL)	1,455	0.10	New	±0
	Spanish Falange of the JONS (FE–JONS)	1,352	0.09	+0.05	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	1,340	0.09	+0.02	±0
	For a Fairer World (PUM+J)	1,329	0.09	–0.12	±0
	Corunese Union (UC)	1,172	0.08	New	±0
	XXI Convergence (C.XXI)	1,072	0.07	New	±0
	Hartos.org (Hartos.org)	868	0.06	New	±0
	Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn)	489	0.03	+0.01	±0
	Let us Give the Change (DeC)	432	0.03	New	±0
	Social Democratic Party of Law (SDD)	412	0.03	+0.01	±0
	Centre Democratic Action of Galicia (ADCG)	360	0.02	New	±0
	Community Integration Party (PYC)	159	0.01	New	±0

Blank ballots

38,448

2.66

+1.00

Total

1,443,848

100.00

±0

Valid votes

1,443,848

97.47

–1.64

Invalid votes

37,531

2.53

+1.64

Votes cast / turnout

1,481,379

54.91

–9.52

Abstentions

1,216,338

45.09

+9.52

Registered voters

2,697,717

Source(s): Argos Information Portal, historiaelectoral.com

Notes:
¹ Galician Left Alternative results are compared to United Left totals in the 2012 election. ² Commitment to Galicia results are compared to Terra Galega totals in the 2012 election.

Popular vote

PP			45.80%
PSdeG–PSOE			20.61%
AGE			13.91%
BNG			10.11%
UPyD			1.48%
EB			1.19%
SCD			1.11%
CxG			1.01%
Others			2.12%
Blank ballots			2.66%

Seats

PP			54.67%
PSdeG–PSOE			24.00%
AGE			12.00%
BNG			9.33%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PP		PSdeG		AGE		BNG

	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
A Coruña	45.4	13	18.8	5	16.6	4	9.6	2
Lugo	51.5	9	22.7	4	10.3	1	8.7	1
Ourense	49.2	8	23.7	4	7.8	1	8.5	1
Pontevedra	42.8	11	20.8	5	14.4	3	11.9	3
Total	45.8	41	20.6	18	13.9	9	10.1	7

Aftermath

Investiture vote

First round: 29 November 2012
Absolute majority (38/75) required
Candidate: Alberto Núñez Feijoo
Choice		Vote
Choice		Parties	Votes
	YYes	PP (41)	41 / 75
	No	PSdeG–PSOE (18), AGE (9), BNG (7)	34 / 75
	Abstentions		0 / 75
Source: historiaelectoral.com

References

↑ "The harshest adjustment of democracy" (in Spanish). El País. 2012-07-11.
↑ "Rajoy raises VAT 3 points, from 18% to 21%" (in Spanish). El País. 2012-07-11.
↑ "Feijóo forces a legal change in order to preserve his absolute majority" (in Spanish). El País. 2012-07-24.
↑ "Basagoiti terminates the agreement with Patxi López and calls for a snap elections in the Basque Country" (in Spanish). RTVE. 2012-05-07.
↑ "Feijóo brings forward the Galician election for it to coincide with the Basque election" (in Spanish). El Mundo. 2012-08-27.
1 2 3 Statute of Autonomy for Galicia of 1981, Organic Law No. 1 of April 6, 1981 Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved on 8 August 2017.
↑ Reig Pellicer, Naiara (16 December 2015). "Spanish elections: Begging for the right to vote". cafebabel.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
↑ "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
1 2 3 Parliament of Galicia Elections Law of 1985, Law No. 2 of August 13, 1985 Official Journal of Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved on 8 August 2017.
↑ General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985, Organic Law No. 5 of June 19, 1985 Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved on 28 December 2016.
↑ "Representation of the people Institutional Act". juntaelectoralcentral.es. Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
↑ Xunta and President Law of 1983, Law No. 1 of February 22, 1983 Official Journal of Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved on 8 August 2017.

Elections and referendums in Galicia
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Regional elections in Spain in the 2010s
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