1987 Aragonese regional election

The 1987 Aragonese regional election was held on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 2nd Cortes of the autonomous community of Aragon. All 67 seats in the Cortes were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in 12 other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1987 European Parliament election.

1987 Aragonese regional election

10 June 1987
All 67 seats in the Cortes of Aragon 34 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	928,584 1.0%
Turnout	647,257 (69.7%) 3.0 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Santiago Marraco Hipólito Gómez de las Roces Ángel Cristóbal Party PSOE PAR AP Leader since November 1979 December 1977 1987 Leader's seat Zaragoza Zaragoza Zaragoza Last election 33 seats, 46.8% 13 seats, 20.5% 18 seats, 22.6%[lower-alpha 1] Seats won 27 19 13 Seat change 6 6 5 Popular vote 228,170 179,922 99,082 Percentage 35.7% 28.1% 15.5% Swing 11.1 pp 7.6 pp 7.1 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader José Luis Merino Antonio de las Casas Party CDS CAA–IU Leader since 1983 1987 Leader's seat Zaragoza Zaragoza Last election 1 seat, 3.3% 1 seat, 4.0%[lower-alpha 2] Seats won 6 2 Seat change 5 1 Popular vote 65,406 31,352 Percentage 10.2% 4.9% Swing 6.9 pp 0.9 pp
Constituency results map for the Cortes of Aragon
President before election Santiago Marraco PSOE Elected President Hipólito Gómez de las Roces PAR

The main two national parties, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the People's Alliance (AP) lost support compared to the previous election. The latter had suffered from an internal crisis and the breakup of the People's Coalition in 1986, losing 30% of its 1983 vote and finishing third as a result. The main election winners were the Regionalist Aragonese Party (PAR), which came a strong second, and the centrist Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), a party led by the former Spanish Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez. United Left made a small advance of 0.9 percentage points and 1 seat, not being able to capitalize on the PSOE's losses.

The PSOE 27 seats compared to the centre-right 32 (38 if the CDS is counted in) meant that the Socialist Santiago Marraco was not re-elected as President of Aragon. Instead, Hipólito Gómez de las Roces from the PAR was elected President as head of a PAR administration with the support of the AP and the abstention of the CDS. In March 1989 the People's Alliance entered the government through a coalition for the remainder of the legislature, with AP members being appointed ministers in the regional administration.

Overview

Electoral system

The Cortes of Aragon were the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Aragon, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Aragonese Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Government.[1] Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in Aragon and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 67 members of the Cortes of Aragon were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 3 percent 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, depending on the district magnitude.[2] Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Huesca, Teruel and Zaragoza. Each constituency was entitled to an initial minimum of 13 seats, with the remaining 28 allocated among the constituencies in proportion to their populations on the condition that the seat to population ratio in the most populated province did not exceed 2.75 times that of the least populated one.[1][3]

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 the signature of at least 1 percent of the electors registered in the constituency for which they sought 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 of the election being called.[3][4][5]

Election date

The term of the Cortes of Aragon expired four years after the date of their previous election. The election Decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of Aragon, with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. The previous election was held on 8 May 1983, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 8 May 1987. The election Decree was required to be published no later than 14 April 1987, with the election taking place no later than the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Cortes on Saturday, 13 June 1987.[1][3][4][5]

The Cortes of Aragon could not be dissolved before the date of expiry of parliament except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot. In such a case, the Cortes were to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.[1]

Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are 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. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 34 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Aragon.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout								Lead
1987 regional election	10 Jun 1987	N/A	69.7	35.7 27	–	28.1 19	4.9 2	10.2 6	15.5 13	1.2 0	7.6
Demoscopia/El País[p 1]	22–26 May 1987	?	64	28.5 18/19	–	32.7 25/26	4.7 2	11.7 7	15.5 14	1.9 0	4.2
1986 general election	22 Jun 1986	N/A	70.6	43.4 31	26.1 20	11.0 7	3.4 1	11.2 7	[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 3]	17.3
1983 regional election	8 May 1983	N/A	66.7	46.8 33	22.6 18	20.5 13	4.0[lower-alpha 4] 1	3.3 1	[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 3]	24.2

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 10 June 1987 Cortes of Aragon election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	228,170	35.68	–11.15	27	–6
	Regionalist Aragonese Party (PAR)	179,922	28.14	+7.63	19	+6
	People's Alliance (AP)^1	99,082	15.49	–7.14	13	–5
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	65,406	10.23	+6.94	6	+5
	Aragon Alternative Convergence–United Left (CAA–IU)^2	31,352	4.90	+0.94	2	+1
	Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE–UC)	8,435	1.32	New	0	±0
	People's Democratic Party (PDP)	7,887	1.23	New	0	±0
	Aragonese Union (UA–CHA)	6,154	0.96	New	0	±0
	Humanist Platform (PH)	2,439	0.38	New	0	±0
	Republican Popular Unity (UPR)	1,435	0.22	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		9,186	1.44	+0.79
Total		639,468			67	+1
Valid votes		639,468	98.80	+0.22
Invalid votes		7,789	1.20	–0.22
Votes cast / turnout		647,257	69.70	+2.96
Abstentions		281,327	30.30	–2.96
Registered voters		928,584
Sources[6][7][8]

Popular vote PSOE   35.68% PAR   28.14% AP   15.49% CDS   10.23% CAA–IU   4.90% PTE–UC   1.32% PDP   1.23% Others   1.57% Blank ballots   1.44%

Seats PSOE   40.30% PAR   28.36% AP   19.40% CDS   8.96% CAA–IU   2.99%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PSOE		PAR		AP		CDS		CAA–IU
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
Huesca	36.1	7	25.2	5	15.2	3	11.9	2	5.2	1
Teruel	35.8	7	17.7	3	27.3	5	10.2	1	2.9	−
Zaragoza	35.5	13	30.9	11	13.3	5	9.8	3	5.2	1
Total	35.7	27	28.1	19	15.5	13	10.2	6	4.9	2
Sources[6][7][8]

Aftermath

Investiture Hipólito Gómez de las Roces (PAR)
Ballot →		21 July 1987	23 July 1987
Required majority →		34 out of 67 N	Simple Y
	Yes • PAR (19) • AP (13)	32 / 67	32 / 67
	No • PSOE (27) • CAA–IU (2)	29 / 67	29 / 67
	Abstentions • CDS (6)	6 / 67	6 / 67
	Absentees	0 / 67	0 / 67
Sources[8]

Notes

1. Data for AP–PDP–UL in the 1983 election.
2. Data for PCE in the 1983 election.
3. Within CP.
4. Result for PCE.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Las disputas socialistas pueden cambiar el panorama regional y municipal" (PDF). El País (in Spanish). 4 June 1987.

Other

1. "Statute of Autonomy of Aragon of 1982". Organic Law No. 8 of 10 August 1982. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 September 2017.
2. Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
3. "Autonomous Community of Aragon Electoral Law of 1987". Law No. 2 of 12 February 1987. Official Gazette of Aragon (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 September 2017.
4. "General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
5. "Representation of the people Institutional Act". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es. Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
6. "Cortes of Aragon election results, 10 June 1987" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Aragon. 5 August 1987. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
7. "Number 75. Audit report on the regularity of electoral accounting derived from the elections held on June 10, 1987" (PDF). tcu.es (in Spanish). Court of Auditors. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
8. "Cortes of Aragon elections since 1983". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 26 September 2017.