1991 Canarian regional election

The 1991 Canarian regional election was held on Sunday, 26 May 1991, to elect the 3rd Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. All 60 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

1991 Canarian regional election

26 May 1991
All 60 seats in the Parliament of the Canary Islands 31 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	1,136,767 13.4%
Turnout	700,541 (61.6%) 5.9 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jerónimo Saavedra Manuel Hermoso Lorenzo Olarte Party PSOE AIC CDS Leader since 1977 1991 1983 Leader's seat Gran Canaria Tenerife Gran Canaria Last election 21 seats, 27.8% 11 seats, 20.1% 13 seats, 19.5% Seats won 23 16 7 Seat change 2 5 6 Popular vote 229,692 157,859 100,197 Percentage 33.0% 22.7% 14.4% Swing 5.2 pp 2.6 pp 5.1 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Fernando Fernández Martín Antonio Fernández Viéitez Miguel Cabrera Cabrera Party PP ICAN AM Leader since 1991 1991 1983 Leader's seat Tenerife Gran Canaria Fuerteventura Last election 6 seats, 13.2%[lower-alpha 1] 4 seats, 13.2%[lower-alpha 2] 3 seats, 0.8% Seats won 6 5 2 Seat change 0 12 1 Popular vote 89,251 85,015 4,906 Percentage 12.8% 12.2% 0.7% Swing 0.4 pp 1.0 pp 0.1 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of the Canary Islands
President before election Lorenzo Olarte CDS Elected President Jerónimo Saavedra PSOE

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of the Canary Islands was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Canarian 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 Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in the Canary Islands and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 60 members of the Parliament of the Canary Islands were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 20 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. Alternatively, parties could also enter the seat distribution as long as they reached 3 percent regionally. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the islands of El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma, Lanzarote and Tenerife. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of seats: 3 for El Hierro, 7 for Fuerteventura, 15 for Gran Canaria, 4 for La Gomera, 8 for La Palma, 8 for Lanzarote and 15 for Tenerife.[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 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.[2][3][4]

Election date

The term of the Parliament of the Canary Islands expired four years after the date of its previous election. Legal amendments earlier in 1991 established that elections to the Parliament were to be fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 10 June 1987, setting the election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 26 May 1991.[1][2][3][4]

The Parliament of the Canary Islands 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 Parliament was 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. 31 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of the Canary Islands.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout					AC			AM			ICAN	Lead
1991 regional election	26 May 1991	N/A	61.6	33.0 23	22.7 16	14.4 7	[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 4]	[lower-alpha 4]	[lower-alpha 3]	0.7 2	0.2 1	12.8 6	12.2 5	10.3
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 1][p 2]	18 May 1991	?	?	27.7 19/20	20.8 12/13	16.3 10/11	[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 4]	[lower-alpha 4]	[lower-alpha 3]	–	0.2 2	14.0 7/8	13.7 8/9	6.9
Metra Seis/El Independiente[p 1][p 2]	12 May 1991	?	?	32.0 19/20	21.7 15/17	14.8 10/11	[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 4]	[lower-alpha 4]	[lower-alpha 3]	–	–	14.7 7/8	13.5 6/8	10.3
Demoscopia/El País[p 1][p 2][p 3][p 4]	4–7 May 1991	600	?	31.4 24	21.6 12	15.2 7/8	[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 4]	[lower-alpha 4]	[lower-alpha 3]	0.4 2	0.1 2	20.2 8/10	11.1 4	9.8
1989 general election	29 Oct 1989	N/A	62.1	36.1	9.7	17.6	[lower-alpha 3]	3.2	8.0	[lower-alpha 3]	–	–	19.4	–	16.7
1989 EP election	15 Jun 1989	N/A	49.5	34.9	11.1	16.2	[lower-alpha 3]	3.2	5.3	[lower-alpha 3]	–	–	16.6	–	18.3
1987 regional election	10 Jun 1987	N/A	67.4	27.8 21	20.1 11	19.5 13	11.2 6	6.9 2	6.1 2	2.0 0	0.8 3	0.2 2	–	–	7.7

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 26 May 1991 Parliament of the Canary Islands election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	229,692	33.03	+5.26	23	+2
	Canarian Independent Groups (AIC)	157,859	22.70	+2.57	16	+5
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	100,197	14.41	–5.07	7	–6
	People's Party (PP)^1	89,251	12.83	–0.33	6	±0
	Canarian Initiative (ICAN)^2	85,015	12.22	–0.98	5	+1
	Canarian Nationalist Party (PNC)	7,845	1.13	New	0	±0
	Majorera Assembly (AM)	4,906	0.71	–0.10	2	–1
	Canarian Coalition for Independence (CI (FREPIC–Awañac))	4,090	0.59	+0.43	0	±0
	Workers' Socialist Party (PST)	2,298	0.33	+0.02	0	±0
	The Greens (LV)	2,198	0.32	New	0	±0
	Independent Herrenian Group (AHI)	1,485	0.21	±0.00	1	–1
	Party of The People (LG)	1,484	0.21	New	0	±0
	Left Platform (PCE (m–l)–CRPE)	1,093	0.16	New	0	±0
	The Greens Ecologist–Humanist List (LVLE–H)^3	1,092	0.16	–0.01	0	±0
	Insular Group of Gran Canaria (AIGRANC)	962	0.14	New	0	±0
	Assembly (Tagoror)	671	0.10	+0.01	0	±0
Blank ballots		5,323	0.77	+0.12
Total		695,461			60	±0
Valid votes		695,461	99.27	+0.43
Invalid votes		5,080	0.73	–0.43
Votes cast / turnout		700,541	61.63	–5.86
Abstentions		436,226	38.37	+5.86
Registered voters		1,136,767
Sources[5][6]

Popular vote PSOE   33.03% AIC   22.70% CDS   14.41% PP   12.83% ICAN   12.22% PNC   1.13% AM   0.71% AHI   0.21% Others   2.00% Blank ballots   0.77%

Seats PSOE   38.33% AIC   26.67% CDS   11.67% PP   10.00% ICAN   8.33% AM   3.33% AHI   1.67%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PSOE		AIC		CDS		PP		ICAN		AM		AHI
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
El Hierro	30.8	1					24.5	1	9.4	−			34.9	1
Fuerteventura	25.1	2	23.2	2	17.8	1	5.5	−			27.6	2
Gran Canaria	32.2	5	4.6	−	23.8	4	16.6	3	17.8	3
La Gomera	54.9	3			33.7	1	3.7	−	6.9	−
La Palma	33.8	3	29.2	3	7.4	−	18.5	1	10.5	1
Lanzarote	32.3	3	44.5	4	10.6	1	4.4	−	3.8	−
Tenerife	33.7	6	40.8	7	4.6	−	9.3	1	8.2	1
Total	33.0	23	22.7	16	14.4	7	12.8	6	12.2	5	0.7	2	0.2	1

Notes

1. Aggregated data for AP and PDP–CC in the 1987 election.
2. Aggregated data for AC–INC, ICU and UNI in the 1987 election.
3. Within PP.
4. Within ICAN.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Seis comunidades dependen de pactos". ABC (in Spanish). 20 May 1991.
2. "Las elecciones de 26-5-91". CEPC (in Spanish). August 1991.
3. "Huida desde el centro". El País (in Spanish). 19 May 1991.
4. "Ficha técnica". El País (in Spanish). 19 May 1991.

Other

1. "Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands of 1982". Organic Law No. 10 of 10 August 1982. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 September 2017.
2. "Electoral Matters Urgent Measures Law of 1987". Law No. 3 of 3 April 1987. Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 September 2017.
3. "General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
4. "Representation of the people Institutional Act". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es. Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
5. "Electoral Information System in the Canary Islands". www.gobiernodecanarias.org (in Spanish). Canarian Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
6. "Parliament of the Canary Islands elections since 1983". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 30 September 2017.