1995 Castilian-Leonese regional election

The 1995 Castilian-Leonese regional election was held on Sunday, 28 May 1995, to elect the 4th Cortes of the autonomous community of Castile and León. All 84 seats in the Cortes were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

1995 Castilian-Leonese regional election

28 May 1995
All 84 seats in the Cortes of Castile and León 43 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	2,119,498 2.4%
Turnout	1,556,975 (73.5%) 5.9 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Juan José Lucas Jesús Quijano José Antonio Herreros Party PP PSOE IU Leader since 12 December 1990 26 May 1990 1991 Leader's seat Valladolid Valladolid Valladolid Last election 43 seats, 43.5% 35 seats, 36.4% 1 seat, 5.4% Seats won 50 27 5 Seat change 7 8 4 Popular vote 805,553 458,447 147,777 Percentage 52.2% 29.7% 9.6% Swing 8.7 pp 6.7 pp 4.2 pp   Fourth party   Leader Conchi Farto Party UPL Leader since 1995 Leader's seat León Last election 0 seats, 0.8% Seats won 2 Seat change 2 Popular vote 39,425 Percentage 2.6% Swing 1.8 pp
Constituency results map for the Cortes of Castile and León
President before election Juan José Lucas PP Elected President Juan José Lucas PP

Overview

Electoral system

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

All members of the Cortes of Castile and León 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 Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora. Each constituency was entitled to an initial minimum of three seats, being allocated one additional member per each 45,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 22,500.[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 Castile and León expired four years after the date of their previous election. Elections to the Cortes were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 26 May 1991, setting the election date for the Cortes on Sunday, 28 May 1995.[1][3][4][5]

The Cortes of Castile and León 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 procurators 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. 43 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castile and León.

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout					UPL	Lead
1995 regional election	28 May 1995	N/A	73.5	52.2 50	29.7 27	–	9.6 5	2.6 2	22.5
Eco Consulting/RTVE[p 1]	28 May 1995	?	?	51.9 49/53	28.6 24/27	–	10.5 5/6	? 1/2	23.3
Vox Pública–ODEC/Antena 3[p 1]	28 May 1995	?	?	? 43/47	? 23/27	–	–	–	?
Demoscopia/El País[p 2][p 3][p 4][p 5]	10–15 May 1995	1,600	?	54.0 54/55	27.1 21/22	2.1 0	10.9 7/9	–	26.9
CIS[p 6][p 7]	26 Apr–11 May 1995	3,001	64.8	57.6	28.2	1.3	9.2	–	29.4
1994 EP election	12 Jun 1994	N/A	62.0	53.7 54	28.8 25	1.8 0	11.0 5	–	24.9
Sigma Dos/Ical[p 8]	15 Dec 1993	?	?	51.8 47/50	32.1 29/32	1.5 0	10.1 5	–	19.7
1993 general election	6 Jun 1993	N/A	78.3	47.4 46	36.7 34	4.1 1	7.7 3	0.8 0	10.7
1991 regional election	26 May 1991	N/A	67.6	43.5 43	36.4 35	8.1 5	5.4 1	0.8 0	7.1

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 28 May 1995 Cortes of Castile and León election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	805,553	52.20	+8.69	50	+7
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	458,447	29.71	–6.73	27	–8
	United Left of Castile and León (IU)	147,777	9.58	+4.22	5	+4
	Leonese People's Union (UPL)	39,425	2.55	+1.72	2	+2
	Commoners' Land–Castilian Nationalist Party (TC–PNC)	9,494	0.62	+0.48	0	±0
	Independent Solution (SI)	9,107	0.59	New	0	±0
	Independent Group of Ávila (AIAV)	8,159	0.53	New	0	±0
	Party of El Bierzo (PB)	6,646	0.43	+0.11	0	±0
	Regionalist Unity of Castile and León (URCL)^1	6,318	0.41	–0.03	0	±0
	Platform of Independents of Spain (PIE)	4,630	0.30	New	0	±0
	People's Palentine Group (APP)	4,071	0.26	New	0	±0
	Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL)	3,744	0.24	+0.09	0	±0
	Independents for León (IPL)	3,290	0.21	New	0	±0
	Independent Candidacy of Valladolid (CIV)	2,148	0.14	New	0	±0
	The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV)	1,423	0.09	New	0	±0
	The Alternative Greens (LVA)	1,374	0.09	New	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	1,102	0.07	+0.01	0	±0
	Provincialist Party of El Bierzo (PPB)	909	0.06	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	746	0.05	–0.01	0	±0
	Sorian Progressive Union (US)	417	0.03	New	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	n/a	n/a	–8.14	0	–5
Blank ballots		28,284	1.83	+0.17
Total		1,543,064			84	±0
Valid votes		1,543,064	99.11	+0.04
Invalid votes		13,911	0.89	–0.04
Votes cast / turnout		1,556,975	73.46	+5.89
Abstentions		562,523	26.54	–5.89
Registered voters		2,119,498
Sources[6][7][8]

Popular vote PP   52.20% PSOE   29.71% IU   9.58% UPL   2.55% Others   4.12% Blank ballots   1.83%

Seats PP   59.52% PSOE   32.14% IU   5.95% UPL   2.38%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PP		PSOE		IU		UPL
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
Ávila	58.4	5	23.8	2	8.2	−
Burgos	52.8	7	24.9	3	12.7	1
León	45.1	7	30.4	5	6.7	1	12.7	2
Palencia	52.3	4	31.9	3	8.4	−
Salamanca	54.3	6	32.9	4	8.3	1
Segovia	56.7	4	26.5	2	10.5	−
Soria	59.2	4	28.3	1	8.2	−
Valladolid	51.1	8	30.7	4	13.6	2
Zamora	55.7	5	33.9	3	6.6	−
Total	52.2	50	29.7	27	9.6	5	2.6	2
Sources[6][7][8]

Aftermath

Investiture Juan José Lucas (PP)
Ballot →		4 July 1995
Required majority →		43 out of 84 Y
	Yes • PP (50)	50 / 84
	No • PSOE (26) • IU (5) • UPL (2)	33 / 84
	Abstentions	0 / 84
	Absentees • PSOE (1)	1 / 84
Sources[8]

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "El PP se impuso en diez comunidades". Diario de Navarra (in Spanish). 29 May 1995.
2. "El PP será la fuerza más votada en 12 comunidades". El País (in Spanish). 20 May 1995.
3. "Lucas supera la reválida con nota alta". El País (in Spanish). 20 May 1995.
4. "Mañana, previsiones para las municipales". El País (in Spanish). 20 May 1995.
5. "El PP gana en doce autonomías y el PSOE sólo en Extremadura, según un sondeo". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 21 May 1995.
6. "Preelectoral Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla y León (Estudio nº 2166. Abril-Mayo 1995)". CIS (in Spanish). 11 May 1995.
7. "Estudio CIS nº 2166. Ficha técnica" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 11 May 1995.
8. "El PP superaría hoy en unas elecciones autonómicas la barrera del 50 por ciento". ABC (in Spanish). 19 December 1993.

Other

1. "Statute of Autonomy of Castile and León of 1983". Organic Law No. 4 of 25 February 1983. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 September 2017.
2. Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
3. "Castile and León Electoral Law of 1987". Law No. 3 of 30 March 1987. Official Gazette of Castile and León (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 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. "Elections to the Cortes of Castile and León". servicios.jcyl.es (in Spanish). Junta of Castile and León. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
7. "Cortes of Castile and León election results, 28 May 1995" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Castile and León. 12 July 1995. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
8. "Cortes of Castile and León elections since 1983". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 24 September 2017.