2003 Seville City Council election

The 2003 Seville City Council election, also the 2003 Seville municipal election, was held on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 7th City Council of the municipality of Seville. All 33 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

2003 Seville City Council election

25 May 2003
All 33 seats in the City Council of Seville 17 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	581,939 0.7%
Turnout	340,726 (58.6%) 2.1 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín Jaime Raynaud José Núñez Party PSOE–A PP PA Leader since 27 June 1998 24 September 2002 29 August 1986 Last election 12 seats, 35.4%[lower-alpha 1] 13 seats, 35.8% 6 seats, 17.6% Seats won 14 12 4 Seat change 2 1 2 Popular vote 130,958 119,395 41,805 Percentage 38.2% 35.2% 12.3% Swing 3.4 pp 0.6 pp 5.3 pp   Fourth party   Leader Paula Garvín Party IULV–CA Leader since 30 October 2002 Last election 2 seats, 7.8% Seats won 3 Seat change 1 Popular vote 30,443 Percentage 9.0% Swing 1.2 pp
Mayor before election Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín PSOE–A Elected Mayor Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín PSOE–A

Electoral system

The City Council of Seville (Spanish: Ayuntamiento de Sevilla) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Seville, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly.[1] Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years.[2]

Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in the municipality of Seville and in full enjoyment of their political rights, as well as resident non-national European citizens and those whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty. Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each local council. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution.[1][2] Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:

Population	Councillors
<250	5
251–1,000	7
1,001–2,000	9
2,001–5,000	11
5,001–10,000	13
10,001–20,000	17
20,001–50,000	21
50,001–100,000	25
>100,001	+1 per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction +1 if total is an even number

The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, a toss-up would determine the appointee.[1]

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of a determined amount of the electors registered in the municipality for which they were seeking election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. For the case of Seville, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 signatures were required.[2]

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. 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Seville.

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				IULV	Lead
2003 municipal election	25 May 2003	N/A	58.6	35.2 12	38.6 14	12.3 4	9.0 3	3.4
Sigma Dos/Antena 3[p 1]	25 May 2003	?	?	? 12	? 13	? 5	? 3	?
Ipsos–Eco/RTVE[p 2]	25 May 2003	?	?	? 11/12	? 14/15	–	–	?
Demoscopia/Tele 5[p 3][p 4]	25 May 2003	?	?	? 12	? 13	? 5	? 3	?
Opina/El País[p 5][p 6]	19 May 2003	?	?	35.0 12	38.0 14	14.0 5	7.0 2	3.0
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 7]	8–13 May 2003	400	?	31.4 11	41.3 14/15	16.4 5/6	7.5 2	9.9
Vox Pública/El Periódico[p 8]	9 May 2003	?	?	32.0– 33.0 11/12	35.5– 36.5 12/13	18.5– 19.5 6/7	7.0– 8.0 2	3.5
Ipsos–Eco/ABC[p 9]	28 Apr 2003	?	?	30.4 10/11	33.2 11/12	23.5 8	9.3 2/3	2.8
CIS[p 10][p 11]	22 Mar–28 Apr 2003	549	60.4	31.4 11	41.7 14	14.8 5	8.9 3	10.3
Opina/CES[p 12]	8–9 Apr 2003	800	55–60	32.0 11	39.0 13/14	? 5/6	? 3	7.0
Idea Consultores/PP[p 13][p 14]	20–23 Jan 2003	800	?	? 13/14	? 11/12	? 6	? 3	?
PSOE[p 15]	9–15 Dec 2002	813	?	34.0– 36.0 11/12	44.0– 46.0 15	13.0– 14.0 4/5	6.0– 7.0 2	10.0
Ipsos–Eco/ABC[p 16]	3–5 Dec 2002	502	?	32.9 11/12	35.7 12/13	19.5 7	6.8 2	2.8
Demoscopia/PP[p 17][p 18]	6 Jun 2002	?	?	? 14/15	? 12/13	? 3/4	? 2	?
Opina/CES[p 19][p 20]	27–29 May 2002	800	?	38.4 13	38.7 14	13.4 4	7.5 2	0.3
Inner Line/PSOE[p 21]	30 Apr–5 May 2002	800	?	35.0	40.0	14.0	8.0	5.0
Metra Seis/PA[p 22]	13–20 Mar 2001	600	?	? 12	? 12	? 7	? 2	Tie
2000 regional election[3]	12 Mar 2000	N/A	68.4	39.0 13	43.3 15	7.3 2	7.5 3	4.3
2000 general election[4]	12 Mar 2000	N/A	68.4	41.5 15	43.2 15	4.8 0	7.1 3	1.7
1999 municipal election	13 Jun 1999	N/A	56.5	35.8 13	35.2 12	17.6 6	7.8 2	0.6

Results

← Summary of the 25 May 2003 City Council of Seville election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia (PSOE–A)^1	130,958	38.60	+3.21	14	+2
	People's Party (PP)	119,395	35.20	–0.65	12	–1
	Andalusian Party (PA)	41,805	12.32	–5.32	4	–2
	United Left/The Greens–Assembly for Andalusia (IULV–CA)	30,443	8.97	+1.20	3	+1
	The Greens of Andalusia (LVA)^2	4,535	1.34	+0.55	0	±0
	Socialist Party of Andalusia–Andalusian Left (PSA–IA)	1,823	0.54	New	0	±0
	Group of Independent Citizens (GCI)	1,056	0.31	New	0	±0
	Independent Spanish Phalanx–Phalanx 2000 (FEI–FE 2000)	309	0.09	+0.05	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	296	0.09	+0.03	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	217	0.06	–0.01	0	±0
Blank ballots		8,395	2.47	+0.29
Total		339,232			33	±0
Valid votes		339,232	99.56	+0.07
Invalid votes		1,494	0.44	–0.07
Votes cast / turnout		340,726	58.55	+2.06
Abstentions		241,213	41.45	–2.06
Registered voters		581,939
Sources[5][6][7]

Popular vote PSOE–A   38.60% PP   35.20% PA   12.32% IULV–CA   8.97% LVA   1.34% Others   1.09% Blank ballots   2.47%

Seats PSOE–A   42.42% PP   36.36% PA   12.12% IULV–CA   9.09%

Notes

1. Aggregated data for PSOE–A and PDNI–A in the 1999 election.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "El sondeo de Sigma Dos determina una lucha codo a codo entre populares y socialistas en Madrid". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 25 May 2003. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019.
2. "Sondeo a pie de urna de Ipsos Eco Consulting para TVE". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 25 May 2003. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019.
3. "El sondeo de Demoscopia da mayoría al PP en Madrid capital, Valencia y Málaga". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 25 May 2003.
4. "Los sondeos pronostican una importante subida de los partidos de izquierda en toda España". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 25 May 2003.
5. "El Partido Andalucista decidirá la alcaldía de Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). 19 May 2003.
6. "La 'batalla' de Madrid, la más reñida en los comicios del 25-M". El Mundo (in Spanish). 20 May 2003.
7. "Una alianza PP-PSOE podría gobernar las tres capitales de provincia del País Vasco". El Mundo (in Spanish). 17 May 2003. (subscription required)
8. "El PSOE y el PA podrán repetir su pacto en Sevilla". Diario de Córdoba (in Spanish). 9 May 2003.
9. "El PA se consolida en Sevilla como llave de la gobernabilidad tras el descenso de PSOE y PP". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 28 April 2003.
10. "Preelectoral elecciones municipales 2003. Sevilla (Estudio nº 2503. Marzo-Abril 2003)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). May 2003.
11. "Los candidatos reaccionan con cautela frente a las últimas encuestas antes del 25-M". El País (in Spanish). 19 May 2003.
12. "Un sondeo de la patronal da al PSOE entre uno y dos ediles más en Sevilla que en 1999". El País (in Spanish). 26 April 2003.
13. "Raynaud es el candidato a la Alcaldía mejor valorado por los sevillanos, según una encuesta del PP". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 14 February 2003.
14. "Una encuesta del PP le da hasta tres ediles más que al PSOE en Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). 15 February 2003.
15. "Un sondeo del PSOE para las municipales otorga a los socialistas quince concejales". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 23 January 2003.
16. "El descenso del PP permite al PSOE colocarse como la fuerza más votada en la ciudad". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 20 December 2002.
17. "El PP pregunta en un sondeo por la popularidad de Gómez y Raynaud". El País (in Spanish). 3 May 2002.
18. "El PP opta por Jaime Raynaud como candidato a la Alcaldía de Sevilla". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 6 June 2002.
19. "Un sondeo de la patronal sevillana prevé la victoria del PSOE en las municipales". El País (in Spanish). 15 June 2002.
20. "Una encuesta de la CES suspende al alcalde, pero lo sitúa como ganador de las elecciones". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 15 June 2002.
21. "El desafío de ganar en Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). 13 October 2002.
22. "El 83 por cien de los sevillanos pide una "renovación profunda" del Gobierno municipal y la oposición". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 18 April 2001.

Other

1. "Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local". Law No. 7 of 2 April 1985. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 June 2020.
2. "Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2020.
3. "Electoral Information System. Parliament of Andalusia. March 2000. Seville Municipality". juntadeandalucia.es (in Spanish). Government of Andalusia. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
4. "Electoral Results Consultation. Congress. March 2000. Seville Municipality". www.infoelectoral.mir.es (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
5. "Local election results, 25 May 2003" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
6. "Electoral Results Consultation. Municipal. May 2003. Seville Municipality". www.infoelectoral.mir.es (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
7. "Municipal elections in Seville since 1979". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 30 September 2017.