2007 Riojan regional election

The 2007 Riojan regional election was held on Sunday, 27 May 2007, to elect the 7th Parliament of the autonomous community of La Rioja. All 33 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.

2007 Riojan regional election

27 May 2007
All 33 seats in the Parliament of La Rioja 17 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	237,745 1.8%
Turnout	174,257 (73.3%) 1.8 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Pedro Sanz Francisco Martínez-Aldama Miguel González de Legarra Party PP PSOE PR Leader since 2 October 1993 30 July 2000 16 December 1995 Last election 17 seats, 48.6% 14 seats, 38.2% 2 seats, 6.8% Seats won 17 14 2 Seat change 0 0 0 Popular vote 84,382 69,858 10,369 Percentage 48.8% 40.4% 6.0% Swing 0.2 pp 2.2 pp 0.8 pp
President before election Pedro Sanz PP Elected President Pedro Sanz PP

Overview

Electoral system

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

The 33 members of the Parliament of La Rioja were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5 percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution.[1][2]

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 La Rioja. 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 La Rioja expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Parliament were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 25 May 2003, setting the election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 27 May 2007.[1][2][3][4]

The President of the Autonomous Community had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of La Rioja and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election was due and some time requirements were met: namely, that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or within the legislature's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year has elapsed since a previous dissolution. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called. Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances would not alter the period to the next ordinary election, 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. 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of La Rioja.

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout			PR		Lead
2007 regional election	27 May 2007	N/A	73.3	48.8 17	40.4 14	6.0 2	3.1 0	8.4
Ipsos/RTVE–FORTA[p 1]	27 May 2007	?	?	? 16/18	? 13/15	? 1/2	–	?
Celeste-Tel/Terra[p 2][p 3]	9–15 May 2007	?	?	48.7 17/18	38.9 14	5.4 1/2	–	9.8
Olympus Consulting/Diario La Rioja[p 4]	3–15 May 2007	2,400	75	50.1 17/18	38.7 13/14	5.4 1/2	–	11.4
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 5][p 6]	27 Apr–8 May 2007	400	?	52.6 19/20	36.4 13	4.6 0/1	–	16.2
CIS[p 7][p 8]	9 Apr–6 May 2007	789	?	48.0 17	39.8 14	5.3 2	3.6 0	8.2
Sigma Dos/Ciudad21[p 9][p 10]	9–15 Mar 2007	1,000	?	50.7 18/19	37.2 13/14	5.3 1	3.5 0	13.5
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 11][p 12][p 13]	16–24 Nov 2006	?	?	49.5 18/19	38.1 14/15	4.7 0/1	–	11.4
Sigma Dos/Diario La Rioja[p 14]	18 Dec 2005	1,200	?	? 18	? 13	? 2	–	?
2004 EP election	13 Jun 2004	N/A	53.9	51.3 18	43.8 15	–	2.1 0	7.5
2004 general election	13 Mar 2004	N/A	79.5	49.9 18	44.0 15	–	2.8 0	5.9
2003 regional election	25 May 2003	N/A	75.1	48.6 17	38.2 14	6.8 2	2.7 0	10.4

Results

← Summary of the 27 May 2007 Parliament of La Rioja election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	84,382	48.81	+0.21	17	±0
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	69,858	40.41	+2.23	14	±0
	Riojan Party (PR)	10,369	6.00	+0.81	2	±0
	United Left–Citizen Initiative–The Greens (IZQ)^1	5,292	3.06	–1.30	0	±0
Blank ballots		2,977	1.72	–0.18
Total		172,878			33	±0
Valid votes		172,878	99.21	+0.04
Invalid votes		1,379	0.79	–0.04
Votes cast / turnout		174,257	73.30	–1.80
Abstentions		63,488	26.70	+1.80
Registered voters		237,745
Sources[5][6]

Popular vote PP   48.81% PSOE   40.41% PR   6.00% IZQ   3.06% Blank ballots   1.72%

Seats PP   51.51% PSOE   42.42% PR   6.06%

Aftermath

Investiture Pedro Sanz (PP)
Ballot →		27 June 2007
Required majority →		17 out of 33 Y
	Yes • PP (17)	17 / 33
	No • PSOE (14)	14 / 33
	Abstentions • PR (2)	2 / 33
	Absentees	0 / 33
Sources[6]

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Sólo Navarra y Baleares podrían cambiar de gobierno, según el sondeo de RTVE y FORTA". Europa Press (in Spanish). 27 May 2007.
2. "Vuelco electoral en Navarra, Baleares y Canarias y aplastante victoria del PP en Madrid". Terra (in Spanish). 17 May 2007. Archived from the original on 20 May 2007.
3. "Encuestas autonómicas". Celeste-Tel (in Spanish). 17 May 2007. Archived from the original on 11 May 2009.
4. "El PP se perfila como ganador de nuevo por mayoría absoluta en las elecciones autonómicas". Diario La Rioja (in Spanish). 21 May 2007. Archived from the original on 24 June 2007.
5. "Sondeo de Sigma Dos: El PP renovaría siete autonomías y podría perder dos". El Mundo (in Spanish). 12 May 2007.
6. "Elecciones 27-M / Sondeo El Mundo-Sigma Dos". El Mundo (in Spanish). 12 May 2007.
7. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas, 2007. CA de la Rioja (Estudio nº 2699. Abril-Mayo 2007)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 11 May 2007.
8. "La aritmética juega en contra del PSOE sólo en las islas Canarias". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 12 May 2007.
9. "El PP reforzaría su mayoría absoluta en el Parlamento riojano, según un sondeo". Diario La Rioja (in Spanish). 1 April 2007.
10. "Sanz ampliará su mayoría en La Rioja, según la última encuesta electoral". ABC (in Spanish). 10 April 2007.
11. "El PP y el PSOE mantendrán sus gobiernos autonómicos, aunque los socialistas bajan". El Mundo (in Spanish). 27 November 2006.
12. "Sanz, incontestable, bate récords". El Mundo (in Spanish). 27 November 2006. Archived from the original on 16 November 2011.
13. "El voto en las comunidades. Elecciones autonómicas 2007" (PDF). El Mundo (in Spanish). 27 November 2006.
14. "El PP reforzaría su mayoría absoluta de celebrarse ahora elecciones autonómicas". ABC (in Spanish). 19 December 2005.

Other

1. "Statute of Autonomy of La Rioja of 1982". Organic Law No. 3 of 9 June 1982. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
2. "General Deputation of La Rioja Elections Law of 1991". Law No. 3 of 21 March 1991. Official Gazette of La Rioja (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 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. "Parliament of La Rioja election results, 27 May 2007" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of La Rioja. 23 June 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
6. "Parliament of La Rioja elections since 1983". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 30 September 2017.