2016 Basque regional election

The 2016 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 25 September 2016, to elect the 11th Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with a regional election in Galicia. Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu announced that the election would be held one month ahead of schedule, on 25 September 2016, based on the "climate of ungovernability" affecting national politics as a result of the ongoing Spanish government formation negotiations, intending to move the regional election as far away as possible from a possible new general election.[1][2] This prompted Galician president Alberto Núñez Feijóo to hold the Galician regional election in the same date.[3]

2016 Basque regional election

25 September 2016
All 75 seats in the Basque Parliament 38 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	1,783,419 0.5%
Turnout	1,070,357 (60.0%) 3.9 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Iñigo Urkullu Arnaldo Otegi[lower-alpha 1] Pilar Zabala Party EAJ/PNV EH Bildu Elkarrekin Podemos Leader since 2 December 2007 24 May 2016 11 August 2016 Leader's seat Álava Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa Last election 27 seats, 34.2% 21 seats, 24.7% 0 seats, 3.7%[lower-alpha 2] Seats won 28 18 11 Seat change 1 3 11 Popular vote 398,168 225,172 157,334 Percentage 37.4% 21.1% 14.8% Swing 3.2 pp 3.6 pp 11.1 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Idoia Mendia Alfonso Alonso Party PSE–EE (PSOE) PP Leader since 20 September 2014 15 October 2015 Leader's seat Biscay Álava Last election 16 seats, 18.9% 10 seats, 11.6% Seats won 9 9 Seat change 7 1 Popular vote 126,420 107,771 Percentage 11.9% 10.1% Swing 7.0 pp 1.5 pp
Constituency results map for the Basque Parliament
Lehendakari before election Iñigo Urkullu EAJ/PNV Elected Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu EAJ/PNV

Urkullu's Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) emerged as the largest political force in the region with an increased plurality, but required from the support of other parties to govern. This was to be provided by the Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE), which despite scoring the worst result in its history after seeing its support almost halved—falling from 18.9% and 16 seats to 11.9% and 9 seats—would went on to form a coalition minority government with the PNV. EH Bildu was able to hold onto second place, albeit with a reduced support by going down from 21 to 17 seats, whereas the Elkarrekin Podemos alliance scored third, but below campaign expectations. The People's Party (PP) continued on its long-term decline in the Basque Country, whereas Citizens (Cs) failed to win any seat.[4][5]

Urkullu was able to get re-elected as lehendakari with the support of both his party and the PSE–EE.[6] The resulting coalition recovered an alliance which both the PNV and the PSE had already formed between 1987 and 1998 in the Basque government,[7][8] and which had already been extended to city councils and the Juntas Generales following the 2015 local and foral elections.[9]

The results of the Basque and Galician elections, both of which saw very poor PSOE's performances after being overtaken by the Podemos-led alliances and polling at record-low levels of support,[10] prompted dissenters within the party—led by Andalusian president Susana Díaz—to call for Pedro Sánchez's resignation as PSOE secretary-general.[11][12] Sánchez's refusal to resign and his announcement of a party congress for later in the year—amid an ongoing government formation process and with the growing risk of a third general election in a row being held in Spain—led to an attempt from his critics to force his downfall,[13][14] triggering a severe party crisis and a break down of party discipline which led to Sánchez's ousting on 1 October 2016,[15] a divided PSOE abstaining in Mariano Rajoy's investiture on 29 October and a subsequent party leadership election in 2017 which would see Sánchez returning to his post of secretary-general and taking full control over the party.[16][17]

Overview

Electoral system

The Basque Parliament was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of the Basque Country, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the regional Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a lehendakari.[18]

Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in the Basque Country and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Additionally, Basques abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado).[19] The 75 members of the Basque Parliament were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of three 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. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, being allocated a fixed number of 25 seats each to provide for an equal representation of the three provinces in parliament as required under the regional statute of autonomy.[18][20] This meant that Álava was allocated the same number of seats as Biscay and Gipuzkoa, despite their populations being, as of 1 July 2016: 322,801, 1,134,041 and 708,288, respectively.[21]

The use of the D'Hondt method might result in a higher effective threshold, depending on the district magnitude.[22]

Election date

The term of the Basque Parliament expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. 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 the Basque Country (BOPV), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election was held on 21 October 2012, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 21 October 2016. The election decree was required to be published in the BOPV no later than 27 September 2016, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 20 November 2016.[18][20]

The lehendakari had the prerogative to dissolve the Basque Parliament at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a lehendakari within a sixty-day period from the Parliament re-assembly, the Parliament was to be dissolved and a fresh election called.[23]

Background

The 2012 Basque regional election had resulted in a minority government of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) replacing Patxi López's Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE) cabinet. After a harsh 2009–2012 legislature which had seen frequent clashing between both parties, the signing of an agreement in September 2013 between both the PNV and the PSE, under which the latter committed itself to support the 2014 budget in exchange for more social democrat fiscal policies, paved the way for the normalization of relations between the two parties.[24] The agreement eventually led to the culmination of an ideological realignment within the PNV, whose economic stance had been swinging in the previous years towards social democracy in detriment of its traditional pro-liberal positions.[25] Additionally, the PNV under Urkullu had abandoned the confrontational style of former lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe as well as his sovereigntist plan, moving towards more moderate, pragmatic and big tent positions.[26][27]

Following the 2015 local and foral elections, the PNV and the PSE signed a deal "for institutional stability", under which both parties agreed to support each other in Basque local councils and the Juntas Generales,[28][29] with the compromise of extending such an agreement to the Basque government after the regional election scheduled for 2016.[9] Concurrently, the emergence of Podemos following the 2014 European Parliament election was initially seen as a threat to the PNV's dominance in the region,[30][31][32] after opinion polls pointed to a strong performance of the party in a prospective Basque Parliament election as well as coming out in first place regionally in the 2015 and 2016 general elections.[33][34] The various elections held in the Basque Country between 2012 and 2016 showed a continued decline for both the PSE–EE and the People's Party (PP),[35] whereas EH Bildu suffered from a perceived poor management in the city council of San Sebastián and the Gipuzkoa foral deputation and lost much of its power in the local and foral elections held on 24 May 2015.[36][37]

In the lead up to the election, the national PSOE was beleaguered by an internal crisis over Pedro Sánchez's leadership as a result of the party having secured its worst electoral results since the Spanish transition to democracy in the 2015 and 2016 general elections,[38][39] with Sánchez himself having announced an early party congress, to be held at some point following the Basque and Galician elections, in which he would be running for re-election.[40][41] The PSOE branches in both regions were widely seen as being supportive of Sánchez, prompting dissenters to frame the elections as a test on Sánchez and of the broader political mood in Spain after nine months of political impasse over the government formation process.[42]

Parliamentary status

The Basque Parliament was officially dissolved on 2 August 2016, after the publication of the dissolution decree in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country.[43] The table below shows the status of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.[44]

Parliamentary composition in August 2016[45]

Groups		Parties		Legislators
				Seats	Total
	Basque Nationalists Parliamentary Group		EAJ/PNV	27	27
	EH Bildu Parliamentary Group		Sortu	10	21
			EA	6
			Aralar	3
			Alternatiba	2
	Basque Socialists Parliamentary Group		PSE–EE (PSOE)	16	16
	Basque People's Parliamentary Group		PP	10	10
	Mixed Group		UPyD	1	1

Parties and candidates

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 at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.[20][46]

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Previous result		Gov.	Ref.
						Votes (%)	Seats
	EAJ/PNV	List Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV)		Iñigo Urkullu	Basque nationalism Christian democracy Social democracy	34.16%	27	Y	[25] [47]
	EH Bildu	List Create (Sortu) Basque Solidarity (EA) Aralar (Aralar) Alternative (Alternatiba)		Arnaldo Otegi[lower-alpha 1]	Basque independence Left-wing nationalism Socialism	24.67%	21	N	[48] [49]
	PSE–EE (PSOE)	List Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE (PSOE))		Idoia Mendia	Social democracy	18.89%	16	N	[50] [51]
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Alfonso Alonso	Conservatism Christian democracy	11.59%	10	N	[52]
	Elkarrekin Podemos	List We Can (Podemos) Plural Left–United Left (EzAn–IU) Equo (Equo)		Pilar Zabala	Left-wing populism Direct democracy Democratic socialism	3.72%[lower-alpha 2]	0	N	[53] [54]
	C's	List Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's)		Nicolás de Miguel	Liberalism	Did not contest		N	[55]

The Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) party, despite holding one seat in the Basque Parliament for two legislatures—2009 and 2012—and amid dismal opinion poll ratings, renounced to field candidates for the regional election.[56]

On 1 March 2016, Sortu leader Arnaldo Otegi left the Logroño prison after serving his full prison sentence imposed for attempting to reorganize the banned Batasuna party. In addition to the prison sentence, Otegi had been disqualified from holding any public office until 2021.[57] Despite this, on 24 May the EH Bildu coalition proclaimed him as its leading candidate for lehendakari, on grounds that the ruling did not specify what specific criminal charges affected his disqualification.[48][58] The PNV and Podemos announced that they would not challenge his candidacy because they thought it should be up to the Basque citizens to decide whether Otegi deserved to be elected or not;[59] the PSE–EE, meanwhile, said that it would not challenge him either because such a decision should be taken by justice courts.[60] On the other hand, the PP, Citizens (C's) and UPyD announced that, following the publication of the electoral lists, they would challenge Otegi's candidacy.[61]

On 24 August the provincial electoral commission of Gipuzkoa ruled that Otegi could not be a candidate in the lists of EH Bildu for being barred to stand for election as part of his sentence.[49][62] The journalist Maddalen Iriarte, who was second in EH Bildu Gipuzkoa's list, went on to top the list as provided for in Article 65.2 of the Electoral Law of the Basque Country.[63]

Party slogans

Party or alliance		Original slogan	English translation	Ref.
	EAJ/PNV	« Eraiki Euskadi. Mira el futuro »	"Build the Basque Country. Look to the future"	[64][65]
	EH Bildu	« Aquí y ahora. Un país compartido » « Hemen eta orain. Denon herria »	"Here and now. A shared country"	[64][66]
	PSE–EE (PSOE)	« Juntos » « Batera »	"Together"	[64][67]
	PP	« Alonso, la voz que nos une » « Alonso, batzen gaituen ahotsa »	"Alonso, the voice that unites us"	[64][68][69]
	Elkarrekin Podemos	« Por Euskadi. Jendearekin »	"For the Basque Country. With the people"	[64][70]
	C's	« Europeos del Sur, españoles del Norte, vascos de centro »	"Europeans from the South, Spaniards from the North, Basques of centre"	[64][71]

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. 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Basque Parliament.

Color key:

  Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout	PNV									Lead
2016 regional election	25 Sep 2016	N/A	60.0	37.4 28	21.1 18	11.9 9	10.1 9	[lower-alpha 3]	–	[lower-alpha 3]	2.0 0	14.8 11	16.3
Gizaker/EiTB[p 1][p 2]	23–25 Sep 2016	2,400	?	36.5 27/30	20.7 16/18	11.1 8/10	9.7 7/8	[lower-alpha 3]	–	[lower-alpha 3]	2.2 0/1	17.9 13/15	15.8
Celeste-Tel/eldiario.es[p 3]	12–16 Sep 2016	1,200	64.1	37.3 29	20.4 15	11.9 9	8.4 7	[lower-alpha 3]	–	[lower-alpha 3]	2.0 0	18.3 15	16.9
Gizaker/EiTB[p 4][p 5]	14–15 Sep 2016	1,200	64.4	37.2 27/29	21.0 17	11.0 8/9	9.7 7/8	[lower-alpha 3]	–	[lower-alpha 3]	2.3 0/1	17.8 13/14	16.2
GAD3/ABC[p 6][p 7]	14–15 Sep 2016	801	?	38.5 28/29	19.7 15/16	10.8 8/9	9.2 8/9	[lower-alpha 3]	–	[lower-alpha 3]	1.4 0	17.8 14/15	18.8
Metroscopia/El País[p 8][p 9][p 10]	13–15 Sep 2016	2,100	65.8	36.3 27/29	19.2 16/17	12.1 8	8.8 6/7	[lower-alpha 3]	–	[lower-alpha 3]	2.0 1	17.9 14/16	17.1
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 11]	12–15 Sep 2016	1,200	?	35.1 26/28	21.1 17/18	12.5 9	9.5 7/9	[lower-alpha 3]	–	[lower-alpha 3]	2.1 0	16.9 13/14	14.0
NC Report/La Razón[p 12][p 13][p 14]	6–14 Sep 2016	1,000	?	36.2 27	21.0 16	11.4 9	9.1 8	[lower-alpha 3]	–	[lower-alpha 3]	? 0	18.8 15	15.2
Ikerfel/El Correo[p 15]	8–11 Sep 2016	2,700	65.4	36.7 28	18.9 14/15	12.9 9/10	8.8 8	[lower-alpha 3]	–	[lower-alpha 3]	2.2 0	19.3 15/16	17.4
Ikertalde/GPS[p 16][p 17]	1–8 Sep 2016	2,576	64.5	33.5 26	21.3 17	11.7 9	9.2 8	[lower-alpha 3]	–	[lower-alpha 3]	2.2 0	19.3 15	12.2
Gizaker/EiTB[p 18][p 19]	5–6 Sep 2016	1,200	63.5	36.2 27	20.7 17	10.7 8	10.3 8	[lower-alpha 3]	–	[lower-alpha 3]	2.7 1	18.2 14	15.5
IMOP/CIS[p 20][p 21]	27 Aug–2 Sep 2016	3,007	?	37.9 27/28	20.2 16	10.8 8	8.8 8	[lower-alpha 3]	–	[lower-alpha 3]	1.8 0	18.9 15/16	17.7
2016 general election	26 Jun 2016	N/A	64.9	24.9 18	13.3 10	14.2 11	12.9 10	[lower-alpha 4]	0.1 0	[lower-alpha 4]	3.5 1	29.1 25	4.2
Gizaker/EiTB[p 22][p 23]	8–9 Jun 2016	1,200	?	37.2 27	21.3 17	10.7 8	9.1 8	[lower-alpha 4]	0.4 0	[lower-alpha 4]	2.7 1	18.2 14	15.9
Ikertalde/GPS[p 24][p 25]	23 May–2 Jun 2016	2,310	67.5	31.8 24	21.0 17	12.3 9	8.7 7	[lower-alpha 4]	0.2 0	[lower-alpha 4]	2.2 1	20.8 17	10.8
			67.5	31.8 24	21.0 18	12.3 10	8.7 8	3.0 0	0.2 0	17.8 14	2.2 1	–	10.8
SYM Consulting[p 26]	5–20 May 2016	1,274	?	34.1 25/26	20.4 15/17	11.8 8/9	9.1 7/8	[lower-alpha 4]	–	[lower-alpha 4]	3.5 1	20.7 16/17	13.4
Gizaker/EiTB[p 27][p 28]	11–12 May 2016	1,200	?	35.5 27	20.2 16	11.0 9	9.2 7	[lower-alpha 4]	0.2 0	[lower-alpha 4]	3.0 1	19.4 15	15.3
Gizaker/EiTB[p 29][p 30]	13–14 Apr 2016	1,200	?	35.3 27	19.0 15	12.1 10	8.8 7	2.4 0	0.2 0	19.1 15	2.3 1	–	16.2
Ikertalde/GPS[p 31][p 32]	25 Jan–2 Feb 2016	2,310	70.5	31.3 24	19.1 15	12.0 9	8.8 8	2.5 0	0.2 0	20.5 18	3.3 1	–	10.8
CPS/EHU[p 33]	19–31 Jan 2016	600	67	29.3 22/23	16.3 13	12.2 9	9.4 8/9	–	–	25.2 19/21	3.6 1/3	–	4.1
Redondo & Asociados[p 34]	16 Jan 2016	?	?	30.0 22/23	19.0 13/14	12.8 10	8.3 6	3.0 0/1	–	25.0 21/22	–	–	5.0
2015 general election	20 Dec 2015	N/A	69.0	24.7 18	15.1 12	13.2 10	11.6 10	2.9 1	0.3 0	26.0 21	4.1 3	–	1.3
CPS/EHU[p 35]	29 May–15 Jun 2015	600	65	33.5 25/26	23.1 18/19	14.5 10/11	8.1 7/8	–	1.7 0	15.1 11/12	–	–	10.4
2015 foral elections	24 May 2015	N/A	63.8	33.3 26	22.4 18	13.6 10	9.3 9	2.7 1	0.5 0	13.7 11	2.1 0	–	10.9
2015 local elections	24 May 2015	N/A	63.8	33.1	23.4	14.6	9.4	3.1	0.1	5.5	1.6	–	9.7
CPS/EHU[p 36]	27 Oct–14 Nov 2014	600	67	30.5 22/23	19.7 13/14	12.8 10	8.1 6	3.2 0/1	2.2 0/1	25.6 21/22	–	–	4.9
2014 EP election[p 37]	25 May 2014	N/A	43.1	27.5 21	23.4 21	13.8 12	10.2 10	5.6 4	3.3 1	6.9 6	0.8 0	–	4.1
CPS/EHU[p 38]	30 Apr–19 May 2014	600	60	34.2 29	23.9 22	16.5 12	8.1 7	6.4 3	2.2 1	4.8 1	–	–	10.3
CPS/EHU[p 39]	24 Oct–15 Nov 2013	1,200	60	34.9 29	25.9 23	15.5 12	9.6 8	4.4 2	2.2 1	–	–	–	9.0
Ikertalde/GPS[p 40]	8–11 Oct 2013	2,289	64.0	34.7 27	24.1 21	17.7 15	10.8 10	3.1 1	2.3 1	–	–	–	10.6
CPS/EHU[p 41]	7–27 May 2013	1,200	60	34.0 28	24.0 20	18.0 14	10.0 10	4.0 2	3.0 1	–	–	–	10.0
Ikertalde/GPS[p 42]	22–27 Apr 2013	2,277	63.5	34.9 27	24.2 21	17.8 15	10.0 10	3.1 1	2.5 1	–	–	–	10.7
2012 regional election	21 Oct 2012	N/A	64.0	34.2 27	24.7 21	18.9 16	11.6 10	2.7 0	1.9 1	–	–	–	9.5

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 25 September 2016 Basque Parliament election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV)	398,168	37.36	+3.20	28	+1
	Basque Country Gather (EH Bildu)	225,172	21.13	–3.54	18	–3
	United We Can (Podemos, Ezker Anitza–IU, Equo)^1	157,334	14.76	+11.04	11	+11
	Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE (PSOE))	126,420	11.86	–7.03	9	–7
	People's Party (PP)	107,771	10.11	–1.48	9	–1
	Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's)	21,477	2.02	New	0	±0
	Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA/ATTKAA)	8,589	0.81	+0.45	0	±0
	Let's Win the Basque Country: Yes We Can (Ganemos Irabazi)	6,049	0.57	New	0	±0
	Zero Cuts–Green Group (Recortes Cero–GV)	2,747	0.26	New	0	±0
	Family and Life Party (PFyV)	1,836	0.17	+0.10	0	±0
	Blank Seats (EB/AZ)	1,288	0.12	–0.90	0	±0
	Vox (Vox)	771	0.07	New	0	±0
	Basque Communists–Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (EK–PCPE)	466	0.04	±0.00	0	±0
	Welcome (Ongi Etorri)	374	0.04	+0.03	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	351	0.03	–0.07	0	±0
	Navarrese Freedom (Ln)	191	0.02	New	0	±0
	Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)	n/a	n/a	–1.91	0	–1
Blank ballots		6,681	0.63	–0.67
Total		1,065,685			75	±0
Valid votes		1,065,685	99.56	+0.37
Invalid votes		4,672	0.44	–0.37
Votes cast / turnout		1,070,357	60.02	–3.94
Abstentions		713,062	39.98	+3.94
Registered voters		1,783,419
Sources[44][72]

Popular vote EAJ/PNV   37.36% EH Bildu   21.13% E. Podemos   14.76% PSE–EE (PSOE)   11.86% PP   10.11% C's   2.02% Others   2.13% Blank ballots   0.63%

Seats EAJ/PNV   37.33% EH Bildu   24.00% E. Podemos   14.67% PSE–EE (PSOE)   12.00% PP   12.00%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PNV		EH Bildu		EP		PSE–EE		PP
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
Álava	28.0	8	17.8	5	16.1	4	12.9	3	18.5	5
Biscay	41.8	11	17.5	5	14.8	4	11.7	3	9.7	2
Gipuzkoa	34.1	9	28.7	8	14.2	3	11.8	3	7.2	2
Total	37.6	28	21.3	18	14.9	11	11.9	9	10.2	9
Sources[44][72]

Aftermath

Investiture
Ballot →		23 November 2016		24 November 2016
Required majority →		38 out of 75		Simple
	Iñigo Urkullu (PNV) • PNV (28) • PSE–EE (9)	37 / 75	N	37 / 75	Y
	Maddalen Iriarte (EH Bildu) • EH Bildu (18)	18 / 75	N	18 / 75	N
	Blank ballots • EP (11) • PP (9)	20 / 75		20 / 75
	Absentees	0 / 75		0 / 75
Sources[6][44]

Notes

1. Sortu leader Arnaldo Otegi was proclaimed as EH Bildu's leading candidate on 24 May 2016, having left the Logroño prison on 1 March after serving a full prison sentence over attempts to reorganize the banned Batasuna party. On 24 August, the Gipuzkoa Provincial Electoral Commission disqualified Otegi due to a legal barring from holding any public office still in force until 2021. Subsequently, EH Bildu did not elect an alternative candidate to replace Otegi, though journalist Maddalen Iriarte—second in EH Bildu Gipuzkoa's list—went on to top the list as provided for in Article 65.2 of the Electoral Law of the Basque Country.
2. Results for United Left–The Greens: Plural Left (2.69%) and Equo Greens–Basque Ecologists (1.03%) in the 2012 election.
3. Within Elkarrekin Podemos.
4. Within Unidos Podemos.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Sondeo EiTB 25S: PNV ganaría con EH Bildu segunda y Podemos tercera". EiTB (in Spanish). 2016-09-25.
2. "PAÍS VASCO (Autonómicas), Septiembre 2016. Sondeo Gizaker (3)". Electograph (in Spanish). 25 September 2016.
3. "El PNV acaricia una victoria mayor de la esperada". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 17 September 2016.
4. "EiTB Focus: Un puñado de votos podría cambiar el Parlamento". EiTB (in Spanish). 19 September 2016.
5. "PAÍS VASCO (Autonómicas), Septiembre 2016. Sondeo Gizaker (2)". Electograph (in Spanish). 19 September 2016.
6. "El PNV sube pero necesitará pactar con el PSE o el PP". ABC (in Spanish). 18 September 2016.
7. "Encuesta socio-electoral en País Vasco". GAD3 (in Spanish). 18 September 2016.
8. "El PNV ganaría las elecciones vascas pero tendrá que pactar". El País (in Spanish). 18 September 2016.
9. "Sondeo preelectoral en el País Vasco". El País (in Spanish). 17 September 2016.
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30. "PAÍS VASCO (Autonómicas y Generales), Abril 2016. Sondeo Gizaker". Electograph (in Spanish). 21 April 2016.
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34. "Elecciones vascas: PNV 30% (22-23), Podemos (21-22), Bildu 19% (13-14), PSE-EE 12.8% (10), PP 8.3% (6), IU 3% (0-1)". Twitter (in Spanish). 17 January 2016.
35. "Euskobarómetro Mayo 2015. Estimación Electoral" (PDF). EHU (in Spanish). 30 July 2015.
36. "Euskobarómetro Noviembre 2014. Estimaciones Electorales". EHU (in Spanish). 26 December 2014.
37. "Proyección del resultado de las europeas en los parlamentos autonómicos". El País (in Spanish). 31 May 2014.
38. "Euskobarómetro. Estimaciones Electorales del Euskobarómetro de Mayo de 2014 para el Parlamento Vasco". EHU (in Spanish). 4 July 2014.
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