1983 Castilian-Manchegan regional election

The 1983 Castilian-Manchegan regional election was held on Sunday, 8 May 1983, to elect the 1st Cortes of the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. All 44 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.

1983 Castilian-Manchegan regional election

8 May 1983
All 44 seats in the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha 23 seats needed for a majority
Registered	1,230,011
Turnout	901,872 (73.3%)
First party Second party   Leader José Bono José Lara Party PSOE AP–PDP–UL Leader since 25 March 1983 1983 Leader's seat Albacete Toledo Seats won 23 21 Popular vote 416,177 364,676 Percentage 46.7% 40.9%
Constituency results map for the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha
President before election Jesús Fuentes Lázaro PSOE Elected President José Bono PSOE

Only two political parties were able to secure parliamentary representation in the Cortes: the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) under José Bono, which obtained 23 out of 44 seats—an absolute majority—and the People's Coalition, an electoral alliance formed by the conservative People's Alliance (AP), the christian democratic People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Liberal Union (UL).[1] As a result of the election, José Bono became the first democratically elected President of the Junta of Communities of Castilla–La Mancha.[2]

Overview

Electoral system

The Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha were the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Castilian-Manchegan Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Junta of Communities.[3] Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in Castilla–La Mancha and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 44 members of the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha 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. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of seats: 9 for Albacete, 10 for Ciudad Real, 8 for Cuenca, 7 for Guadalajara and 10 for Toledo.[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 0.1 percent of the electors registered in the constituency for which they sought election—needing to secure, in any case, the signature of 500 electors—. 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 fifteen days of the election being called.[4]

Election date

The Junta of Communities of Castilla–La Mancha, in agreement with the Government of Spain, was required to call an election to the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha within from 1 February to 31 May 1983. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, the candidate from the party with the highest number of seats was to be deemed automatically elected.[3]

Results

Overall

Summary of the 8 May 1983 Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	416,177	46.70	n/a	23	n/a
	People's Coalition (AP–PDP–UL)	364,676	40.92	n/a	21	n/a
	Communist Party of Spain (PCE)	61,132	6.86	n/a	0	n/a
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	26,911	3.02	n/a	0	n/a
	Liberal Democratic Party (PDL)	15,890	1.78	n/a	0	n/a
	Spanish Communist Workers' Party–Unified Communist Party (PCOE–PCEU)	579	0.06	n/a	0	n/a
Blank ballots		5,823	0.65	n/a
Total		891,188			44	n/a
Valid votes		891,188	98.82	n/a
Invalid votes		10,684	1.18	n/a
Votes cast / turnout		901,872	73.32	n/a
Abstentions		328,139	26.68	n/a
Registered voters		1,230,011
Sources[5][6][7]

Popular vote PSOE   46.70% AP–PDP–UL   40.92% PCE   6.86% CDS   3.02% PDL   1.78% PCOE–PCEU   0.06% Blank ballots   0.65%

Seats PSOE   52.27% AP–PDP–UL   47.73%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PSOE		CP
	%	S	%	S
Albacete	52.8	5	36.9	4
Ciudad Real	50.5	6	39.1	4
Cuenca	41.9	4	44.1	4
Guadalajara	39.7	3	46.2	4
Toledo	43.7	5	42.1	5
Total	46.7	23	40.9	21
Sources[5][6][7]

Aftermath

Investiture José Bono (PSOE)
Ballot →		6 June 1983
Required majority →		23 out of 44 Y
	Yes • PSOE (23)	23 / 44
	No • AP–PDP–UL (18)	18 / 44
	Abstentions	0 / 44
	Absentees • AP–PDP–UL (3)	3 / 44
Sources[2][7]

References

1. "En busca de la conciencia autonómica". El País (in Spanish). 10 May 1983. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
2. "José Bono sustituye a Fuentes Lázaro al frente de la Junta de Castilla-La Mancha". El País (in Spanish). 8 June 1983. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
3. "Statute of Autonomy of Castilla–La Mancha of 1982". Organic Law No. 9 of 10 August 1982. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
4. "Electoral Rules Decree of 1977". Royal Decree-Law No. 20 of 18 March 1977. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2016.
5. "Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha election results, 8 May 1983". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Castilla–La Mancha. 28 October 1983. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
6. "I Legislature. Regional election, 8 May 1983". www.cortesclm.es (in Spanish). Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
7. "Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha elections since 1983". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 29 September 2017.