2003 Asturian regional election

The 2003 Asturian regional election was held on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 6th General Junta of the Principality of Asturias. All 45 seats in the General Junta were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

2003 Asturian regional election

25 May 2003
All 45 seats in the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias 23 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	976,104 0.4%
Turnout	623,149 (63.8%) 0.2 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Vicente Álvarez Areces Ovidio Sánchez Francisco Javier García Valledor Party PSOE PP IU–BA Leader since 14 June 1998 9 December 1998 April 2000 Leader's seat Central Central Central Last election 24 seats, 46.0% 15 seats, 32.3% 3 seats, 9.0% Seats won 22 19 4 Seat change 2 4 1 Popular vote 250,474 242,396 68,360 Percentage 40.5% 39.2% 11.0% Swing 5.5 pp 6.9 pp 2.0 pp
Constituency results map for the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias
President before election Vicente Álvarez Areces PSOE Elected President Vicente Álvarez Areces PSOE

Overview

Electoral system

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

The 45 members of the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias 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, which were established by law as follows:

• Central District (comprising the municipalities of Aller, Avilés, Bimenes, Carreño, Caso, Castrillón, Corvera de Asturias, Gijón, Gozón, Illas, Las Regueras, Langreo, Laviana, Lena, Llanera, Mieres, Morcín, Noreña, Oviedo, Proaza, Quirós, Ribera de Arriba, Riosa, San Martín del Rey Aurelio, Santo Adriano, Sariego, Siero, Sobrescobio and Soto del Barco).
• Eastern District (comprising the municipalities of Amieva, Cabrales, Cabranes, Cangas de Onís, Caravia, Colunga, Llanes, Nava, Onís, Parres, Peñamellera Alta, Peñamellera Baja, Piloña, Ponga, Ribadedeva, Ribadesella and Villaviciosa).
• Western District (comprising the municipalities of Allande, Belmonte de Miranda, Boal, Candamo, Cangas del Narcea, Castropol, Coaña, Cudillero, Degaña, El Franco, Grado, Grandas de Salime, Ibias, Illano, Muros de Nalón, Navia, Pesoz, Pravia, Salas, San Martín de Oscos, Santa Eulalia de Oscos, San Tirso de Abres, Somiedo, Tapia de Casariego, Taramundi, Teverga, Tineo, Valdés, Vegadeo, Villanueva de Oscos, Villayón and Yernes y Tameza).

Each constituency was entitled to an initial minimum of two seats, with the remaining 39 allocated among the constituencies in proportion to their populations.[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 General Junta of the Principality of Asturias expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the General Junta were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 13 June 1999, setting the election date for the General Junta on Sunday, 25 May 2003.[1][3][4][5]

The President of the Principality had the prerogative to dissolve the General Junta 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 had elapsed since a previous dissolution under this procedure. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, the General Junta 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. 23 seats were required for an absolute majority in the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias.

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				URAS	PAS	Lead
2003 regional election	25 May 2003	N/A	63.8	40.5 22	39.2 19	11.0 4	2.8 0	1.8 0	1.3
Sigma Dos/Antena 3[p 1]	25 May 2003	?	?	? 21/22	? 18	? 4/5	–	–	?
Ipsos–Eco/RTVE[p 2]	25 May 2003	?	?	? 22/24	? 16/18	? 5/6	–	–	?
InvesMark/El Comercio[lower-alpha 1][p 3]	2–8 May 2003	1,600	61.5	48.6 24/25	30.8 15/16	9.6 3/4	4.9 1	2.4 0/1	17.8
CIS[p 4][p 5]	22 Mar–28 Apr 2003	1,287	73.0	45.7 24	30.7 16	11.2 4	4.8 1	–	15.0
Vox Pública/El Periódico[p 6][p 7]	23–24 Apr 2003	802	?	48.0– 49.0 25/26	28.5– 29.5 14/15	? 3/4	? 2	–	19.5
CIS[p 8][p 9][p 10]	9 Sep–9 Oct 2002	493	72.0	45.8	31.5	9.7	1.0	–	14.3
2000 general election	12 Mar 2000	N/A	67.0	37.0	46.3	10.3	2.0	0.9	9.3
1999 regional election	13 Jun 1999	N/A	63.6	46.0 24	32.3 15	9.0 3	7.1 3	2.6 0	13.7

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 25 May 2003 General Junta of the Principality of Asturias election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	250,474	40.48	–5.52	22	–2
	People's Party (PP)	242,396	39.18	+6.87	19	+4
	United Left–Bloc for Asturias (IU–BA)	68,360	11.05	+2.05	4	+1
	Asturian Renewal Union (URAS)	17,552	2.84	–4.30	0	–3
	Asturianist Party (PAS)	11,376	1.84	–0.74	0	±0
	The Greens–Green Left of Asturias (LV–IVA)	6,561	1.06	+0.52	0	±0
	Andecha Astur (AA)	3,821	0.62	+0.26	0	±0
	Senior Defense Platform (PlaDeTE)	1,297	0.21	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)^1	1,211	0.20	–0.02	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	642	0.10	–0.02	0	±0
	Asturian Council (Conceyu)	524	0.08	±0.00	0	±0
	Asturian Democratic Convergence (CDAS)	359	0.06	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		14,143	2.29	+0.72
Total		618,716			45	±0
Valid votes		618,716	99.29	–0.11
Invalid votes		4,433	0.71	+0.11
Votes cast / turnout		623,149	63.84	+0.22
Abstentions		352,955	36.16	–0.22
Registered voters		976,104
Sources[6][7][8]

Popular vote PSOE   40.48% PP   39.18% IU–BA   11.05% URAS   2.84% PAS   1.84% LV–IVA   1.06% Others   1.27% Blank ballots   2.29%

Seats PSOE   48.89% PP   42.22% IU–BA   8.89%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PSOE		PP		IU–BA
	%	S	%	S	%	S
Central	39.3	15	38.9	14	12.4	4
Eastern	43.7	3	43.0	2	5.1	−
Western	45.5	4	38.4	3	7.1	−
Total	40.5	22	39.2	19	11.0	4
Sources[6][7][8]

Aftermath

Investiture
Ballot →		4 July 2003
Required majority →		23 out of 45
	Vicente Álvarez Areces (PSOE) • PSOE (22) • IU–BA (4)	26 / 45	Y
	Abstentions • PP (19)	19 / 45
	Absentees	0 / 45
Sources[8][9]

Notes

1. Undecided and/or abstentionists excluded.

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. Retrieved 19 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 7 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
3. "El PSOE revalidará la mayoría absoluta en la Junta General". El Comercio (in Spanish). 17 May 2003.
4. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas, 2003. CA del Principado de Asturias (Estudio nº 2485. Marzo-Abril 2003)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 17 May 2003.
5. "La guerra pasa factura electoral al PP". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 18 May 2003.
6. "El PSOE repite victoria en Asturias, y el PP, en Oviedo". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 3 May 2003.
7. "FICHA TECNICA". El Periódico de Extremadura (in Spanish). 3 May 2003.
8. "Instituciones y autonomías, II. CA Principado de Asturias (Estudio nº 2455. Septiembre-Octubre 2002)". CIS (in Spanish). 19 November 2002.
9. "El PP, partido más votado en diez Comunidades Autónomas" (PDF). El Mundo (in Spanish). 19 November 2002.
10. "El PP ganaría las autonómicas en diez Comunidades y el PSOE en cuatro, según el CIS". ABC (in Spanish). 20 November 2002.

Other

1. "Statute of Autonomy for Asturias of 1981". Organic Law No. 7 of 30 December 1981. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2017.
2. Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
3. "General Junta of the Principality of Asturias Elections System Law of 1986". Law No. 14 of 26 December 1986. Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 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. "Electoral Results. General Junta of the Principality of Asturias. 6th Legislature (2003–2007)". www.jgpa.es (in Spanish). General Junta of the Principality of Asturias. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
7. "Electoral Results. 2003". www.sadei.es (in Spanish). SADEI. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
8. "General Junta of the Principality of Asturias elections since 1983". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
9. "Areces advierte a la patronal de que no tolerará amenazas por pactar con IU". El País (in Spanish). 4 July 2003. Retrieved 8 December 2019.