2003 Extremaduran regional election

The 2003 Extremaduran regional election was held on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 6th Assembly of the autonomous community of Extremadura. All 65 seats in the Assembly were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

2003 Extremaduran regional election
25 May 2003
All 65 seats in the Assembly of Extremadura
33 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered881,228 0.5%
Turnout666,468 (75.6%)
2.2 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra Carlos Floriano Manuel Cañada
Party PSOE–p PP IU–SIEx
Leader since 20 December 1982 13 October 2000 1 October 1995
Leader's seat Badajoz Cáceres Badajoz
Last election 34 seats, 49.6%[lower-alpha 1] 28 seats, 40.0% 3 seats, 7.0%[lower-alpha 2]
Seats won 36 26 3
Seat change 2 2 0
Popular vote 341,522 255,808 41,448
Percentage 51.7% 38.7% 6.3%
Swing 2.1 pp 1.3 pp 0.7 pp
Constituency results map for the Assembly of Extremadura
President before election

Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra
PSOE

 Elected President

Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra
PSOE

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), which in this election ran in coalition with the Extremaduran Coalition, enlarged its absolute majority from 34 to 36 seats, at the cost of the opposition People's Party (PP), which fell to 26 and lost ground for the first time since the 1987 election. United Left (IU), which formed a coalition with the Independent Socialists of Extremadura (SIEx), maintained its 3 seats but was unable to make gains.

Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra was elected for his sixth and last term in office as President of the Regional Government of Extremadura, as he would announce in September 2006 he would not stand for re-election in 2007.[1]

Overview

Electoral system

The Assembly of Extremadura was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Extremadura, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Extremaduran Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Regional Government.[2] Voting for the Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in Extremadura and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 65 members of the Assembly of Extremadura 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 in each constituency. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. Alternatively, parties failing to reach the threshold in one of the constituencies would also be entitled to enter the seat distribution as long as they ran candidates in both districts and reached 5 percent regionally. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Badajoz and Cáceres. Each constituency was entitled to an initial minimum of 20 seats, with the remaining 25 allocated among the constituencies in proportion to their populations.[2][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 2 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 Assembly of Extremadura expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Assembly 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 Assembly on Sunday, 25 May 2003.[2][3][4][5]

The President of the Regional Government had the prerogative to dissolve the Assembly of Extremadura 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 Assembly 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.[2][6][7]

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. 33 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Assembly of Extremadura.

Color key:

  Exit poll

Results

Overall
← Summary of the 25 May 2003 Assembly of Extremadura election results →
Parties and coalitions Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party–Progressives (PSOE–p)1 341,52251.66+2.03 36+2
People's Party (PP) 255,80838.70–1.31 26–2
United Left–Independent Socialists of Extremadura (IU–SIEx)2 41,4486.27–0.74 3±0
United Extremadura (EU) 12,1711.84+0.17 0±0
Humanist Party (PH) 1,0820.16New 0±0
Blank ballots 9,0331.37+0.22
Total 661,064 65±0
Valid votes 661,06499.19–0.19
Invalid votes 5,4040.81+0.19
Votes cast / turnout 666,46875.63+2.19
Abstentions 214,76024.37–2.19
Registered voters 881,228
Sources[8][9]
Popular vote
PSOE–p
 
 51.66%
PP
 
 38.70%
IU–SIEx
 
 6.27%
EU
 
 1.84%
PH
 
 0.16%
Blank ballots
 
 1.37%
Seats
PSOE–p
 
 55.38%
PP
 
 40.00%
IU–SIEx
 
 4.62%

Distribution by constituency
Constituency PSOE–p PP IU–SIEx
% S % S % S
Badajoz 53.5 20 37.2 13 6.9 2
Cáceres 48.8 16 41.0 13 5.3 1
Total 51.7 36 38.7 26 6.3 3
Sources[8][9]

Aftermath
Investiture
Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra (PSOE)
Ballot → 23 June 2003
Required majority → 33 out of 65 Y
36 / 65
29 / 65
Abstentions
0 / 65
Absentees
0 / 65
Sources[9]

Notes
  1. Aggregated data for PSOE–p and CREx–PREx in the 1999 election.
  2. Aggregated data for IU–CE and SIEx in the 1999 election.
  3. Within PSOE.

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. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas, 2003. CA de Extremadura (Estudio nº 2492. Marzo-Abril 2003)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 17 May 2003.
  4. "La guerra pasa factura electoral al PP". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 18 May 2003.
  5. "Ibarra volvería a barrer en Extremadura". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 4 May 2003.
  6. "VOX PUBLICA". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 4 May 2003.
  7. "Instituciones y autonomías, II. CA de Extremadura (Estudio nº 2455. Septiembre-Octubre 2002)". CIS (in Spanish). 19 November 2002.
  8. "El PP, partido más votado en diez Comunidades Autónomas" (PDF). El Mundo (in Spanish). 19 November 2002.
  9. "El PP ganaría las autonómicas en diez Comunidades y el PSOE en cuatro, según el CIS". ABC (in Spanish). 20 November 2002.
Other
  1. "Rodríguez Ibarra will not stand for re-election" (in Spanish). El País. 2006-09-19.
  2. "Statute of Autonomy of Extremadura of 1983". Organic Law No. 1 of 25 February 1983. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  3. "Assembly of Extremadura Elections Law of 1987". Law No. 2 of 16 March 1987. Official Journal of Extremadura (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 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. "Statute of Autonomy of Extremadura Reform of 1991". Organic Law No. 5 of 13 March 1991. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  7. "Statute of Autonomy of Extremadura Reform of 1999". Organic Law No. 12 of 6 May 1999. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  8. "Assembly of Extremadura election results, 25 May 2003. Badajoz and Cáceres" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Extremadura. 5 June 2003. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  9. "Assembly of Extremadura elections since 1983". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
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