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Álava (Basque: Araba) is one of the 52 electoral districts (Spanish: circunscripciones) used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It was first contested in modern times in the 1977 General Election. The largest municipality is Vitoria-Gasteiz where approximately 75% of the electorate live. [1]
Boundaries and electoral system
Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution [2] the boundaries must be the same as the province of Álava and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. The electoral system used is closed list proportional representation with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method. Only lists which poll 3% or more of all valid votes cast, including votes "en blanco" i.e. for "none of the above" can be considered for seats. Under article 12 of the constitution, the minimum voting age is 18.
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Eligibility
Article 67.3 of the Spanish Constitution prohibits dual membership of the Cortes and regional assemblies, meaning that candidates must resign from Regional Assemblies if elected. Article 70 also makes active judges, magistrates, public defenders, serving military personnel, active police officers and members of constitutional and electoral tribunals ineligible. [2]
Number of members
Álava has returned four members at every election from 1977 onwards.
Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population. [3] These laws are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General) The practical effect of this law has been to overrepresent smaller provinces like Álava at the expense of larger provinces.
At the time of the 2008 General Election, Spain had 35,073,179 voters, giving an average of 100,209 voters per deputy. [1] In Álava the ratio was only 61,983. In contrast in the neighbouring district of Vizcaya the ratio was 119,589.
Summary of seats won 1977–2008
| 1977 | 1979 | 1982 | 1986 | 1989 | 1993 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2011 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||
| People's Party (PP) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSE-EE) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Amaiur | 1 |
Note: Seats shown for the PP include seats won by their predecessors, the Popular Alliance and Popular Coalition before 1989. They ran in an electoral alliance with the UCD in 1982.
Vote share summary 1977–2011
| 1977 | 1979 | 1982 | 1986 | 1989 | 1993 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Centre Union (UCD) | 30.9 | 25.4 | 12.0 | ||||||||
| People's Party (PP) | 6.4 | 6.2 | 15.8 | 14.1 | 19.6 | 27.3 | 39.1 | 26.9 | 26.5 | 27.2 | |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 27.6 | 21.4 | 35.3 | 33.1 | 25.9 | 26.1 | 25.4 | 24.3 | 30.8 | 40.7 | 23.4 |
| Euskadiko Ezkerra (EE) | 4.7 | 7.0 | 8.1 | 8.6 | |||||||
| Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) | 17.5 | 22.9 | 22.0 | 19.1 | 16.9 | 16.8 | 20.2 | 20.7 | 25.8 | 18.8 | 18.9 |
| United Left (IU) | 3.1 | 3.3 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 6.9 | 11.7 | 5.6 | 7.8 | 4.2 | 4.1 |
| Batasuna (HB) | 9.9 | 9.9 | 12.0 | 11.6 | 9.4 | 7.5 | |||||
| Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 3.8 | 8.8 | 6.7 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | ||||
| Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) | 8.5 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 3.1 | * | ||||
| Unidad Alavesa (UA) | 10.6 | ||||||||||
| Amaiur (EA) | 19.1 |
Note:PP's predecessors contested the 1979 election under the label "Unión Foral" [4]
*Eusko Alkartasuna contested the 2011 election as part of the Amaiur coalition along with other parties such as Aralar
Results
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 45,891 | 27.7 | 1 | Alfonso Alonso |
| Socialist Party of the Basque Country – Euskadiko Ezkerra | 39,579 | 23.44 | 1 | Ramón Juregui Otondo |
| Amaiur | 32,267 | 19.11 | 1 | Iker Urbina Fernández |
| Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco) | 31,849 | 18.86 | 1 | Emilio Olabarría |
| United Left | 6,897 | 4.08 | 0 | |
| Union, Progress and Democracy | 4,649 | 2.75 | 0 | |
| Others | 5,796 | 3.40 | 0 |
In common with the other Basque provinces, in 2008 PSOE increased their vote share by over 10%, mainly at the expense of the PNV. This was their third biggest increase in vote share overall. The 2008 election had been overshadowed by the killing of a former PSOE councillor by ETA in the neighbouring province of Guipúzcoa.[5]
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socialist Party of the Basque Country – Euskadiko Ezkerra | 69,180 | 40.76 | 2 | José Lasarte Iribarren, María Rodríguez Barahona |
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 44,937 | 26.48 | 1 | Alfonso Alonso |
| Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco) | 31,844 | 18.76 | 1 | Emilio Olabarría |
| United Left | 7,093 | 4.18 | 0 | |
| Eusko Alkartasuna | 5,285 | 3.11 | 0 | |
| Aralar | 2,911 | 1.72 | 0 | |
| Union, Progress and Democracy | 2,006 | 1.18 | 0 | |
| Others | 2,798 | 1.65 | 0 |
Source: [6]
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socialist Party of the Basque Country – Euskadiko Ezkerra | 56,137 | 30.79 | 2 | Ramón Jáuregui, Pilar Unzalu |
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 48,992 | 26.87 | 1 | Jaime Mayor Oreja† |
| Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco) | 47,090 | 25.83 | 1 | Emilio Olabarría |
| United Left | 14,181 | 7.78 | 0 | |
| Eusko Alkartasuna | 7,838 | 4.30 | 0 | |
| Aralar | 3,417 | 1.87 | 0 | |
| Others | 5,476 | 3.30 | 0 |
†On 6 July 2004, Mayor was replaced by María Martín.
Source: [7]
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 66,267 | 39.10 | 2 | Rafael Cámara†, Alfonso Alonso# |
| Socialist Party of the Basque Country – Euskadiko Ezkerra | 41,182 | 24.30 | 1 | Ramón Jáuregui |
| Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco) | 35,155 | 20.74 | 1 | Juan Otxoa |
| United Left | 9,509 | 5.61 | 0 | |
| Eusko Alkartasuna | 7,985 | 4.71 | 0 | |
| Others | 4,227 | 2.50 | 0 |
Notes:-
- †Cámara was replaced by Santiago Abascal on 30 April 2003.
- #Alonso was replaced by María Sagarna on 12 February 2002.
External links
References
Category:Electoral Districts of the Congress of Deputies (Spain)
Category:Álava