1995 Aragonese regional election

Aragonese regional election, 1995

28 May 1995
All 67 seats in the Cortes of Aragon 34 seats needed for a majority
Registered	993,975 3.6%
Turnout	706,954 (71.1%) 6.7 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Santiago Lanzuela Marcelino Iglesias Emilio Eiroa Party PP PSOE PAR Leader since 24 September 1993 15 February 1995 12 July 1991 Leader's seat Zaragoza Huesca Zaragoza Last election 17 seats, 20.7% 30 seats, 40.3% 17 seats, 24.7% Seats won 27 19 14 Seat change 10 11 3 Popular vote 263,524 180,728 143,573 Percentage 37.5% 25.7% 20.4% Swing 16.8 pp 14.6 pp 4.3 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Miguel Ángel Fustero Chesús Bernal Party IU CHA Leader since 1994 29 June 1986 Leader's seat Zaragoza Zaragoza Last election 3 seats, 6.7% 0 seats, 2.3% Seats won 5 2 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 64,685 34,077 Percentage 9.2% 4.8% Swing 2.5 pp 2.5 pp
Constituency results map for the Cortes of Aragon
President before election Ramón Tejedor (ad interim) PSOE Elected President Santiago Lanzuela PP

The 1995 Aragonese regional election was held on Sunday, 28 May 1995, to elect the 4th Cortes of the Autonomous Community of Aragon. All 67 seats in the Cortes were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in 12 other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

The election saw a marked increase for the People's Party (PP), which went on to win the election doubling its 1991 vote and gaining ten seats. Much of the increase came at the expense of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), at the moment beset by corruption scandals. The Aragonese Party (PAR) lost ground for the second consecutive election and was displaced to 3rd place. United Left (IU) improved its position while the left-wing regionalist Aragonese Union (CHA) won seats in the Courts for the first time.

The new legislature elected Santiago Lanzuela as the first PP President of Aragon by 41 votes to 26. The PP and PAR deputies backed Lanzuela while PSOE, CHA and IU voted against. Lanzuela headed a PP administration with the initial support of the PAR.

Overview

Background

The previous legislature had been tightly divided between the left and right blocs, with an independent, former PP deputy holding the balance of power. This had resulted in a coalition between the PP and PAR being replaced by a PSOE administration in 1993. However, legal difficulties had forced the resignation of the PSOE Aragonese President José Marco in January 1995, being replaced by party colleague Ramón Tejedor. The PSOE Federal Executive designated Marcelino Iglesias as candidate for President in the 1995 election, marginalizing Marco from the election of the regional candidates.

Electoral system

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

The 67 members of the Cortes of Aragon 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 regionally. 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. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Huesca, Teruel and Zaragoza. Each constituency was entitled to an initial minimum of 13 seats, with the remaining 28 allocated among the constituencies in proportion to their populations on the condition that the seat to population ratio in the most populated province did not exceed 2.75 times that of the least populated one.

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.

Election date

The term of the Cortes of Aragon expired four years after the date of their previous election. Elections to the Cortes were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 26 May 1991, setting the election date for the Cortes on Sunday, 28 May 1995.

The Cortes of Aragon could not be dissolved before the date of expiry of parliament except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot. In such a case, the Cortes were to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 28 May 1995 Cortes of Aragon election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
width="1" bgcolor="Template:People's Party of Aragon/meta/color"|	People's Party (PP)	263,524	37.50	+16.82	27	+10
bgcolor="Template:Socialists' Party of Aragon/meta/color"|	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	180,728	25.72	–14.62	19	–11
bgcolor="Template:Aragonese Party/meta/color"|	Aragonese Party (PAR)	143,573	20.43	–4.25	14	–3
bgcolor="Template:United Left of Aragon/meta/color"|	United Left of Aragon (IU)	64,685	9.20	+2.46	5	+2
bgcolor="Template:Chunta Aragonesista/meta/color"|	Aragonese Union (CHA)	34,077	4.85	+2.55	2	+2

Parties with less than 1.0% of the vote		5,059	0.72	—	0	±0
	Platform of Independents of Spain (PIE)	2,349	0.33	New	0	±0
	Aragonese Unity (UA)	1,342	0.19	New	0	±0
bgcolor="Template:SOS Nature/meta/color"|	SOS Nature (SOS)	923	0.13	New	0	±0
bgcolor="Template:Falange Española de las JONS (1976)/meta/color"|	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	445	0.06	New	0	±0

Blank ballots	11,098	1.58	+0.28
Total	702,744			67	±0
Valid votes	702,744	99.40	+0.10
Invalid votes	4,210	0.60	–0.10
Votes cast / turnout	706,954	71.12	+6.73
Abstentions	287,021	28.88	–6.73
Registered voters	993,975
Sources

Popular vote PP   37.50% PSOE   25.72% PAR   20.43% IU   9.20% CHA   4.85% Others   0.72% Blank ballots   1.58%

Seats PP   40.30% PSOE   28.36% PAR   20.90% IU   7.46% CHA   2.99%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PP		PSOE		PAR		IU		CHA
	colspan="2" style="background:Template:People's Party of Aragon/meta/color"|	colspan="2" style="background:Template:Socialists' Party of Aragon/meta/color"|	colspan="2" style="background:Template:Aragonese Party/meta/color"|	colspan="2" style="background:Template:United Left of Aragon/meta/color"|	colspan="2" style="background:Template:Chunta Aragonesista/meta/color"|
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
Huesca	style="background:Template:People's Party of Aragon/meta/color; color:white;"| 33.2	7	31.7	6	21.4	4	6.8	1	4.1	−
Teruel	style="background:Template:People's Party of Aragon/meta/color; color:white;"| 40.8	7	31.6	5	18.3	3	5.6	1	2.1	−
Zaragoza	style="background:Template:People's Party of Aragon/meta/color; color:white;"| 38.0	13	23.1	8	20.6	7	10.5	3	5.5	2
Total	style="background:Template:People's Party of Aragon/meta/color; color:white;"| 37.5	27	25.7	19	20.4	14	9.2	5	4.8	2