1984 Basque regional election

Last updated
1984 Basque regional election
Flag of the Basque Country.svg
  1980 26 February 1984 1986  

All 75 seats in the Basque Parliament
38 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered1,584,540 Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 1.9%
Turnout1,085,304 (68.5%)
Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 8.7 pp
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Carlos Garaikoetxea 1979 (cropped).jpg Txiki Benegas 1979 (cropped).jpg Portrait placeholder.svg
Leader Carlos Garaikoetxea Txiki Benegas
Party EAJ/PNV PSE–PSOE HB
Leader sinceApril 197726 February 1978
Leader's seat Guipúzcoa Biscay
Last election25 seats, 38.0%9 seats, 14.2%11 seats, 16.5%
Seats won321911
Seat change Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 7 Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 10 Arrow Blue Right 001.svg 0
Popular vote451,178247,786157,389
Percentage41.8%23.0%14.6%
Swing Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 3.8 pp Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 8.8 pp Red Arrow Down.svg 1.9 pp

 Fourth partyFifth party
  Jaime Mayor Oreja 2009b (cropped).jpg Portrait placeholder.svg
Leader Jaime Mayor Oreja Mario Onaindia
Party AP–PDP–UL EE
Leader since19841982
Leader's seat Guipúzcoa Álava
Last election2 seats, 4.8% [lower-alpha 1] 6 seats, 9.8%
Seats won76
Seat change Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 5 Arrow Blue Right 001.svg 0
Popular vote100,58185,671
Percentage9.3%7.9%
Swing Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 4.5 pp Red Arrow Down.svg 1.9 pp

BasqueCountryProvinceMapParliament1984.png
Vote winner strength by constituency

Lehendakari before election

Carlos Garaikoetxea
EAJ/PNV

Elected Lehendakari

Carlos Garaikoetxea
EAJ/PNV

The 1984 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 26 February 1984, to elect the 2nd Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

Contents

The Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) won 32 seats, the Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) came second with 19 seats, People's Unity (HB) came third with 11 seats, the People's Coalition (APPDPUL) won 7 seats, and Basque Country Left (EE) won 6 seats.

Overview

Electoral system

The Basque Parliament was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of the Basque Country, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Basque Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a lehendakari. [1] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Basque Country and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 75 members of the Basque Parliament were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes [lower-alpha 2] being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Álava, Biscay and Guipúzcoa, with each being allocated a fixed number of 25 seats in order to provide for an equal parliamentary representation of the three provinces, as required under the regional statute of autonomy. [1] [2]

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least 500 electors in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. [2] [3]

Election date

The term of the Basque Parliament expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. An election was required to take place within from thirty-six and forty-five days from the date of expiry of parliament. The previous election was held on 9 March 1980, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 9 March 1984. The election was required to be held no later than the forty-fifth day from dissolution, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Monday, 23 April 1984. [1] [2]

After legal amendments in 1981, the lehendakari was granted the prerogative to dissolve the Basque Parliament at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a lehendakari within a sixty-day period from the Parliament re-assembly, the Parliament was to be dissolved and a fresh election called. [4]

Opinion polls

The tables below lists opinion polling results 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 poll.

Voting intention estimates

The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Basque Parliament (31 until 11 December 1983).

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Victory likelihood

The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.

Preferred Lehendakari

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become Lehendakari.

Results

Overall

Summary of the 26 February 1984 Basque Parliament election results
BasqueParliamentDiagram1984.svg
Parties and alliancesPopular voteSeats
Votes %±pp Total+/−
Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV)451,17841.81+3.8632+7
Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE)247,78622.96+8.8019+10
Popular Unity (HB)157,38914.59–1.8911±0
People's Coalition (APPDPUL)1100,5819.32+4.567+5
Basque Country Left (EE)85,6717.94–1.846±0
Communist Party of the Basque Country (PCE/EPK)14,9851.39–2.620–1
Neighborhood Labor (Auzolan)210,7140.99–0.760±0
Left Socialist Candidacy (CSI)2,5070.23New0±0
Workers' Socialist Party (PST)2,1730.20–0.030±0
Communist Party of Spain (Marxist–Leninist) (PCE (m–l))1,0440.10New0±0
Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) n/a n/a–8.490–6
Blank ballots [lower-alpha 5] 5,0290.47+0.08
Total1,079,05775+15
Valid votes1,079,05799.42+0.41
Invalid votes6,2470.58–0.41
Votes cast / turnout1,085,30468.49+8.73
Abstentions499,23631.51–8.73
Registered voters1,584,540
Sources [5] [6]
Footnotes:
Popular vote
EAJ/PNV
41.81%
PSE–PSOE
22.96%
HB
14.59%
AP–PDP–UL
9.32%
EE
7.94%
PCE/EPK
1.39%
Others
1.52%
Blank ballots
0.47%
Seats
EAJ/PNV
42.67%
PSE–PSOE
25.33%
HB
14.67%
AP–PDP–UL
9.33%
EE
8.00%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency PNV PSE HB CP EE
 %S %S %S %S %S
Álava 35.5925.1710.8316.247.72
Biscay 43.81223.1612.939.427.42
Guipúzcoa 40.81122.1618.756.818.92
Total41.83223.01914.6119.377.96
Sources [5] [6]

Aftermath

Investiture
Ballot →11 April 198412 April 1984
Required majority →38 out of 75Simple
32 / 75
X mark.svg
32 / 75
Yes check.svg
Blank ballots
32 / 75
32 / 75
Absentees
  • HB (11)
11 / 75
11 / 75
Sources [5]

Notes

  1. Results for AP in the 1980 election.
  2. Unlike other electoral legislation in Spain, valid votes under the 1983 Basque electoral law did not include blank ballots.
  3. 1 2 3 Undecided and/or abstentionists excluded.
  4. 1 2 Within AP–PDP–PDL–UCD.
  5. The 1983 electoral law provided that blank ballots would not count as valid votes for the application of the 5 percent threshold in each district. However, this rule was not determinant in excluding any party from seat distribution during its time of application (the 1984 and 1986 elections). As a result, and for comparison purposes, blank ballots are shown here included within valid votes.

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References

Opinion poll sources
  1. 1 2 3 "Preelectoral País Vasco 1984 (V) (Estudio nº 1.400. Febrero 1984)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 20 February 1984.
  2. 1 2 "El PNV alcanza la mayoría absoluta en Euskadi, con un 23% de votantes indecisos". El País (in Spanish). 19 February 1984.
  3. "Probable mayoría absoluta del PNV en las elecciones del próximo domingo en Euskadi". El País (in Spanish). 19 February 1984.
  4. "Ficha técnica del sondeo". El País (in Spanish). 19 February 1984.
  5. 1 2 "Alianza Popular confía conseguir en Cataluña el 14 por ciento de los votos". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 31 January 1984.
  6. 1 2 3 "Los partidos vascos ven muy difícil un pacto de Gobierno tras las elecciones". ABC (in Spanish). 22 January 1984.
  7. "PNV se mantiene y PSOE baja, según una encuesta relativa a las próximas elecciones autonómicas". Diario de Navarra (in Spanish). 2 January 1984.
  8. "Socialistas y EE pueden desbancar a Herri Batasuna en unas próximas elecciones". Diario de Navarra (in Spanish). 25 August 1982.
  9. 1 2 3 "Preelectoral País Vasco 1984 (IV) (Estudio nº 1393. Febrero 1984)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 10 February 1984.
  10. 1 2 3 "Sondeo pre-electoral País Vasco (Febrero 1984. E. 1.388)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 1 February 1984.
  11. 1 2 "Sondeo preelectoral País Vasco (Enero 1984. E. 1387)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 27 January 1984.
  12. 1 2 3 "Estudio 1.378 ("País Vasco". Diciembre 1983)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 1 November 1983.
  13. 1 2 3 "Resultados sondeo País Vasco. Estudio nº 1367" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 1 September 1983.
Other
  1. 1 2 3 Ley Orgánica 3/1979, de 18 de diciembre, de Estatuto de Autonomía para el País Vasco (Organic Law 3) (in Spanish). 18 December 1979. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Ley 28/1983, de 25 de noviembre, de Elecciones al Parlamento Vasco (Law 28) (in Spanish). 25 November 1983. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  3. Real Decreto-ley 20/1977, de 18 de marzo, sobre Normas Electorales (Royal Decree-Law 20) (in Spanish). 18 March 1977. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  4. Government Law of 1981 (Law 7) (in Spanish). 30 June 1981. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 "Elecciones al Parlamento Vasco / Eusko Legebilitzarra (1980 - 2020)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Election Results Archive". euskadi.eus (in Spanish). Basque Government. Retrieved 24 September 2017.