26 May 1991 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 65 seats in the Assembly of Extremadura 33 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 824,866 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 583,172 (70.8%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Constituency results map for the Assembly of Extremadura | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A regional election was held in Extremadura on Sunday, 26 May 1991, to elect the 3rd Assembly of the autonomous community. All 65 seats in the Assembly were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) won the largest absolute majority a party would achieve in a regional election in the history of Extremadura, with 39 out of 65 seats (60% of the seats) and slightly above 54% of the vote share. The newly founded People's Party, successor of the late People's Alliance, recovered from AP 1987 results and gained two seats. The Democratic and Social Centre lost seats and votes, falling behind United Left (IU), which gained support and finished in third place for the first time in a regional election. Meanwhile, the regionalist United Extremadura (EU) lost more than half its support and was left out from the Assembly, losing all its seats.
As a result of the election, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra was elected for a third consecutive term in office.
Under the 1983 Statute of Autonomy, the Assembly of Extremadura was the unicameral legislature of the homonymous autonomous community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president. [1]
Voting for the Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Extremadura and in full enjoyment of their political rights, provided that they were not sentenced—by a final court ruling—to deprivation of the right to vote, nor being legally incapacitated. [2] [3] [4]
The Assembly of Extremadura was entitled to a maximum of 65 seats, with the electoral law setting its size at that number. All members were elected in two multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Badajoz and Cáceres, with each being allocated an initial minimum of 20 seats and the remaining 25 being distributed in proportion to their populations—using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional voting system, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes (which included blank ballots) being applied in each constituency. Alternatively, parties failing to reach the threshold in one of the constituencies were also entitled to enter the seat distribution as long as they ran candidates in both districts and reached five percent regionally. [2] [5]
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Assembly constituency was entitled the following seats: [6]
| Seats | Constituencies |
|---|---|
| 35 | Badajoz |
| 30 | Cáceres |
The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacated seats; instead, any vacancies that occurred after the proclamation of candidates and into the legislative term were to be covered by the successive candidates in the list and, when required, by the designated substitutes. [7] [8]
The term of the Assembly of Extremadura expired four years after the date of its previous ordinary election, with amendments earlier in 1991 fixing election day for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The election decree was required to be issued between the fifty-fourth and sixtieth day prior to the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official Journal of Extremadura (DOE). [2] [9] [10] The previous election was held on 10 June 1987, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 26 May 1991.
The Assembly of Extremadura 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 Assembly was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their original four-year term. [9] [11]
The election to the Assembly of Extremadura was officially called on 2 April 1991 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the DOE, setting election day for 26 May. [6]
The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of the election call. [12] [13]
| Groups | Parties | Legislators | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Total | ||||
| Socialist Parliamentary Group | PSOE | 34 | 34 | ||
| People's Parliamentary Group | PP | 17 | 17 | ||
| CDS Parliamentary Group | CDS | 8 | 8 | ||
| Mixed Parliamentary Group | EU | 2 | 6 | ||
| IU | 2 | ||||
| PREx | 2 | ||||
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance 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 two percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. [14] [15]
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:
| Candidacy | Parties and alliances | Candidate | Ideology | Previous result | Gov. | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vote % | Seats | ||||||||
| PSOE | List | | Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra | Social democracy | 49.2% | 34 | [16] | ||
| PP | List
| | Luis Ramallo | Conservatism Christian democracy | 25.4% [a] | 17 | |||
| CDS | List | | Tomás Martín Tamayo | Centrism Liberalism | 12.4% | 8 | |||
| EU | List
| | Pedro Cañada | Regionalism Conservatism | 5.8% | 4 | |||
| IU | List
| | Manuel Pareja | Socialism Communism | 5.4% | 2 | |||
The tables below list 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.
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; 33 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Assembly of Extremadura.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | | | | | | | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 regional election | 26 May 1991 | N/a | 70.8 | 54.2 39 | [b] | 5.7 3 | 2.5 0 | 7.1 4 | 26.8 19 | 27.4 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 1] [p 2] | 18 May 1991 | ? | ? | 53.4 38/39 | [b] | 5.3 2/3 | – | 8.8 5/7 | 25.4 18/19 | 28.0 |
| Metra Seis/El Independiente [p 1] [p 2] | 12 May 1991 | ? | ? | 47.0 35 | [b] | 6.7 4 | 8.7 6 | 5.8 2 | 25.5 18 | 21.5 |
| Demoscopia/El País [p 1] [p 2] [p 3] [p 4] | 4–7 May 1991 | 400 | ? | 53.3 36/37 | [b] | 5.3 3 | 6.1 3/4 | 8.6 4 | 25.0 18 | 28.3 |
| 1989 general election | 29 Oct 1989 | N/a | 75.6 | 53.9 (37) | [b] | 9.5 (6) | 1.8 (0) | 6.9 (4) | 25.0 (18) | 28.9 |
| 1989 EP election | 15 Jun 1989 | N/a | 60.4 | 54.8 (41) | [b] | 8.6 (5) | 2.3 (0) | 4.9 (3) | 21.8 (16) | 33.0 |
| 1987 regional election | 10 Jun 1987 | N/a | 74.4 | 49.2 34 | 24.2 17 | 12.4 8 | 5.8 4 | 5.4 2 | – | 25.0 |
The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | | | | | | | Lead | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 regional election | 26 May 1991 | N/a | 38.0 | [b] | 4.0 | 1.7 | 5.0 | 18.8 | N/a | 29.0 | 19.2 |
| CIS [p 5] | 13–25 Mar 1991 | 1,058 | 49.0 | [b] | 3.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 26.0 | 4.0 | 39.0 |
| CIS [p 6] [p 7] | 4–17 Feb 1991 | 1,576 | 49.5 | [b] | 2.7 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 10.5 | 22.6 | 5.2 | 39.0 |
| CIS [p 8] [p 9] | 15–29 Dec 1990 | 1,721 | 47.8 | [b] | 2.3 | 3.4 | 7.3 | 12.0 | 18.1 | 7.9 | 35.8 |
| CIS [p 10] [p 11] | 24 May–2 Jun 1990 | 1,000 | 42.1 | [b] | 3.0 | 3.4 | 7.5 | 12.5 | 25.5 | 4.8 | 29.6 |
| 1989 general election | 29 Oct 1989 | N/a | 40.5 | [b] | 7.2 | 1.3 | 5.2 | 18.8 | N/a | 24.3 | 21.7 |
| CIS [p 12] [p 13] | 20–29 Jul 1989 | 1,000 | 44.9 | [b] | 7.3 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 8.3 | 22.8 | 8.0 | 36.6 |
| 1989 EP election | 15 Jun 1989 | N/a | 32.8 | [b] | 5.2 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 13.0 | N/a | 39.5 | 19.8 |
| CIS [p 14] [p 15] | 18–28 Dec 1988 | 999 | 37.2 | 9.6 | 6.5 | 5.9 | 3.9 | – | 27.5 | 8.7 | 27.6 |
| 1987 regional election | 10 Jun 1987 | N/a | 36.2 | 17.8 | 9.1 | 4.3 | 4.0 | – | N/a | 25.6 | 18.4 |
The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | | | | | | Other/ None | Lead | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIS [p 5] | 13–25 Mar 1991 | 1,058 | 54.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 11.0 | 17.0 | 5.0 | 43.0 |
| CIS [p 6] | 4–17 Feb 1991 | 1,576 | 51.0 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 5.5 | 11.6 | 19.6 | 5.7 | 39.4 |
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | ||
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 314,384 | 54.16 | +4.98 | 39 | +5 | |
| People's Party (PP)1 | 155,485 | 26.78 | +1.34 | 19 | +2 | |
| United Left (IU) | 41,290 | 7.11 | +1.70 | 4 | +2 | |
| Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 33,291 | 5.73 | −6.62 | 3 | −5 | |
| United Extremadura (EU) | 14,503 | 2.50 | −3.31 | 0 | −4 | |
| Extremaduran Regionalist Party (PREx) | 8,660 | 1.49 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| The Greens (LV) | 6,011 | 1.04 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) | 2,379 | 0.41 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Blank ballots | 4,508 | 0.78 | −0.02 | |||
| Total | 580,511 | 65 | ±0 | |||
| Valid votes | 580,511 | 99.34 | +0.33 | |||
| Invalid votes | 3,867 | 0.66 | −0.33 | |||
| Votes cast / turnout | 584,378 | 70.85 | −3.54 | |||
| Abstentions | 240,488 | 29.15 | +3.54 | |||
| Registered voters | 824,866 | |||||
| Sources [12] [17] [18] | ||||||
Footnotes:
| ||||||
| Constituency | PSOE | PP | IU | CDS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | |
| Badajoz | 56.3 | 21 | 25.1 | 9 | 8.7 | 3 | 5.9 | 2 |
| Cáceres | 50.9 | 18 | 29.3 | 10 | 4.8 | 1 | 5.5 | 1 |
| Total | 54.2 | 39 | 26.8 | 19 | 7.1 | 4 | 5.7 | 3 |
| Sources [12] [17] [18] | ||||||||
| Investiture Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra (PSOE) | ||
| Ballot → | 2 July 1991 | |
|---|---|---|
| Required majority → | 33 out of 65 | |
Yes
| 39 / 65 | |
23 / 65 | ||
| Abstentions | 0 / 65 | |
Absentees
| 3 / 65 | |
| Sources [12] | ||