2007 Extremaduran regional election

2007 Extremaduran regional election

←  2003 27 May 2007 2011  →
All 65 seats in the Assembly of Extremadura 33 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	893,547 1.4%
Turnout	669,752 (75.0%) 0.6 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Guillermo Fernández Vara Carlos Floriano Víctor Casco Party PSOE–r PP–EU IU–SIEx Leader since 20 September 2006 13 October 2000 30 November 2003 Leader's seat Badajoz Cáceres Cáceres (lost) Last election 36 seats, 51.7% 26 seats, 40.5% [a] 3 seats, 6.3% Seats won 38 27 0 Seat change 2 1 3 Popular vote 352,342 257,392 41,448 Percentage 53.0% 38.7% 4.5% Swing 1.3 pp 1.8 pp 1.8 pp
Constituency results map for the Assembly of Extremadura
President before election Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra PSOE Elected President Guillermo Fernández Vara PSOE

A regional election was held in Extremadura on Sunday, 27 May 2007, to elect the 7th 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.

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) leader Guillermo Fernández Vara, who replaced Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra as his party's candidate after 25 years of rule in the region, went on to win a comfortable absolute majority with 38 out of 65 seats, almost equalling the party's best result in the region in 1991. The opposition People's Party (PP), which for this election ran in coalition with regionalist United Extremadura (EU) party, was unable to make any significant gains, winning 1 seat to 2003 but losing ground when compared with the combined PP-EU vote share of that year's election.

United Left (IU), for the first time in its history, was unable to meet the 5% party threshold either regionally or in any of the provinces and was left out of the Assembly, this being the only time that just two parties had parliamentary representation in the Extremaduran Assembly.

Overview

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]

Electoral system

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]}

Election date

The term of the Assembly of Extremadura expired four years after the date of its previous election, with election day being fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth 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 25 May 2003, setting the date for election day on Sunday, 27 May 2007.

The regional president 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 parliament's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution. ^{[9] [11]} 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. ^[12] 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 original four-year term. ^[11]

The election to the Assembly of Extremadura was officially called on 3 April 2007 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the DOE, setting election day for 27 May. ^[6]

Outgoing parliament

The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of the election call. ^{[13] [14]}

Parliamentary composition in April 2007

Groups		Parties		Legislators
				Seats	Total
	Socialist Parliamentary Group		PSOE	34	36
			PREx–CREx	2
	People's Parliamentary Group		PP	26	26
	Mixed Parliamentary Group		IU	2	3
			SIEx	1

Parties and candidates

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. ^{[15] [16]} Amendments to the electoral law in 2007 introduced requirements for a balanced composition of men and women in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition. ^[17]

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–r	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) Extremaduran Coalition (PREx–CREx) – Extremaduran Regionalist Party (PREx) – Regionalist Convergence of Extremadura (CREx)		Guillermo Fernández Vara	Social democracy	51.7%	36		[18] [19] [20]
	PP–EU	List People's Party (PP) United Extremadura (EU)		Carlos Floriano	Conservatism Christian democracy	40.5% [a]	26		[21] [22] [23]
	IU–SIEx	List United Left (IU) – Communist Party of Extremadura (PCEx) – Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR) Independent Socialists of Extremadura (SIEx)		Víctor Casco	Socialism Communism	6.3%	3		[24] [25] [26]

Opinion polls

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.

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

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				Lead
2007 regional election	27 May 2007	—	75.0	53.0 38	38.7 27	4.5 0	14.3
Ipsos/RTVE–FORTA [p 1] [p 2]	27 May 2007	?	?	? 35/38	? 24/27	? 2/3	?
Celeste-Tel/Terra [p 3] [p 4]	9–15 May 2007	?	?	50.9 34/35	39.8 27/28	6.2 3	11.1
TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3 [p 5]	14 May 2007	?	?	? 35/37	? 27/29	? 0/2	?
Opinòmetre/El Periódico [p 6]	10–14 May 2007	?	?	? 33/34	? 27/28	? 4/5	?
CEPS/PP [b] [p 7] [p 8]	8 May 2007	2,761	71.9	46.6 30/31	48.5 32/33	4.9 2/3	1.9
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 9] [p 10]	27 Apr–8 May 2007	700	?	50.1 34/36	42.3 29/31	3.4 0	7.8
CIS [p 11] [p 12]	9 Apr–6 May 2007	1,199	?	52.1 35	39.0 27	6.0 3	13.1
Synovate/PSOE [p 13] [p 14]	27 Apr 2007	1,000	?	50.3– 52.0 34/35	41.0– 41.6 27/28	5.5 2/3	9.3– 10.4
Investiga/Canal Extremadura [p 15]	10–23 Apr 2007	1,021	?	? 38/39	? 23/24	? 3/4	?
CEPS/PP [b] [p 16] [p 17]	17 Apr 2007	1,100	69.8	48.3 31	46.7 31	5.0 3	1.6
Opina/PSOE [p 18] [p 19] [p 20]	25–29 Nov 2006	1,200	?	50.1 35	40.8 29	5.0 1	9.3
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 21] [p 22] [p 23]	16–24 Nov 2006	?	?	49.3 33/35	41.4 27/29	5.5 3	7.9
Opinòmetre/El Periódico [p 24]	2–10 Nov 2006	?	?	? 32/33	? 29/30	? 3	?
Synovate/PSOE [p 25] [p 26]	8–10 Mar 2006	813	?	51.1 36	40.5 27	5.2 2	10.6
2004 EP election	13 Jun 2004	—	49.5	52.2 (35)	43.2 (30)	2.6 (0)	9.0
2004 general election	14 Mar 2004	—	79.3	51.2 (35)	42.4 (30)	3.5 (0)	8.8
2003 regional election	25 May 2003	—	75.6	51.7 36	38.7 26	6.3 3	13.0

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size				?	N	Lead
2007 regional election	27 May 2007	—	39.9	29.3	3.4	—	23.9	10.6
Opinòmetre/El Periódico [p 6]	10–14 May 2007	?	36.0	27.2	3.5	25.0	5.5	8.8
CEPS/PP [p 7]	8 May 2007	2,761	28.2	32.3	2.4	5.7	22.4	4.1
CIS [p 11]	9 Apr–6 May 2007	1,199	42.6	18.4	2.9	30.1	4.3	24.2
CEPS/PP [p 16]	17 Apr 2007	1,100	33.7	32.6	3.5	30.2		1.1
Opinòmetre/El Periódico [p 24]	2–10 Nov 2006	?	27.0	20.8	1.8	30.8	14.9	6.2
2004 EP election	13 Jun 2004	—	25.9	21.5	1.3	—	50.2	4.4
2004 general election	14 Mar 2004	—	41.1	34.1	2.8	—	19.1	7.0
2003 regional election	25 May 2003	—	39.4	29.6	4.8	—	23.0	9.8

Victory preferences

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 11]	9 Apr–6 May 2007	1,199	50.9	23.2	2.7	4.2	19.0	27.7
Opina/PSOE [p 19]	25–29 Nov 2006	1,200	43.7	28.7	2.4	4.4	20.8	15.0

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.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size				Other/ None	?	Lead
CIS [p 11]	9 Apr–6 May 2007	1,199	70.0	7.5	0.2	0.2	22.2	62.5

Preferred President

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Regional Government of Extremadura.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size				Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Vara PSOE	Floriano PP	Casco IU
Opinòmetre/El Periódico [p 6]	10–14 May 2007	?	22.6	13.6	0.7	20.1	43.0	9.0
CIS [p 11]	9 Apr–6 May 2007	1,199	42.9	20.5	2.8	0.8	33.1	22.4
Investiga/Canal Extremadura [p 15]	10–23 Apr 2007	1,021	35.0	22.3	2.9	–	36.0	12.7
Opina/PSOE [p 18] [p 19]	25–29 Nov 2006	1,200	41.3	24.5	–	–	–	16.8

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 27 May 2007 Assembly of Extremadura election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party–Regionalists (PSOE–regionalistas)	352,342	53.00	+1.34	38	+2
	People's Party–United Extremadura (PP–EU)1	257,392	38.71	−1.83	27	+1
	United Left–Independent Socialists of Extremadura (IU–SIEx)	30,028	4.52	−1.75	0	−3
	Independents for Extremadura (IPEx)	8,389	1.26	New	0	±0
	The Greens of Extremadura (LV)	4,082	0.61	New	0	±0
	Extremaduran People's Union (UPEx)	1,520	0.23	New	0	±0
	Living Initiative (IH)	958	0.14	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	903	0.14	New	0	±0
	Citizens for Blank Votes (CenB)	499	0.08	New	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	445	0.07	New	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	370	0.06	−0.10	0	±0
Blank ballots		7,926	1.19	−0.18
Total		664,854			65	±0
Valid votes		664,854	99.27	+0.08
Invalid votes		4,898	0.73	−0.08
Votes cast / turnout		669,752	74.95	−0.68
Abstentions		223,795	25.05	+0.68
Registered voters		893,547
Sources [13] [27]
Footnotes: 1 People's Party–United Extremadura results are compared to the combined totals of the People's Party and United Extremadura in the 2003 election.

Popular vote

PSOE–r			53.00%
PP–EU			38.71%
IU–SIEx			4.52%
IPEx			1.26%
Others			1.32%
Blank ballots			1.19%

Seats

PSOE–r			58.46%
PP–EU			41.54%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PSOE–r		PP–EU
	%	S	%	S
Badajoz	53.8	21	37.7	14
Cáceres	51.8	17	40.2	13
Total	53.0	38	38.7	27
Sources [13] [27]

Aftermath

Investiture Guillermo Fernández Vara (PSOE)
Ballot →		27 June 2007
Required majority →		33 out of 65 Y
	Yes • PSOE–r (37)	37 / 65
	No • PP–EU (27)	27 / 65
	Abstentions	0 / 65
	Absentees • PSOE–r (1)	1 / 65
Sources [13]

Notes

1. Results for PP (38.7%, 26 seats) and EU (1.8%, 0 seats) in the 2003 election.
2. Undecided and/or abstentionists excluded.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Sólo Navarra y Baleares podrían cambiar de gobierno, según el sondeo de RTVE y FORTA". Europa Press (in Spanish). 27 May 2007.
2. "Las "israelitas" no aclaran el futuro político de Guadalajara". La Crónica de Guadalajara (in Spanish). 27 May 2007. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
3. "Vuelco electoral en Navarra, Baleares y Canarias y aplastante victoria del PP en Madrid". Terra (in Spanish). 17 May 2007. Archived from the original on 20 May 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
4. "Encuestas autonómicas". Celeste-Tel (in Spanish). 17 May 2007. Archived from the original on 11 May 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
5. "¿Cree que son fiables las encuestas electorales?". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 15 May 2007.
6. "Vara logra mayoría absoluta y PP e IU mejoran sus resultados". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 20 May 2007.
7. "Una encuesta del PP le da la victoria en Extremadura con una ventaja de 1,4 puntos por delante de PSOE". Europa Press (in Spanish). 8 May 2007.
8. "Una encuesta encargada por el PP y realizada por buzoneo le da mayoría". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 9 May 2007.
9. "Sondeo de Sigma Dos: El PSOE mantendría sus comunidades si revalida las coaliciones". El Mundo (in Spanish). 13 May 2007.
10. "Elecciones 27-M / Sondeo El Mundo-Sigma Dos". El Mundo (in Spanish). 12 May 2007.
11. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas, 2007. CA de Extremadura (Estudio nº 2695. Abril-Mayo 2007)". CIS (in Spanish). 11 May 2007.
12. "La aritmética juega en contra del PSOE sólo en las islas Canarias". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 12 May 2007.
13. "Un nuevo sondeo del PSOE da a Vara mayoría con 34-35 escaños". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 28 April 2007.
14. "El PSOE da a conocer una encuesta en la que mantendría la mayoría absoluta". Hoy (in Spanish). 28 April 2007. Archived from the original on 5 May 2007.
15. "Una nueva encuesta da mayoría absoluta al PSOE en la Asamblea". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 5 May 2007.
16. "Una encuesta del PP refleja un empate entre Vara y Floriano". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 18 April 2007.
17. "Empate con el PSOE en Extremadura". La Razón (in Spanish). 18 April 2007. Archived from the original on 6 May 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
18. "Una encuesta del PSOE da a Vara mayoría absoluta". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 24 December 2006.
19. "Una encuesta del PSOE extremeño le da la mayoría absoluta en la región con 35 escaños, uno menos que en 2003". Europa Press (in Spanish). 25 December 2006.
20. "La lluvia de sondeos ya ha calado". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 11 May 2007.
21. "El PP y el PSOE mantendrán sus gobiernos autonómicos, aunque los socialistas bajan". El Mundo (in Spanish). 27 November 2006.
22. "El voto en las comunidades. Elecciones autonómicas 2007" (PDF). El Mundo (in Spanish). 27 November 2006.
23. "Los socialistas, sin Ibarra, bajan pero mantienen la mayoría absoluta". El Mundo (in Spanish). 27 November 2006. Archived from the original on 4 November 2011.
24. "El PSOE ganaría hoy las elecciones, pero sería dudosa la mayoría absoluta". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 19 November 2006.
25. "Una encuesta del PSOE le da otra victoria electoral en las elecciones". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 6 May 2006.
26. "Floriano recorta distancias con Ibarra, según un sondeo encargado por el PSOE". ABC (in Spanish). 6 May 2006.

Other

1. Statute (1983) , art. 19.
2. Statute (1983) , art. 21.
3. LEEx (1987) , art. 2.
4. LOREG (1985) , arts. 2–3.
5. LEEx (1987) , arts. 17–19.
6. Decreto del Presidente 3/2007, de 2 de abril, por el que se convocan elecciones a la Asamblea de Extremadura (PDF) (Decree 3/2007). Official Journal of Extremadura (in Spanish). 2 April 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
7. LEEx (1987) , arts. 19 & 26.
8. LOREG (1985) , arts. 46 & 48.
9. LEEx (1987) , arts. 22–23.
10. LOREG (1985) , art. 42.
11. Statute (1983) , art. 34.
12. Statute (1983) , art. 31.
13. Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones a la Asamblea de Extremadura (desde 1983)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2025.
14. "Grupos Parlamentarios VI Legislatura". Assembly of Extremadura (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2025.
15. LEEx (1987) , arts. 25–26.
16. LOREG (1985) , art. 44.
17. LOREG (1985) , art. 44 bis.
18. "Ibarra.- PREX CREX desea al PSOE "suerte" y recuerda que en octubre decidirá si mantiene la coalición" (in Spanish). Mérida: Europa Press. 19 September 2006. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
19. García, Salomé (20 September 2006). "Ibarra anuncia que no optará a otra reelección en Extremadura". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
20. "Fernández Vara, elegido por la Ejecutiva Regional del PSOE para suceder a Ibarra". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 20 September 2006. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
21. "Floriano, reelegido presidente del PP extremeño". El Mundo (in Spanish). EFE. 23 October 2004. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
22. "Partido Popular y Extremadura Unida irán en coalición en las autonómicas". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 22 May 2006. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
23. "El Comité Ejecutivo Regional del PP aprueba por unanimidad a Floriano como candidato a la Junta en los próximos comicios" (in Spanish). Mérida: Europa Press. 26 May 2006. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
24. "IU elegirá el 30 de noviembre al sucesor de Manuel Cañada". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 10 September 2003. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
25. "Víctor Casco". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 10 September 2003. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
26. "Casco es elegido candidato de IU a la Junta en una asamblea con polémica". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 18 December 2006. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
27. "Resolución de 6 de junio de 2007, de la Junta Electoral de Extremadura, por la que se hacen públicos los resultados del Escrutinio General y Proclamación de Diputados Electos a la Asamblea de Extremadura, efectuada por las Juntas Electorales Provinciales de Cáceres y Badajoz, resultante de las Elecciones al Parlamento Extremeño celebradas el día 27 de mayo de 2007" (PDF). Official Journal of Extremadura (in Spanish) (65): 10267–10268. 7 June 2007. ISSN   2483-5188 . Retrieved 15 November 2025.

Bibliography

• Ley Orgánica 1/1983, de 25 de febrero, de Estatuto de Autonomía de Extremadura (Organic Law 1/1983). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 25 February 1983 [version as of 2 July 2002]. BOE-A-1983-6190. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
• Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5/1985). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 19 June 1985 [version as of 20 April 2007]. BOE-A-1985-11672. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
• Ley 2/1987, de 16 de marzo, de Elecciones a la Asamblea de Extremadura (Law 2/1987). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 16 March 1987 [version as of 26 March 1991]. BOE-A-1987-8817. Retrieved 7 October 2025.