2011 Cantabrian regional election

2011 Cantabrian regional election

←  2007 22 May 2011 2015  →
All 39 seats in the Parliament of Cantabria 20 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	494,955 1.9%
Turnout	345,439 (69.8%) 2.2 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Ignacio Diego Miguel Ángel Revilla Dolores Gorostiaga Party PP PRC PSOE Leader since 13 November 2004 1983 16 December 2000 Last election 17 seats, 41.5% 12 seats, 28.6% 10 seats, 24.5% Seats won 20 12 7 Seat change 3 0 3 Popular vote 156,499 98,887 55,541 Percentage 46.1% 29.1% 16.4% Swing 4.6 pp 0.5 pp 8.1 pp
President before election Miguel Ángel Revilla PRC Elected President Ignacio Diego PP

The 2011 Cantabrian regional election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th Parliament of the autonomous community of Cantabria. All 39 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in 12 other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

The Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC) and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) had formed the government of the region since the 2003 election. However, the election was won by the People's Party (PP) which gained three seats from the PSOE. This was the first absolute majority of seats won by the PP, although its predecessor, the People's Alliance achieved the same feat at the 1983 election under the banner of the People's Coalition.

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of Cantabria was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Cantabria, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Cantabrian Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Autonomous Community. ^[1] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Cantabria and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Cantabrians abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish : Voto rogado). ^[2]

The 39 members of the Parliament of Cantabria were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally. ^{[1] [3]}

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 Cantabria. 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. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Election date

The term of the Parliament of Cantabria expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Parliament were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 27 May 2007, setting the election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 22 May 2011. ^{[1] [3] [4] [5]}

The President of the Autonomous Community had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Cantabria 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 legislature's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year has elapsed since a previous dissolution. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called. 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 four-year terms. ^[1]

Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates 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. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 20 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Cantabria.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout		PRC				Lead
2011 regional election	22 May 2011	—	69.8	46.1 20	29.1 12	16.4 7	3.3 0	1.7 0	17.0
NC Report/La Razón [p 1] [p 2]	3–10 May 2011	?	?	43.9 19/20	? 11/12	? 8	–	–	?
TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3 [p 3] [p 4]	3–4 May 2011	500	?	45.5 19/20	27.7 12	17.9 7/8	–	–	17.8
Ikerfel/Vocento [p 5] [p 6] [p 7] [p 8]	21–28 Apr 2011	2,500	?	43.3 18/19	28.4 11/12	22.0 9	2.3 0	–	14.9
NC Report/La Razón [p 9]	25 Apr 2011	?	?	45.9 20	26.3 11	20.8 8	2.9 0	–	19.6
Celeste-Tel/Terra [p 10]	13–20 Apr 2011	400	?	45.9 20	27.3 11	18.3 7	3.4 1	–	18.6
CIS [p 11] [p 12]	17 Mar–17 Apr 2011	800	?	40.9 18	29.6 13	19.7 8	2.8 0	2.5 0	11.3
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 13]	11–14 Apr 2011	400	?	48.7 20/21	25.2 10/11	20.3 8	–	–	23.5
Ikerfel/El Diario Montañés [p 14]	30 Mar–3 Apr 2011	600	?	41.3 17/18	29.5 12/13	21.4 9	–	–	11.8
GAD/ABC [p 15]	22–25 Feb 2011	600	?	46.2 19/20	27.9 11/12	19.1 7/8	–	–	18.3
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 16]	22–27 Dec 2010	400	?	47.7 20/21	26.1 10/11	20.4 8	–	–	21.6
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 17] [p 18]	17–19 May 2010	400	?	48.1 20	25.2 10/11	21.4 8/9	2.2 0	–	22.9
Área Consulting y Estrategias [p 19]	25 Jan–3 Feb 2010	800	?	44.1 19/20	28.7 12/13	17.6 7	3.6 0	–	15.4
2009 EP election	7 Jun 2009	—	50.8	50.7 (22)	–	39.9 (17)	2.0 (0)	3.2 (0)	10.8
2008 general election	9 Mar 2008	—	76.4	50.0 (21)	–	43.6 (18)	2.3 (0)	1.4 (0)	6.4
2007 regional election	27 May 2007	—	72.0	41.5 17	28.6 12	24.5 10	1.9* 0	–	12.9
(*) Results for Assembly for Cantabria.

Results

← Summary of the 22 May 2011 Parliament of Cantabria election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	156,499	46.09	+4.61	20	+3
	Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC)	98,887	29.12	+0.48	12	±0
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	55,541	16.36	–8.18	7	–3
	Social and Ecologist Left (IU–IA)1	11,277	3.32	+1.44	0	±0
	Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)	5,835	1.72	New	0	±0
	National Front–Republican Social Movement (FrN–MSR)	1,257	0.37	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	1,108	0.33	+0.12	0	±0
	Engine and Sports Alternative (AMD)	916	0.27	+0.15	0	±0
	Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn)	517	0.15	New	0	±0
	Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL)	387	0.11	–0.08	0	±0
Blank ballots		7,328	2.16	+0.45
Total		339,552			39	±0
Valid votes		339,552	98.30	–0.76
Invalid votes		5,887	1.70	+0.76
Votes cast / turnout		345,439	69.79	–2.18
Abstentions		149,516	30.21	+2.18
Registered voters		494,955
Sources [6] [7] [8]
Footnotes: 1 Social and Ecologist Left results are compared to Assembly for Cantabria totals in the 2007 election.

Popular vote PP   46.09% PRC   29.12% PSOE   16.36% IU–IA   3.32% UPyD   1.72% Others   1.23% Blank ballots   2.16%

Seats PP   51.28% PRC   30.77% PSOE   17.95%

Aftermath

Investiture Ignacio Diego (PP)
Ballot →		23 June 2011
Required majority →		20 out of 39 Y
	Yes • PP (20)	20 / 39
	No • PRC (12) • PSOE (7)	19 / 39
	Abstentions	0 / 39
	Absentees	0 / 39
Sources [8]

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "El PP doblega al PSOE a siete días de la cita electoral". La Razón (in Spanish). 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011.
2. "Vuelco en Cantabria (La Razón)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
3. "El PP podría obtener mayoría absoluta en Cantabria". Antena 3 (in Spanish). 6 May 2011.
4. "Encuesta de TNS para Antena 3 y Onda Cero. Elecciones 22M. Expectativas electorales en Cantabria" (PDF). TNS Demoscopia (in Spanish). 6 May 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2011.
5. "El desplome del PSOE arrastra a Revilla y pone al PP en línea de gobierno". ABC (in Spanish). 8 May 2011.
6. "El PP logra una clara victoria pero no alcanza la mayoría absoluta". El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). 8 May 2011.
7. "Revilla tendría opciones de repetir en Cantabria, aunque el PP estaría al acecho". El Correo (in Spanish). 8 May 2011.
8. "Revilla pierde fuerza (Grupo Vocento)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 24 April 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
9. "Jaque mate a la coalición PSOE-PRC y a Revilla". La Razón (in Spanish). 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 29 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
10. "Barómetro electoral autonómico" (PDF). Celeste-Tel (in Spanish). 9 May 2011.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
11. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas y municipales, 2011. Comunidad Autónoma de Cantabria (Estudio nº 2876. Marzo-Abril 2011)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 5 May 2011.
12. "Rajoy se vuelca a por su billete a la Moncloa". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 6 May 2011.
13. "El PP acaba con el bipartito PSOE-PRC en Cantabria (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 24 April 2011. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
14. "El PP volverá a ser el partido más votado pero PRC y PSOE tendrán mayoría". El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). 12 April 2011.
15. "El PP se sitúa al borde de la mayoría absoluta en Cantabria". ABC (in Spanish). 7 March 2011.
16. "Cantabria da la espalda al pacto Revilla-Zapatero (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 5 January 2011. Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
17. "El PP cree que las encuestas prueban que los cántabros quieren un Gobierno "fuerte y monocolor"". Europa Press (in Spanish). 31 May 2010.
18. "Vuelco del mapa electoral autonómico (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 31 May 2010. Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
19. "Cantabria: Peligra un nuevo gobierno PRC-PSOE". Electómetro (in Spanish). 15 February 2010. Archived from the original on 12 November 2010.

Other

1. Statute of Autonomy of Cantabria of 1981 (Organic Law 8) (in Spanish). 30 December 1981. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
2. Reig Pellicer, Naiara (16 December 2015). "Spanish elections: Begging for the right to vote". cafebabel.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
3. Parliament of Cantabria Elections Law of 1987 (Law 5) (in Spanish). 27 March 1987. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
4. General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985 (Organic Law 5) (in Spanish). 19 June 1985. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
5. "Representation of the people Institutional Act". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es. Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
6. "Parliament of Cantabria election results, 22 May 2011" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Cantabria. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
7. "Regional election, 22 May 2011". parlamento-cantabria.es (in Spanish). Parliament of Cantabria. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
8. "Elecciones al Parlamento de Cantabria (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 September 2017.