1995 Canarian regional election

The 1995 Canarian regional election was held on Sunday, 28 May 1995, to elect the 4th Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. All 60 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

1995 Canarian regional election

28 May 1995
All 60 seats in the Parliament of the Canary Islands 31 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	1,248,575 9.8%
Turnout	801,607 (64.2%) 2.6 pp
Leader Manuel Hermoso José Miguel Bravo de Laguna Augusto Brito Party CC PP PSOE Leader since 1991 1991 11 February 1995 Leader's seat Tenerife Gran Canaria Tenerife Last election 17 seats, 34.1%[lower-alpha 1] 6 seats, 12.8% 23 seats, 33.0% Seats won 21 18 16 Seat change 4 12 7 Popular vote 261,424 247,609 183,969 Percentage 32.8% 31.1% 23.1% Swing 1.3 pp 18.3 pp 9.9 pp   Leader Onelio Ramos Juan Padrón Morales Party PCN AHI Leader since 1995 1983 Leader's seat Gran Canaria El Hierro Last election 6 seats, 2.6%[lower-alpha 2] 1 seat, 0.2% Seats won 4 1 Seat change 2 0 Popular vote 23,914 2,105 Percentage 3.0% 0.3% Swing 0.4 pp 0.1 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of the Canary Islands
President before election Manuel Hermoso CC Elected President Manuel Hermoso CC

Overview

Electoral system

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

The 60 members of the Parliament of the Canary Islands were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 20 percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. Alternatively, parties could also enter the seat distribution as long as they reached 3 percent regionally. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the islands of El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma, Lanzarote and Tenerife. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of seats: 3 for El Hierro, 7 for Fuerteventura, 15 for Gran Canaria, 4 for La Gomera, 8 for La Palma, 8 for Lanzarote and 15 for Tenerife.[1]

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.[2][3][4]

Election date

The term of the Parliament of the Canary Islands 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 26 May 1991, setting the election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 28 May 1995.[1][2][3][4]

The Parliament of the Canary Islands 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 Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, 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 given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 31 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of the Canary Islands.

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout					ICAN	AM				PCN	Lead
1995 regional election	28 May 1995	N/A	64.2	23.1 16	[lower-alpha 3]	0.7 0	31.1 18	[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 3]	0.3 1	32.8 21	5.1 0	3.0 4	1.7
Eco Consulting/RTVE[p 1]	28 May 1995	?	?	22.0 17/19	[lower-alpha 3]	–	31.9 19/21	[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 3]	–	30.1 16/18	5.3 3	–	1.8
Demoscopia/El País[p 2][p 3][p 4]	10–15 May 1995	1,452	?	16.8 13/14	[lower-alpha 3]	3.3 0	33.9 19/20	[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 3]	0.5 2	31.0 19	9.8 4	–	2.9
CIS[p 5][p 6]	24 Apr–10 May 1995	999	69.4	18.4	[lower-alpha 3]	–	31.4	[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 3]	–	38.8	6.0	–	7.4
1994 EP election	12 Jun 1994	N/A	49.9	24.8	[lower-alpha 3]	0.7	43.9	[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 3]	–	18.8	8.3	–	19.1
1993 general election	6 Jun 1993	N/A	68.9	29.9	[lower-alpha 3]	1.2	33.9	[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 3]	–	25.6	5.0	–	4.0
1991 regional election	26 May 1991	N/A	61.6	33.0 23	22.7 16	14.4 7	12.8 6	12.2 5	0.7 2	0.2 1	–	–	–	10.3

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 28 May 1995 Parliament of the Canary Islands election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Canarian Coalition (CC)^1	261,424	32.80	–1.33	21	+4
	People's Party (PP)	247,609	31.07	+18.24	18	+12
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	183,969	23.08	–9.95	16	–7
	Canarian United Left (IUC)	40,614	5.10	New	0	±0
	Nationalist Canarian Platform (PCN)^2	23,914	3.00	+0.43	4	–2
	Coalition for Gran Canaria (CGC)	10,964	1.38	New	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre–Centrist Union (CDS–UC)	5,340	0.67	–13.74	0	–7
	National Congress of the Canaries (CNC)	2,964	0.37	New	0	±0
	Popular Front of the Canary Islands–Awañac (FREPIC–Awañac)	2,436	0.31	–0.28	0	±0
	Independent Herrenian Group (AHI)	2,105	0.26	+0.05	1	±0
	Tenerife Assembly (ATF)	1,600	0.20	New	0	±0
	Humanist Platform (PH)^3	1,561	0.20	+0.04	0	±0
	Green Left of the Canary Islands (Izegzawen)	1,357	0.17	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Canarian People (PCPC)	1,251	0.16	New	0	±0
	Party of The People (LG)	625	0.08	–0.13	0	±0
	Nationalist Canarian Initiative (ICAN)^4	248	0.03	–0.03	0	±0
Blank ballots		9,078	1.14	+0.37
Total		797,059			60	±0
Valid votes		797,059	99.43	+0.16
Invalid votes		4,548	0.57	–0.16
Votes cast / turnout		801,607	64.20	+2.57
Abstentions		446,968	35.80	–2.57
Registered voters		1,248,575
Sources[5][6][7]

Popular vote CC   32.80% PP   31.07% PSOE   23.08% IUC   5.10% PCN   3.00% CGC   1.38% AHI   0.26% Others   2.15% Blank ballots   1.14%

Seats CC   35.00% PP   30.00% PSOE   26.67% PCN   6.67% AHI   1.67%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	CC		PP		PSOE		PNC		AHI
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
El Hierro			26.7	1	23.0	1			43.0	1
Fuerteventura	31.3	2	26.5	2	26.9	2	10.5	1
Gran Canaria	27.5	5	40.2	7	18.0	3	3.3	−
La Gomera	35.5	2	8.9	−	47.0	2
La Palma	45.6	4	20.0	2	27.4	2
Lanzarote	17.1	1	19.0	2	25.2	2	29.8	3
Tenerife	39.2	7	24.6	4	27.0	4
Total	32.8	21	31.1	18	23.1	16	3.0	4	0.3	1

Notes

1. Aggregated data for AIC, ICAN, PNC and AM in the 1991 election, not including AIC results in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote and ICAN results in El Hierro.
2. Data for AIC in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote in the 1991 election.
3. Within CC.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "El PP se impuso en diez comunidades". Diario de Navarra (in Spanish). 29 May 1995.
2. "El PP será la fuerza más votada en 12 comunidades". El País (in Spanish). 20 May 1995.
3. "Mañana, previsiones para las municipales". El País (in Spanish). 20 May 1995.
4. "El PP gana en doce autonomías y el PSOE sólo en Extremadura, según un sondeo". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 21 May 1995.
5. "Preelectoral Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias (Estudio 2163. Abril-Mayo 1995)". CIS (in Spanish). 10 May 1995.
6. "Estudio CIS nº 2163. Ficha técnica" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 10 May 1995.

Other

1. "Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands of 1982". Organic Law No. 10 of 10 August 1982. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 September 2017.
2. "Electoral Matters Urgent Measures Law of 1987". Law No. 3 of 3 April 1987. Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 September 2017.
3. "General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
4. "Representation of the people Institutional Act". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es. Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
5. "Electoral Information System in the Canary Islands". www.gobiernodecanarias.org (in Spanish). Canarian Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
6. "Parliament of the Canary Islands election results, 28 May 1995" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of the Canary Islands. 18 August 1995. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
7. "Elecciones al Parlamento de Canarias (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2017.