2011 Castilian-Leonese regional election

The 2011 Castilian-Leonese regional election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th Cortes of the autonomous community of Castile and León. All 84 seats in the Cortes were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

2011 Castilian-Leonese regional election

22 May 2011
All 84 seats in the Cortes of Castile and León 43 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	2,166,385 0.2%
Turnout	1,462,397 (67.5%) 3.2 pp
Leader Juan Vicente Herrera Óscar López José María González Party PP PSOE IUCyL Leader since 16 March 2001 20 September 2008 2007 Leader's seat Burgos Segovia Valladolid Last election 48 seats, 49.2% 33 seats, 37.7% 0 seats, 3.1% Seats won 53 29 1 Seat change 5 4 1 Popular vote 739,502 425,777 69,872 Percentage 51.6% 29.7% 4.9% Swing 2.4 pp 8.0 pp 1.8 pp   Leader Alejandro Valderas Party UPL Leader since 2011 Leader's seat León Last election 2 seats, 2.7% Seats won 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 26,660 Percentage 1.9% Swing 0.8 pp
Constituency results map for the Cortes of Castile and León
President before election Juan Vicente Herrera PP Elected President Juan Vicente Herrera PP

The elections were won by the People's Party (PP), which had formed the government of the region since the second democratic election in 1987 and had won a majority of seats since the 1991 election. Both the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Leonese People's Union (UPL) lost seats, while United Left (IU) won its first seat since the 1999 election.

One of the first tasks of the Courts was to elect the President of Castile and León from among their number, with the incumbent President, Juan Vicente Herrera of the PP, being re-elected.

Overview

Electoral system

The Cortes of Castile and León were the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Castile and León, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Castilian-Leonese Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Junta.[1] Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in Castile and León and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Castilian-Leonese people abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado).[2]

All members of the Cortes of Castile and León were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 3 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. Additionally, the use of the D'Hondt method might result in an effective threshold over three percent, depending on the district magnitude.[3] Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora. Each constituency was entitled to an initial minimum of three seats, being allocated one additional member per each 45,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 22,500.[1][4]

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.[4][5][6]

Election date

After legal amendments in 2007, fixed-term mandates were abolished, instead allowing the term of the Cortes of Castile and León to expire after an early dissolution. The election Decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of Castile and León, with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election was held on 27 May 2007, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 27 May 2011. The election Decree was required to be published no later than 3 May 2011, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Cortes on Sunday, 26 June 2011.[1][4][5][6]

The President of the Junta had the prerogative to dissolve the Cortes of Castile and León and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or before one year had 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 Cortes were to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.[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. 43 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castile and León (42 until 1 January 2010).

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				UPL		Lead
2011 regional election	22 May 2011	N/A	67.5	51.6 53	29.7 29	4.9 1	1.9 1	3.3 0	21.9
TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3[p 1][p 2]	6–10 May 2011	2,000	?	51.8 50/53	31.9 29/31	4.8 0/2	2.4 1/2	–	19.9
NC Report/La Razón[p 3][p 4]	3–10 May 2011	?	?	52.8 49/51	34.6 30/32	? 0/1	2.3 1/2	–	18.2
TNS Demoscopia/RTVCyL[p 5]	26 Apr–3 May 2011	4,600	?	52.4 51/53	32.4 30/31	4.6 0/1	2.1 1	2.6 0	20.0
NC Report/La Razón[p 6][p 7]	25 Apr 2011	?	?	53.4 50/52	35.5 29/31	3.6 0/1	2.4 1/2	–	17.9
Celeste-Tel/Terra[p 8]	13–20 Apr 2011	900	?	52.9 51	31.1 30	5.4 2	3.3 1	–	21.8
Ikerfel/Vocento[p 9][p 10]	13–17 Apr 2011	3,200	?	51.5 51	34.0 31	4.2 0	3.4 2	2.8 0	17.5
CIS[p 11][p 12]	17 Mar–17 Apr 2011	2,974	?	51.5 50	32.8 32	4.3 1	2.0 1	2.1 0	18.7
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 13]	7–12 Apr 2011	1,600	?	53.8 49/54	33.4 28/31	3.9 0/1	2.6 1/2	–	20.4
TNS Demoscopia/Ical[p 14][p 15]	10–28 Mar 2011	5,850	?	54.2 53/54	31.2 28/29	5.2 1	1.7 1	2.4 0	23.0
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 16]	20–23 Dec 2010	1,600	?	53.6 48/54	34.4 27/33	3.0 0/1	2.4 1/2	–	19.2
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 17]	20–24 May 2010	1,600	?	55.1 52/54	31.4 28/30	3.9 0	1.8 1	3.6 0	23.7
TNS Demoscopia/Ical[p 18]	8–20 Apr 2010	2,500	?	49.8 48/49	34.5 31/33	5.4 1/2	2.4 1/2	1.8 0	15.3
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público[p 19]	1–6 Mar 2010	800	?	48.9 49	33.4 33	6.0 1	2.0 0	5.4 1	15.5
2009 EP election	7 Jun 2009	N/A	51.4	51.7 49	38.2 34	2.3 0	–	3.7 0	13.5
2008 general election	9 Mar 2008	N/A	77.7	50.0 46	42.8 37	2.5 0	0.3 0	1.5 0	7.2
2007 regional election	27 May 2007	N/A	70.7	49.2 48	37.7 33	3.1 0	2.7 2	–	11.5

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 22 May 2011 Cortes of Castile and León election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	739,502	51.55	+2.38	53	+5
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	425,777	29.68	–8.05	29	–4
	United Left of Castile and León (IUCyL)	69,872	4.87	+1.79	1	+1
	Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)	47,040	3.28	New	0	±0
	Leonese People's Union (UPL)	26,660	1.86	–0.87	1	–1
	Party of Castile and León (PCAL)^1 ^2	13,537	0.94	–0.06	0	±0
	The Party of Castile and León–Independent Candidacy (PCL–CI)	10,796	0.75	–0.33	0	±0
	Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)	5,368	0.37	New	0	±0
	Social Alternative Movement (MASS)	4,777	0.33	New	0	±0
	Leonese Autonomist Party–Leonesist Unity (PAL–UL)	3,925	0.27	–0.06	0	±0
	Yes for Salamanca (UPSa–C's)^3	3,718	0.26	–0.26	0	±0
	Citizens for Blank Votes (CenB)	3,545	0.25	New	0	±0
	Zamoran Independent Electors–Zamoran People's Union (ADEIZA–UPZ)	3,322	0.23	+0.02	0	±0
	Greens of Salamanca (LV)^2	2,822	0.20	–0.07	0	±0
	Initiative for the Development of Soria (IDES)	2,680	0.19	–0.06	0	±0
	The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV)	2,619	0.18	New	0	±0
	Party of El Bierzo (PB)	2,401	0.17	+0.08	0	±0
	National Democracy (DN)	2,102	0.15	+0.05	0	±0
	Citizens of Burgos for Old Castile (CiBu)	2,001	0.14	+0.06	0	±0
	Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL)	1,965	0.14	+0.03	0	±0
	Greens and Castilians (LV–PCAL)^4	1,553	0.11	–0.06	0	±0
	Civiqus (Civiqus)	1,527	0.11	New	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	1,522	0.11	+0.03	0	±0
	Regionalist Unity of Castile and León (URCL)	1,428	0.10	+0.04	0	±0
	Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn)	1,302	0.09	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Castilian People (PCPC)	1,254	0.09	+0.02	0	±0
	Independents for San Andrés (IxSA)	859	0.06	New	0	±0
	Merindades of Castile Initiative (IMC)	854	0.06	New	0	±0
	Left Segovia (SdI)	760	0.05	New	0	±0
	Regionalist Party of El Bierzo (PRB)	657	0.05	–0.02	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	529	0.04	+0.01	0	±0
	Communist Unification of Spain (UCE)	492	0.03	New	0	±0
	Family and Life Party (PFyV)	238	0.02	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		47,008	3.28	+1.30
Total		1,434,412			84	+1
Valid votes		1,434,412	98.09	–1.11
Invalid votes		27,985	1.91	+1.11
Votes cast / turnout		1,462,397	67.50	–3.20
Abstentions		703,988	32.50	+3.20
Registered voters		2,166,385
Sources[7][8][9]

Popular vote PP   51.55% PSOE   29.68% IUCyL   4.87% UPyD   3.28% UPL   1.86% Others   5.48% Blank ballots   3.28%

Seats PP   63.10% PSOE   34.52% IUCyL   1.19% UPL   1.19%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PP		PSOE		IUCyL		UPL
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
Ávila	59.1	5	23.7	2	5.3	−
Burgos	50.7	7	27.2	4	4.5	−
León	44.7	8	31.8	5	3.8	−	8.9	1
Palencia	53.0	4	32.8	3	4.4	−
Salamanca	56.7	7	29.2	4	3.2	−
Segovia	54.3	5	31.5	2	4.3	−
Soria	52.0	3	32.9	2	3.1	−
Valladolid	50.2	9	29.1	5	7.8	1
Zamora	54.0	5	30.7	2	4.6	−	1.2	−
Total	51.6	53	29.7	29	4.9	1	1.9	1
Sources[7][8][9]

Aftermath

Investiture Juan Vicente Herrera (PP)
Ballot →		23 June 2011
Required majority →		43 out of 84
	Yes • PP (53)	53 / 84
	No • PSOE (29) • IU (1) • UPL (1)	31 / 84
	Abstentions	0 / 84
	Absentees	0 / 84
Sources[9]

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "El PP aumenta su ventaja en Castilla y León". Antena 3 (in Spanish). 11 May 2011.
2. "Encuesta de TNS para Antena 3 y Onda Cero. Elecciones 22M. Expectativas electorales en Castilla y León" (PDF). TNS Demoscopia (in Spanish). 11 May 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2011.
3. "El PP blinda sus feudos". La Razón (in Spanish). 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 16 September 2011.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
4. "Una encuesta de NC Report para La Razón amplía la mayoría absoluta del PP en Castilla y León". ForoCoches (in Spanish). 16 May 2011.
5. "Herrera lograría el mejor resultado de los 24 años de Gobierno del PP". La Crónica (in Spanish). 10 May 2011. Archived from the original on 15 November 2011.
6. "Los cuatro inexpugnables". La Razón (in Spanish). 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 26 April 2011.
7. "El PP aumenta su mayoría absoluta en Castilla y León, según el sondeo de NC Report para La Razón". ForoCoches (in Spanish). 26 April 2011.
8. "Barómetro electoral autonómico" (PDF). Celeste-Tel (in Spanish). 9 May 2011.
9. "Los populares superan su récord absoluto con más de la mitad de los votos". ABC (in Spanish). 8 May 2011.
10. "El PP aumenta su mayoría absoluta". El Correo (in Spanish). 8 May 2011.
11. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas, 2011. Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla y León (Estudio nº 2878. Marzo-Abril 2011)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 5 May 2011.
12. "El PSOE fija su objetivo: salvar los muebles". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 6 May 2011.
13. "El PP ampliaría su mayoría absoluta en Castilla y León (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
14. "El PP sumaría dos procuradores a costa de PSOE y UPL, según TNS Demoscopia". Leonoticias (in Spanish). 17 April 2011. Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
15. "IU volvería al Parlamento de Castilla y León (TNS Demoscopia)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 17 April 2011.
16. "El PP revalidaría su mayoría absoluta en Castilla y León (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 7 January 2011. Archived from the original on 20 January 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
17. "Caso electoral histórico en más comunidades autónomas (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 22 June 2010.
18. "El PP refuerza posiciones y el PSCyL corre el riesgo de perder dos escaños en la Comunidad". El Mundo (in Spanish). 15 May 2010.
19. "Gobernar no desgasta al PP". Público (in Spanish). 13 March 2010. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011.

Other

1. "Statute of Autonomy of Castile and León of 2007". Organic Law No. 14 of 30 November 2007. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 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. Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
4. "Castile and León Electoral Law of 1987". Law No. 3 of 30 March 1987. Official Gazette of Castile and León (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
5. "General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
6. "Representation of the people Institutional Act". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es. Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
7. "Elections to the Cortes of Castile and León". servicios.jcyl.es (in Spanish). Junta of Castile and León. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
8. "Cortes of Castile and León election results, 22 May 2011" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Castile and León. 9 August 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
9. "Elecciones a Cortes de Castilla y León (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 September 2017.