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1991 Castilian-Leonese regional election

← 1987 26 May 1991 1995 →
All 84 seats in the Cortes of Castile and León 43 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	2,069,469 3.6%
Turnout	1,398,238 (67.6%) 5.6 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Juan José Lucas Jesús Quijano José Luis Sagredo Party PP PSOE CDS Leader since 14 January 1991 26 May 1990 1991 Leader's seat Valladolid Valladolid Salamanca Last election 34 seats, 38.3% 32 seats, 34.0% 18 seats, 19.4% Seats won 43 35 5 Seat change 9 3 13 Popular vote 602,773 504,709 112,821 Percentage 43.5% 36.4% 8.1% Swing 5.2 pp 2.4 pp 11.3 pp   Fourth party   Leader Antonio Herreros Party IU Leader since 1991 Last election 0 seats, 3.8% Seats won 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 74,197 Percentage 5.4% Swing 1.6 pp
Constituency results map for the Cortes of Castile and León
President before election Jesús Posada PP Elected President Juan José Lucas PP

The 1991 Castilian-Leonese regional election was held on Sunday, 26 May 1991, to elect the 3rd 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.

The preceding legislature had seen José María Aznar forming a minority government of People's Alliance (AP) in 1987 through the abstention of the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) and the support of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent Solution (SI) of Burgos mayor José María Peña San Martín. In May 1989, following AP's re-foundation into the People's Party (PP) earlier that year, the CDS joined the cabinet as a coalition partner, granting the regional government an overall majority in the Cortes. In September 1989, Aznar resigned in order to become the PP's leading candidate for the 29 October general election—and eventually, PP national president in April 1990—, with the regional presidency being granted to Jesús Posada. However, Posada renounced contesting the party's candidacy for re-election in January 1991, following Aznar's decision to pick Juan José Lucas as regional candidate instead.

The election saw the PP secure its first absolute majority in the region, virtually ensuring the election of Lucas to the regional presidency. The CDS, on the other hand, saw its support collapse from 18 to 5 seats, with the PP's majority leaving the party out of government. The opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) slightly increased its vote share and seat count compared to its 1987 result, whereas United Left (IU) entered the Cortes for the first time with one seat.

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 regional president. Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Castile and León and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

All members of the Cortes of Castile and León were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora, with each being allocated an initial minimum of three seats, as well as one additional member per each 45,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 22,500.

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Cortes constituency was entitled the following seats:

In smaller constituencies, the use of the electoral method resulted in an effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies.

Election date

The term of the Cortes of Castile and León expired four years after the date of their previous election. Legal amendments earlier in 1991 established that elections to the Cortes were to be fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 10 June 1987, setting the election date for the Cortes on Sunday, 26 May 1991.

The Cortes of Castile and León 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 Cortes were to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected procurators merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.

Parliamentary composition

The Cortes of Castile and León were officially dissolved on 2 April 1991, after the publication of the dissolution decree in the Official Gazette of Castile and León. The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the Cortes at the time of dissolution.

Parties and candidates

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition 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 one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Previous result		Gov.	Ref.
						Votes (%)	Seats
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Juan José Lucas	Conservatism Christian democracy	38.29%	34	Y
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Jesús Quijano	Social democracy	34.01%	32	N
	CDS	List Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)		José Luis Sagredo	Centrism Liberalism	19.37%	18	Y
	IU	List United Left (IU)		Antonio Herreros	Socialism Communism	3.81%	0	N

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; 43 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castile and León.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout								Lead
1991 regional election	26 May 1991	—	67.6		36.4 35	8.1 5	5.4 1			43.5 43	7.1
Sigma Dos/El Mundo	18 May 1991	?	?		35.2 32/34	9.3 6/7	6.8 1/3			42.8 42/43	7.6
Metra Seis/El Independiente	12 May 1991	?	?		34.2 33/34	11.6 8/9	5.7 1			39.4 40	5.2
Demoscopia/El País	4–7 May 1991	1,450	?		32.2 28/33	7.2 2/4	7.7 3/4			46.6 43/47	14.4
1989 general election	29 Oct 1989	—	73.3		35.6 (34)	12.8 (8)	6.7 (3)			40.2 (39)	4.6
1989 EP election	15 Jun 1989	—	57.5		36.4 (37)	13.2 (12)	4.0 (1)			32.3 (34)	4.1
1987 regional election	10 Jun 1987	—	73.2	34.4 32	34.0 32	19.4 18	3.8 0	2.4 1	1.3 1	–	0.4

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 26 May 1991 Cortes of Castile and León election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	602,773	43.52	+5.23	43	+9
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	504,709	36.44	+2.43	35	+3
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	112,821	8.14	–11.23	5	–13
	United Left (IU)	74,197	5.36	+1.55	1	+1
	The Greens (LV)	20,193	1.46	New	0	±0
	Leonese People's Union (UPL)	11,432	0.83	+0.21	0	±0
	Burgalese Popular Action (APB)	6,493	0.47	New	0	±0
	Regionalist Democracy of Castile and León (DRCL)	4,587	0.33	New	0	±0
	Party of El Bierzo (PB)	4,465	0.32	–0.06	0	±0
	Bercian Left (IB)	3,407	0.25	New	0	±0
	Castilian Regionalist Party (PREC)	3,042	0.22	New	0	±0
	Castilianist Union (UC)	2,229	0.16	New	0	±0
	Independent Progressive Union (UPI)	2,127	0.15	New	0	±0
	Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL)	2,123	0.15	–0.13	0	±0
	Commoners' Land (TC)	1,900	0.14	New	0	±0
	The Greens Ecologist–Humanist List (LVLE–H)	1,622	0.12	–0.15	0	±0
	Palentine Unity (UP)	1,558	0.11	New	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	895	0.06	–0.07	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	873	0.06	New	0	±0
	Left Unitary Platform (PCE (m–l)–CRPE)	435	0.03	New	0	±0
	Nationalist Party of Castile and León (PANCAL)	298	0.02	–0.34	0	±0
Blank ballots		23,028	1.66	+0.08
Total		1,385,207			84	±0
Valid votes		1,385,207	99.07	+0.79
Invalid votes		13,031	0.93	–0.79
Votes cast / turnout		1,398,238	67.57	–5.58
Abstentions		671,231	32.43	+5.58
Registered voters		2,069,469
Sources
Footnotes: People's Party results are compared to the combined totals of People's Alliance, People's Democratic Party, Independent Solution and Liberal Party in the 1987 election. The Greens Ecologist–Humanist List results are compared to Humanist Platform totals in the 1987 election.

Distribution by constituency

Aftermath

Investiture Juan José Lucas (PP)
Ballot →		4 July 1991
Required majority →		43 out of 84 Y
	Yes • PP (43)	43 / 84
	No • PSOE (34) • CDS (5) • IU (1)	40 / 84
	Abstentions	0 / 84
	Absentees • PSOE (1)	1 / 84
Sources

Notes

1. ^ Results for AP (34.36%, 32 seats), PDP (2.44%, 1 seat), SI (1.34%, 1 seat) and PL (0.15%, 0 seats) in the 1987 election.
2. Pascual Sánchez, former PSOE legislator. and José Antonio Martín, former CDS legislator.
3. ^ Within PP.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. ^ "Seis comunidades dependen de pactos". ABC (in Spanish). 20 May 1991.
2. ^ "Las elecciones de 26-5-91". CEPC (in Spanish). August 1991.
3. "Lucas gobernará a sus anchas". El País (in Spanish). 19 May 1991.
4. "Ficha técnica". El País (in Spanish). 19 May 1991.

Other

1. ^ Ley Orgánica 4/1983, de 25 de febrero, de Estatuto de Autonomía de Castilla-León (Organic Law 4) (in Spanish). 25 February 1983. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
2. ^ Ley 3/1987, de 30 de marzo, Electoral de Castilla y León (Law 3) (in Spanish). 30 March 1987. Retrieved 15 September 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. ^ Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5) (in Spanish). 19 June 1985. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
5. "Decreto 60/1991, de 1 de abril, por el que se convocan elecciones a las Cortes de Castilla y León" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (79): 9883–9884. 2 April 1991. ISSN 0212-033X.
6. "El Parlamento. Legislaturas anteriores. II Legislatura". Cortes of Castile and León (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 January 2022.
7. "GP 17/2. Alta del Ilmo. Sr. D. Pascual Sánchez Iñigo en el Grupo Parlamentario Mixto" (PDF). Boletín Oficial de las Cortes de Castilla y León (in Spanish) (104): 3259. 27 September 1989. ISSN 2253-7414.
8. "GP 32/2. Cambios habidos en la composición de los Grupos Parlamentarios Baja del Ilmo. Sr. D. José Antonio Martín de Marco en el Grupo Parlamentario de Centro Democrático y Social Alta del Ilmo. Sr. D. José Antonio Martín de Marco en el Grupo Parlamentario Mixto" (PDF). Boletín Oficial de las Cortes de Castilla y León (in Spanish) (186): 6658. 22 March 1991. ISSN 2253-7414.
9. González Ibáñez, Juan (12 December 1990). "Candidato del PP". El País. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
10. De Dios, Luis Miguel (15 January 1991). "Posada renuncia a ser candidato del PP a la Junta de Castilla y León". El País. Valladolid. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
11. ^ "Elections to the Cortes of Castile and León". servicios.jcyl.es (in Spanish). Junta of Castile and León. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
12. ^ "Cortes of Castile and León election results, 26 May 1991" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Castile and León. 3 July 1991. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
13. ^ "Number 153. Report-declaration of the Cortes of Castile and León election of 26 May 1991" (PDF). tcu.es (in Spanish). Court of Auditors. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
14. ^ "Elecciones a Cortes de Castilla y León (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 September 2017.

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• 1991 in Castile and León
• 1991 regional elections in Spain
• Regional elections in Castile and León
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