26 October 2003 2007 → 16 October 2002 26 November 2000 55 seats, 46.7% 47 seats, 40.0% | Registered 4,460,349 0.3% 26 November 2000 11 July 2002 | |
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Turnout 2,788,495 (62.5%)
6.7 pp Winner Esperanza Aguirre | ||
The October 2003 Madrilenian parliamentary election was held on Sunday, 26 October 2003, to elect the 7th Assembly of Madrid, the regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Madrid. All 111 seats in the Assembly were up for election. This was a snap election, held as a result of the parliamentary deadlock resulting from the May 2003 election and the Tamayazo scandal.
Contents
The People's Party (PP) recovered the absolute majority it had lost in the previous election, at the expense of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, which suffered from the scandal of its rebel MPs and lost the opportunity to regain the community's government after 8 years in opposition. United Left (IU) made advances, increasing its vote share, but failing to translate it into new seats.
As a result of the election, Esperanza Aguirre was able to be elected as President of Madrid, becoming the first woman to be named to the office.
Electoral system
The Assembly of Madrid was elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation. Under the regional Statute of Autonomy, the Assembly was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 25,000, according to the most updated census data. As the updated population census for the October 2003 election was the corresponding to year 2002 (5,527,152)—the same as in the May 2003 election—, the Assembly size was set to 111. All seats were allocated to a single multi-member district, with a threshold of 5% of valid votes—which included blank ballots—. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for the seat distribution.
Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage, with all residents over eighteen and in the full enjoyment of all political rights entitled to vote. Concurrently, residents meeting the previous criteria and not involved in any cause of ineligibility were eligible for the Assembly. Groups of electors were required to obtain the signatures of at least 0.5% of registered electors in the district in order to be able to field candidates.
A 1998 amendment to the Statute of Autonomy granted the President the ability to dissolve the chamber and call a snap election, but limiting the exercise of such prerogative to the second or third years of the legislature. Elections were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years, with early dissolutions not changing the period to the next ordinary election, meaning that elected deputies in a snap election merely served out what remained of their ordinary four-year parliamentary terms. The Assembly was to be automatically dissolved in the event of unsuccessful investiture attempts failing to elect a regional President within a two month-period from the first ballot, triggering a snap election likewise.
Vote
Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The lead column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two parties with the highest figures. Poll results use the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. However, if such date is unknown, the date of publication will be given instead.
Seat projections
Opinion polls showing seat projections are displayed in the table below. The highest seat figures in each polling survey have their background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. 56 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Madrid Assembly.