22 May 2011 2015 → Turnout 662,086 (67.9%)
0.1 pp 3 October 2010 2006 Start date May 22, 2011 | Registered 974,998 1.2% 5 October 1991 3 October 2010 29 seats, 58.3% 15 seats, 32.0% | |
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Winner Ramón Luis Valc | ||
The 2011 Murcian parliamentary election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th Regional Assembly of Murcia, the regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. All 45 seats in the Regional Assembly were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in 12 other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.
Contents
The election was won by the People's Party (PP), which obtained its best result ever in the Region. With over 70% of the seats (33), it obtained thrice the number of seats of the second most voted party, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), which plummeted to just below 24% and 11 seats. The PP had won its first election in 1995, and under Ramón Luis Valcárcel it had achieved an absolute majority of seats and votes in all elections held ever since.
All in all, the PP gained four seats from the PSOE, with United Left (IU) holding its solitary seat but gaining ground, increasing its % of the share from 6.3% to 7.8%. The 5% regional threshold prevented Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) from winning a seat as, although it polled 5.3% in District Three, its vote in the entire Murcian region was 4.5%.
Electoral system
The Regional Assembly of Murcia was elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation. Under the regional Statute of Autonomy, the Regional Assembly was entitled to a minimum of 45 members and a maximum of 55, which the regional electoral law set to a fixed-number of 45. All seats were allocated to five multi-member districts—each entitled to an initial minimum of one seat, with the remaining 40 allocated among the constituencies in proportion to their populations—. A regional threshold of 5% of valid votes—which included blank ballots—was applied, with parties not reaching the threshold not taken into consideration for seat distribution.
Unlike other uniprovincial autonomous communities, electoral districts did not correspond to a province. They were, instead, established by law as follow:
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—however, amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Spaniards abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "requested" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado)—. Concurrently, residents meeting the previous criteria and not involved in any cause of ineligibility were eligible for the Regional Assembly. Gender quotas were introduced in 2007, requiring for party lists to be composed of at least 40% of candidates of either gender and for each group of five candidates to contain at least two males and two females. Groups of electors were required to obtain the signatures of at least 1% of registered electors in a particular 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 Regional 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. 23 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Regional Assembly of Murcia.