Zaragoza (Spanish Congress electoral district)

Overview

The constituency was created as per the Political Reform Act 1977 and was first contested in the 1977 general election. The Act provided for the provinces of Spain to be established as multi-member districts for the Congress of Deputies, with this regulation being maintained under Article 68.2 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978. Additionally, Article 141.1 of the Constitution would require for any modification of the provincial limits to be approved under an organic law, needing an absolute majority in the Cortes Generales.

The Spanish electoral system is regulated under the General Electoral System Organic Law 5/1985. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage, with all nationals over eighteen and in the full enjoyment of all political rights entitled to vote—the only exception being in 1977, when this was limited to nationals over twenty-one and in the full enjoyment of all political and civil rights—. A 2011 amendment to the electoral law required for Spaniards abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "requested" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado). Provinces are entitled to an initial minimum of two seats, with additional seats awarded in proportion to population. The number of seats allocated to Zaragoza is currently set at seven. Deputies are elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 3% of valid votes—which includes blank ballots—being applied. Parties not reaching the threshold are not taken into consideration for seat distribution.

Registered parties and federations of parties are allowed to field candidates, as well as party alliances formed within 10 days from the Cortes' dissolution. Additionally, groups of electors—a legal figure in Spain referring to temporary associations of citizens grouped for the sole purpose of contesting a particular election—are required to obtain the signatures of at least 1% of registered voters in the district in order to be able to field candidates. Since 2011, parties, federations of parties and coalitions left out from the Congress in the previous election are also required to obtain the signatures of at least 0.1% of registered voters in the districts they intend to contest. No party, federation, coalition or group of electors may field more than one list of candidates per district for the same election, and member parties of a contesting federation or alliance are barred from fielding their own lists. From 2002—and in compliance with the Political Parties Organic Law 6/2002—fielded candidates are also forbidden from continuing or succeeding the activities of judicially illegalized, dissolved, or suspended political parties.