2011 Extremaduran regional election

2011 Extremaduran regional election
22 May 2011
All 65 seats in the Assembly of Extremadura
33 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered906,551 1.5%
Turnout676,768 (74.7%)
0.3 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader José Antonio Monago Guillermo Fernández Vara Pedro Escobar
Party PP–EU PSOE–r IU–SIEx
Leader since 8 November 2008 20 September 2006 30 September 2007
Leader's seat Badajoz Badajoz Badajoz
Last election 27 seats, 38.7% 38 seats, 53.0% 0 seats, 4.5%
Seats won 32 30 3
Seat change 5 8 3
Popular vote 307,975 290,045 38,157
Percentage 46.1% 43.4% 5.7%
Swing 7.4 pp 9.6 pp 1.2 pp
Constituency results map for the Assembly of Extremadura
President before election

Guillermo Fernández Vara
PSOE

Elected President

José Antonio Monago
PP

A regional election was held in Extremadura on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th Assembly of the autonomous community. All 65 seats in the Assembly were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.

For the first time since 1983, the People's Party (PP) was able to win a regional election, obtaining its best historical result, with 46.1% of the share and 32 seats. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), which had formed the government of the Extremaduran region since 1983, achieving an absolute majority of seats at every election except in 1995, was ousted from power in the worst result obtained by the party until that time.[1]

However, as the PP stood one seat short of an overall majority, the possibility arose of PSOE pact with United Left (IU), which had re-entered the Assembly after a four-year absence, in order to maintain the regional government.[2] However, IU declined to support outgoing Socialist Guillermo Fernández Vara after a 24-year PSOE rule over the region, opting to abstain in the investiture voting and allowing the most-voted candidate to be elected. As a result of the PP having more seats than the PSOE, party candidate José Antonio Monago became the first not-Socialist democratically elected President of the region.[3]

Overview

Under the 2011 Statute of Autonomy, the Assembly of Extremadura was the unicameral legislature of the homonymous autonomous community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.[4]

Electoral system

Voting for the Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Extremadura and in full enjoyment of their political rights, provided that they were not sentenced—by a final court ruling—to deprivation of the right to vote, nor being legally incapacitated.[5][6][7] Amendments to the electoral law earlier in 2011 introduced a requirement for non-resident citizens to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" voting (Spanish: Voto rogado).[8][9]

The Assembly of Extremadura was entitled to a maximum of 65 seats, with the electoral law setting its size at that number. All members were elected in two multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Badajoz and Cáceres, with each being allocated an initial minimum of 20 seats and the remaining 25 being distributed in proportion to their populations—using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional voting system, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes (which included blank ballots) being applied in each constituency. Alternatively, parties failing to reach the threshold in one of the constituencies were also entitled to enter the seat distribution as long as they ran candidates in both districts and reached five percent regionally.[5][10]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Assembly constituency was entitled the following seats:[11]

Seats Constituencies
36 Badajoz(+1)
29 Cáceres(–1)

The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacated seats; instead, any vacancies that occurred after the proclamation of candidates and into the legislative term were to be covered by the successive candidates in the list and, when required, by the designated substitutes.[12][13]

Election date

The term of the Assembly of Extremadura expired four years after the date of its previous election. Amendments earlier in 2011 abolished fixed-term elections, instead allowing the term of the Assembly to expire after an early dissolution. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the scheduled date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Journal of Extremadura (DOE), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication.[4][14][15] 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 in the DOE no later than 3 May 2011, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible date for election day on Sunday, 26 June 2011.

The regional president had the prerogative to dissolve the Assembly of Extremadura at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since the previous one.[14][16] In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Assembly was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.[17]

The election to the Assembly of Extremadura was officially called on 29 March 2011 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the DOE, setting election day for 22 May.[11]

Outgoing parliament

The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of the election call.[18][19]

Parliamentary composition in March 2011
Groups Parties Legislators
Seats Total
Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 35 38
PREx–CREx 3
People's–United Extremadura Parliamentary Group PP 26 27
EU 1

Parties and candidates

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance 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 two percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.[20][21] Additionally, a balanced composition of men and women was required in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition.[22]

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

Candidacy Parties and
alliances 		Candidate Ideology Previous result Gov. Ref.
Vote % Seats
PSOE–r
List
 Guillermo Fernández Vara Social democracy 53.0% 38 [23]
[24]
[25]
PP–EU
List
 José Antonio Monago Conservatism
Christian democracy 		38.7% 27 [26]
[27]
[28]
IU–SIEx
List
 Pedro Escobar Socialism
Communism 		4.5% 0 [29]
[30]
[31]

Opinion polls

The tables below list opinion polling results 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.

Voting intention estimates

The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 33 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Assembly of Extremadura.

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Victory preferences

The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.

Victory likelihood

The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.

Preferred President

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Regional Government of Extremadura.

All candidates
Vara vs. Monago

Predicted President

The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood for each leader to become president.

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 22 May 2011 Assembly of Extremadura election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
People's Party–United Extremadura (PP–EU) 307,975 46.13 +7.42 32 +5
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party–Regionalists (PSOE–regionalistas) 290,045 43.45 −9.55 30 −8
United Left–Independent Socialists of Extremadura (IU–SIEx) 38,157 5.72 +1.20 3 +3
Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) 7,058 1.06 New 0 ±0
Independents for Extremadura (IPEx) 4,659 0.70 −0.56 0 ±0
Ecolo–The Greens (Ecolo–LV)1 3,887 0.58 −0.03 0 ±0
Extremaduran People's Union (UPEx) 2,185 0.33 +0.10 0 ±0
For a Fairer World (PUM+J) 1,573 0.24 New 0 ±0
Convergence for Extremadura (CEx) 1,056 0.16 New 0 ±0
Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) 836 0.13 −0.01 0 ±0
Citizens for Blank Votes (CenB) 774 0.12 +0.04 0 ±0
Blank ballots 9,394 1.41 +0.22
Total 667,599 65 ±0
Valid votes 667,599 98.65 −0.62
Invalid votes 9,169 1.35 +0.62
Votes cast / turnout 676,768 74.65 −0.30
Abstentions 229,783 25.35 +0.30
Registered voters 906,551
Sources[18][32]
Footnotes:
Popular vote
PP–EU
 
 46.13%
PSOE–r
 
 43.45%
IU–SIEx
 
 5.72%
UPyD
 
 1.06%
Others
 
 2.24%
Blank ballots
 
 1.41%
Seats
PP–EU
 
 49.23%
PSOE–r
 
 46.15%
IU–SIEx
 
 4.62%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency PP–EU PSOE–r IU–SIEx
% S % S % S
Badajoz 45.0 17 44.7 17 6.2 2
Cáceres 47.9 15 41.4 13 5.0 1
Total 46.1 32 43.4 30 5.7 3
Sources[18][32]

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture
Nomination of José Antonio Monago (PP)
Ballot → 5 July 2011 7 July 2011
Required majority → 33 out of 65 N Simple Y
Yes
32 / 65
32 / 65
No
30 / 65
30 / 65
Abstentions
3 / 65
3 / 65
Absentees
0 / 65
0 / 65
Sources[18][33]

2014 motion of no confidence

Motion of no confidence
Nomination of Guillermo Fernández Vara (PSOE)
Ballot → 14 May 2014
Required majority → 33 out of 65 N
Yes
30 / 65
No
32 / 65
Abstentions
  • • IU (3)
3 / 65
Absentees
0 / 65
Sources[18][34]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Does not include non-resident citizens.

References

Opinion poll sources

  1. ^ "Cascos supera al PP en Asturias (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  2. ^ "El PP doblega al PSOE a siete días de la cita electoral". La Razón (in Spanish). 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ "Vuelco en Cantabria (La Razón)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  4. ^ "El PP ganaría las elecciones y provocaría un vuelco electoral en Extremadura". Antena 3 (in Spanish). 9 May 2011.
  5. ^ "Encuesta de TNS para Antena 3 y Onda Cero. Elecciones 22M. Expectativas electorales en Extremadura" (PDF). TNS Demoscopia (in Spanish). 9 May 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2011.
  6. ^ "El popular Monago recorta casi doce puntos a Fernández Vara". La Razón (in Spanish). 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 26 April 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ^ "Pendientes de la sorpresa". La Razón (in Spanish). 25 April 2011.
  8. ^ "Barómetro electoral autonómico" (PDF). Celeste-Tel (in Spanish). 9 May 2011.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas, 2011. Comunidad Autónoma de Extremadura (Estudio nº 2879. Marzo-Abril 2011)". CIS (in Spanish). 5 May 2011.
  10. ^ "El PSOE fija su objetivo: salvar los muebles". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 6 May 2011.
  11. ^ "IU podría ser decisivo en Extremadura (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 24 April 2011. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. ^ "El PP arrebata al PSOE su "feudo", pero Vara podría seguir gobernando con IU". ABC (in Spanish). 8 May 2011.
  13. ^ "El PP arrebataría Castilla-La Mancha al PSOE y haría gobernar a Cospedal". El Correo (in Spanish). 8 May 2011.
  14. ^ "La presidencia de Extremadura en manos de IU (Grupo Vocento)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 8 May 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  15. ^ a b c d "Vara conserva la Junta, pero peligra la mayoría absoluta de los socialistas". Público (in Spanish). 4 April 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ^ "IU podría ser la fuerza decisiva en Extremadura (Público)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 4 April 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  17. ^ a b c d "Encuesta Preelectoral Comunidad Autónoma de Extremadura" (PDF). Libertad Digital (in Spanish). 24 January 2011.
  18. ^ "El PP conquista los grandes feudos de los socialistas". La Razón (in Spanish). 22 January 2011. Archived from the original on 5 March 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. ^ "El PP, a un paso de la mayoría absoluta en Andalucía y Castilla La Mancha (La Razón)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 22 January 2011. Archived from the original on 26 January 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  20. ^ "Empate técnico entre PSOE y PP en Extremadura (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 5 January 2011. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  21. ^ "IU puede tener la llave de la Junta". Hoy (in Spanish). 2 January 2011.
  22. ^ "El PSOE de Extremadura volvería a ganar con mayoría absoluta (encuesta interna)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 15 July 2010. Archived from the original on 14 October 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  23. ^ "Vuelco del mapa electoral autonómico (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 31 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010.
  24. ^ "El PP extremeño se sitúa a un escaño del PSOE y de gobernar en la región, según una encuesta". 20 minutos (in Spanish). 23 April 2010.
  25. ^ a b c d "El feudo más seguro del PSOE". Público (in Spanish). 28 March 2010. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  26. ^ "El PSOE volvería a ganar las elecciones en Extremadura, aunque pierde cinco puntos en favor del PP". Hoy (in Spanish). 28 February 2010. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  27. ^ "Vara tendría que apoyarse en IU para formar gobierno". Hoy (in Spanish). 8 May 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26.

Other

  1. ^ Extremaduran election results Historiaelectoral.com. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
  2. ^ "Vara sees a PSOE-IU pact as the 'only chance'" (in Spanish). El Mundo. 2011-05-23.
  3. ^ "Extremadura takes a political change for granted" (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 2011-07-04.
  4. ^ a b Statute (2011), art. 16.
  5. ^ a b Statute (2011), art. 17.
  6. ^ LEEx (1987), art. 2.
  7. ^ LOREG (1985), arts. 2–3.
  8. ^ LOREG (1985), art. 75.
  9. ^ Reig Pellicer, Naiara (16 December 2015). "Spanish elections: Begging for the right to vote". cafebabel.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  10. ^ LEEx (1987), arts. 17–19.
  11. ^ a b Decreto del Presidente 2/2011, de 28 de marzo, por el que se convocan elecciones a la Asamblea de Extremadura (PDF) (Decree 2/2011). Official Journal of Extremadura (in Spanish). 28 March 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  12. ^ LEEx (1987), arts. 19 & 26.
  13. ^ LOREG (1985), arts. 46 & 48.
  14. ^ a b LEEx (1987), arts. 22–23.
  15. ^ LOREG (1985), art. 42.
  16. ^ Statute (2011), art. 26–27.
  17. ^ Statute (2011), art. 25.
  18. ^ a b c d e Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones a la Asamblea de Extremadura (desde 1983)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  19. ^ "Grupos Parlamentarios VII Legislatura" (in Spanish). Assembly of Extremadura. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  20. ^ LEEx (1987), arts. 25–26.
  21. ^ LOREG (1985), art. 44.
  22. ^ LOREG (1985), art. 44 bis.
  23. ^ "Fernández Vara es elegido nuevo secretario general del PSOE de Extremadura" (in Spanish). Badajoz: Europa Press. 18 July 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  24. ^ "Fernández Vara optará a la reelección como presidente de la Junta". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 21 July 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  25. ^ "PSOE y Prex-Crex irán otra vez juntos el 22-M". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). Mérida. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  26. ^ "Monago sale elegido nuevo presidente del PP extremeño con el apoyo del 90% de los compromisarios" (in Spanish). Mérida: Europa Press. 8 November 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  27. ^ "Monago es elegido candidato del PP a la Presidencia de la Junta". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 7 September 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  28. ^ "PP y EU se alían con la bandera de un "cambio" en Extremadura". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 11 March 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  29. ^ "Víctor Casco dimite y propone a Pedro Escobar como coordinador general de IU en Extremadura". El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 30 September 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  30. ^ "Escobar será candidato de IU con la intención de meter una "cuña de aire fresco" en la Asamblea" (in Spanish). Badajoz: Europa Press. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  31. ^ "Izquierda Unida y Siex concurren nuevamente en coalición para "acabar con el bipartidismo"". 20 minutos (in Spanish). Badajoz. Europa Press. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  32. ^ a b "Resolución de 2 de junio de 2011, de la Junta Electoral de Extremadura, por la que se hacen públicos los resultados del Escrutinio General y Proclamación de Diputados Electos a la Asamblea de Extremadura, efectuada por las Juntas Electorales Provinciales de Cáceres y Badajoz, resultante de la Elecciones al Parlamento Extremeño celebradas el día 22 de mayo de 2011" (PDF). Official Journal of Extremadura (in Spanish) (106): 14298–14301. 3 June 2011. ISSN 2483-5188. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  33. ^ Elordi Cué, Carlos; Alcaide, Soledad (7 July 2011). "Monago ya es el primer presidente de Extremadura del PP gracias a IU". El País (in Spanish). Mérida / Madrid. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  34. ^ Fernández, María (14 May 2014). "La censura contra Monago fracasa con los votos del PP y la abstención de IU". El País (in Spanish). Mérida. Retrieved 6 December 2025.

Bibliography

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.