Asturias (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
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Asturias is one of the 52 electoral districts (circunscripciónes) used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales.
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[edit] Boundaries and electoral system
Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution [1] the boundaries must be the same as the province of Asturias and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. The electoral system used is closed list proportional representation with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method. Only lists which poll 3% or more of all valid votes cast, including votes "en blanco" i.e. for "none of the above" can be considered for seats. Under article 12 of the constitution, the minimum voting age is 18.
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[edit] Eligibility
Article 67.3 of the Spanish Constitution prohibits dual membership of the Cortes and regional assemblies, meaning that candidates must resign from Regional Assemblies if successfully elected. Article 70 also makes active judges, magistrates, public defenders, serving military personnel, active police officers and members of constitutional and electoral tribunals ineligible. [2]
[edit] Number of members
In the general elections of 1977, 1979 and 1982 Asturias returned 10 members. That figure was reduced to 9 members for the 1986 General Election. It lost a further seat for the 2004 election and now elects 8 members, although at the last election its electorate was larger than Vizcaya which elected nine members. [3]
Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population. [4] These laws are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General) The practical effect of this law has been to overrepresent smaller provinces at the expense of larger provinces like Asturias.
In 2004 for example Spain had 34,571,831 voters giving an average of 98,777 voters per deputy [5]. In Asturias however the number of voters per deputy was 123,294[6] one of the largest ratios. In contrast the ratio was 38,714 and 26,177 respectively in the smallest provinces of Teruel [7] and Soria. [8]
[edit] Summary of seats won 1977-2008
| 1977 | 1979 | 1982 | 1986 | 1989 | 1993 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Democratic Centre Union (UCD) | 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| People's Party (PP) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| United Left (IU) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 1 | 1 |
Seats shown for the People's Party include seats won by their predecessors, the Popular Alliance and the Popular Coalition before 1989. Seats shown for United Left include seats won by the Communist Party of Spain before 1986.
[edit] Results
[edit] 2004 General Election[9]
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | Members elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People's Party (Partido Popular) | 307,977 | 43.77 | 4 | Leopoldo Bertrand de la Riera, Alicia Castro, Isidro Fernández, José Sánchez |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) | 305,240 | 43.38 | 4 | María Luisa Carcedo, Álvaro Cuesta, María Monteserín, Celestino Suárez |
| United Left | 59,253 | 8.42 | 0 | |
| Greens | 5,013 | 0.71 | 0 | |
| Others | 11,719 | 3.72 | 0 |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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