2001 Galician regional election

The 2001 Galician regional election was held on Sunday, 21 October 2001, to elect the 6th Parliament of the autonomous community of Galicia. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

2001 Galician regional election

21 October 2001
All 75 seats in the Parliament of Galicia 38 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	2,567,670 0.1%
Turnout	1,544,687 (60.2%) 2.3 pp
Leader Manuel Fraga Xosé Manuel Beiras Emilio Pérez Touriño Party PP BNG PSdeG–PSOE Leader since 1989 1982 10 October 1998 Leader's seat Lugo A Coruña Pontevedra Last election 42 seats, 52.2% 18 seats, 24.8% 15 seats, 19.5%[lower-alpha 1] Seats won 41 17 17 Seat change 1 1 2 Popular vote 791,885 346,430 334,819 Percentage 51.6% 22.6% 21.8% Swing 0.6 pp 2.2 pp 2.3 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of Galicia
President before election Manuel Fraga PP Elected President Manuel Fraga PP

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of Galicia was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Galicia, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the regional Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.[1]

Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in Galicia and in full enjoyment of their political rights. The 75 members of the Parliament of Galicia were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra, with each being allocated an initial minimum of 10 seats and the remaining 35 being distributed in proportion to their populations.[1][2]

The use of the D'Hondt method might result in a higher effective threshold, depending on the district magnitude.[3]

Election date

The term of the Parliament of Galicia expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Journal of Galicia (DOG), with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. The previous election was held on 19 October 1997, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 19 October 2001. The election decree was required to be published in the DOG no later than 25 September 2001, with the election taking place up to the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Saturday, 24 November 2001.[1][2]

The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Galicia and call a snap election, provided that it did not occur before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution under this procedure. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.[4]

Parties and candidates

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition 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 one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.[2][5]

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

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Previous result		Gov.	Ref.
						Votes (%)	Seats
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Manuel Fraga	Conservatism Christian democracy	52.19%	42
	BNG	List Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) – Galician People's Union (UPG) – Socialist Collective (CS) – Galician Nationalist Party–Galicianist Party (PNG–PG) – Nationalist Left (EN) – Inzar (Inzar) – Galician Unity (UG)		Xosé Manuel Beiras	Galician nationalism Left-wing nationalism Socialism	24.78%	18
	PSdeG– PSOE	List Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG–PSOE)		Emilio Pérez Touriño	Social democracy	19.46%	15

Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates 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 given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Galicia.

Color key:

  Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls   Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout		BNG			Lead
2001 regional election	21 Oct 2001	N/A	60.2	51.6 41	22.6 17	21.8 17	0.7 0	29.0
Ipsos–Eco/TVG[p 1][p 2][p 3]	21 Oct 2001	25,000	?	52.2 42/44	23.4 18/19	19.1 13/14	0.9 0	28.8
Sigma Dos/Antena 3[p 1][p 2][p 3]	21 Oct 2001	18,000	?	52.0 41/43	25.1 18/19	19.8 14/15	–	26.9
Sondaxe/Tele 5[p 1][p 2][p 3]	12–20 Oct 2001	4,375	?	51.4 42/43	27.1 18/19	19.0 13/14	–	24.3
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	9–13 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.3 41	25.9 19	20.5 15	–	25.4
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	8–12 Oct 2001	2,500	?	50.8 41	26.3 19	20.7 15	–	24.5
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	7–11 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.7 41	25.7 19	20.5 15	–	26.0
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	6–10 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.6 42	25.6 18	20.5 15	–	26.0
USC[p 5]	5–10 Oct 2001	?	?	48.3 39/41	26.8 18/20	23.1 15/18	–	21.5
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	5–9 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.6 41	25.9 19	20.4 15	–	25.7
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	4–8 Oct 2001	2,500	?	50.6 41	26.6 19	20.8 15	–	24.0
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	3–7 Oct 2001	2,500	?	50.0 40	26.8 20	21.2 15	–	23.2
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	2–6 Oct 2001	2,500	?	49.5 39	26.7 20	21.6 16	–	22.8
Celeste-Tel/Terra[p 5][p 6]	5 Oct 2001	?	?	49.7 40	24.4 18	22.7 17	–	25.3
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	1–5 Oct 2001	2,500	?	49.3 40	26.4 19	22.0 16	–	22.9
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	30 Sep–4 Oct 2001	2,500	?	50.6 40	25.6 19	21.7 16	–	25.0
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	29 Sep–3 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.7 42	24.9 17	21.2 16	–	26.8
Opina/Cadena SER[p 7][p 8]	2 Oct 2001	?	?	50.0 39/40	26.0 19/20	20.5 15/17	1.0 0	24.0
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	28 Sep–2 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.8 42	25.0 18	21.0 15	–	26.8
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	27 Sep–1 Oct 2001	2,500	?	51.7 42	25.1 18	20.9 15	–	26.6
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	26–30 Sep 2001	2,500	?	51.7 41	25.4 19	20.7 15	–	26.3
CIS[p 9][p 10]	15–30 Sep 2001	2,991	64.0	49.7 39/41	25.2 18/20	21.4 15/17	1.0 0	24.5
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 4]	25–29 Sep 2001	2,500	?	51.2 41	25.6 19	20.8 15	–	25.6
Infortécnica/La Región[p 5][p 6][p 11]	10–17 Sep 2001	?	?	49.6 38/40	24.8 18	23.6 17/19	–	24.8
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 5][p 6][p 12]	3–7 Sep 2001	2,400	?	50.4 40/41	26.0 19	21.2 15/16	–	24.4
Infortécnica/La Región[p 5][p 6]	Aug 2001	?	?	49.1 38/40	26.2 19/20	22.7 16/17	–	22.9
PP[p 13]	29 Jul 2001	2,000	?	? 39/41	? 17/18	? 17/18	–	?
USC[p 5][p 6][p 14][p 15]	18 Jul 2001	?	?	49.9 39/40	25.7 18	23.3 17/18	–	24.2
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[p 6][p 16][p 17]	14 Jul 2001	?	?	47.1 37/40	27.2 19/20	22.8 16/18	–	19.9
PSOE[p 5][p 6]	Jul 2001	?	?	? 38/39	? 18	? 18/19	–	?
PP[p 18][p 19]	2 Jun 2001	?	?	? 39	? 20	? 16	–	?
Infortécnica/La Región[p 5][p 6]	Jun 2001	?	?	50.7 40	27.0 20	21.4 15	–	23.7
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[lower-roman 1][p 5][p 6][p 20]	14 Apr 2001	?	61.5	50.7	24.4	19.5	–	26.3
Sondaxe/BNG[p 5][p 6][p 21]	24 Mar 2001	?	?	46.2 37	28.0 21	23.0 17	–	18.2
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[lower-roman 1][p 5][p 6][p 22]	1 Jan 2001	?	71.0	48.0	28.5	18.7	–	19.5
USC[p 5][p 6][p 23]	11–23 Dec 2000	?	?	50.1 39	25.5 18	23.9 18	–	24.6
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[lower-roman 1][p 5][p 6][p 24]	23 Sep 2000	?	71.5	48.7	28.5	17.1	–	20.2
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[lower-roman 1][p 5][p 6][p 25]	2 Jul 2000	?	73.8	50.3	28.3	15.7	–	22.0
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[lower-roman 1][p 5][p 6]	2 Apr 2000	?	73.1	48.4	31.6	15.0	–	16.8
2000 general election	12 Mar 2000	N/A	65.0	54.0 45	18.6 13	23.7 17	1.3 0	30.3
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[lower-roman 1][p 5][p 6]	23 Jan 2000	?	71.2	50.3	30.2	18.8	–	20.1
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia[lower-roman 1][p 5][p 6]	19 Sep 1999	?	73.9	49.4	30.9	18.0	–	18.5
1999 EP election	13 Jun 1999	N/A	60.8	49.9 42	22.0 16	23.6 17	1.1 0	26.3
1999 local elections	13 Jun 1999	N/A	63.9	45.4	18.5	25.3	0.9	20.1
1997 regional election	19 Oct 1997	N/A	62.5	52.2 42	24.8 18	19.5 15	0.9 0	27.4
Undecided and/or abstentionists excluded.

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 21 October 2001 Parliament of Galicia election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	791,885	51.62	–0.57	41	–1
	Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG)	346,430	22.58	–2.20	17	–1
	Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG–PSOE)	334,819	21.83	+2.37	17	+2
	United Left (EU–IU)	10,431	0.68	–0.20	0	±0
	Galician Progressive Democracy (DPG)	6,938	0.45	–0.27	0	±0
	Left of Galicia (EdeG)	5,001	0.33	New	0	±0
	Party of Self-employed and Professionals (AUTONOMO)	4,481	0.29	+0.16	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	4,137	0.27	+0.11	0	±0
	Galician People's Front (FPG)	3,176	0.21	±0.00	0	±0
	Social Democratic Party of Law (SDD)	646	0.04	–0.03	0	±0
Blank ballots		25,988	1.69	+0.38
Total		1,533,932			75	±0
Valid votes		1,533,932	99.30	–0.20
Invalid votes		10,755	0.70	+0.20
Votes cast / turnout		1,544,687	60.16	–2.35
Abstentions		1,022,983	39.84	+2.35
Registered voters		2,567,670
Sources[6][7][8]

Popular vote PP   51.62% BNG   22.58% PSdeG–PSOE   21.83% Others   2.27% Blank ballots   1.69%

Seats PP   54.67% BNG   22.67% PSdeG–PSOE   22.67%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PP		BNG		PSdeG
	%	S	%	S	%	S
A Coruña	48.7	12	24.1	6	22.9	6
Lugo	56.0	9	19.5	3	21.6	3
Ourense	57.4	8	20.3	3	19.3	3
Pontevedra	50.8	12	23.1	5	21.7	5
Total	51.6	41	22.6	17	21.8	17
Sources[6][7][8]

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture Manuel Fraga (PP)
Ballot →		5 December 2001
Required majority →		38 out of 75
	Yes • PP (41)	41 / 75
	No • BNG (17) • PSdeG (17)	34 / 75
	Abstentions	0 / 75
	Absentees	0 / 75
Sources[6]

2002 motions of no confidence

Motion of no confidence Xosé Manuel Beiras (BNG) Ballot → 12 December 2002 Required majority → 38 out of 75 Yes • BNG (17) • PSdeG (17) 34 / 75 No • PP (41) 41 / 75 Abstentions 0 / 75 Absentees 0 / 75 Sources[6]

Motion of no confidence Emilio Pérez Touriño (PSdeG) Ballot → 12 December 2002 Required majority → 38 out of 75 Yes • BNG (17) • PSdeG (17) 34 / 75 No • PP (41) 41 / 75 Abstentions 0 / 75 Absentees 0 / 75 Sources[6]

Notes

1. Data for PSdeG–EG–OV in the 1997 election.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Fraga obtiene su cuarta mayoría absoluta en Galicia". ABC (in Spanish). 21 October 2001.
2. "Fraga revalida su cuarta mayoría absoluta en Galicia". ABC (in Spanish). 21 October 2001.
3. "Manuel Fraga revalida su mayoría absoluta, según los sondeos a pie de urna". El Mundo (in Spanish). 21 October 2001.
4. "Tracking electoral". Sondaxe (in Spanish). 14 October 2001. Archived from the original on 5 June 2002.
5. "Encuestas". Sondaxe (in Spanish). 21 October 2001. Archived from the original on 26 June 2002.
6. "Archivo de encuestas" (PDF). Sondaxe (in Spanish). 21 October 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2003.
7. "Intención de voto Galicia 02/10/2001". Cadena SER (in Spanish). 5 October 2001. Archived from the original on 21 November 2001.
8. "Fraga puede perder hasta 3 diputados pero mantendrá la mayoría absoluta". Cadena SER (in Spanish). 5 October 2001. Archived from the original on 25 November 2001.
9. "Preelectoral de Galicia. Elecciones Autonómicas 2001 (Estudio nº 2432. Septiembre-Octubre 1998)". CIS (in Spanish). 10 October 2001.
10. "Estudio CIS nº 2432. Ficha técnica" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 10 October 2001.
11. "El PSOE cree ahora que un gobierno del BNG generaría miedo e incertidumbre". ABC (in Spanish). 24 September 2001.
12. "Otra encuesta otorga a Fraga una nueva mayoría absoluta". ABC (in Spanish). 30 September 2001.
13. "Una encuesta del PP le da la mayoría en las elecciones, aun sin el voto emigrante". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 29 July 2001.
14. "Un sondeo revela un desgaste en el PP y le augura un triunfo apurado en octubre". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 18 July 2001.
15. "El PPdeG revalidará una nueva mayoría absoluta según el Barómetro de la USC". El Correo Gallego (in Spanish). 19 July 2001.
16. "Fraga podría mantener la mayoría absoluta a pesar del incremento de Bloque y PSOE". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 14 July 2001.
17. "El PP continúa como primera fuerza electoral en Galicia, pero con un ligero declive". El País (in Spanish). 16 July 2001.
18. "El PP confía en mantener su mayoría en Galicia aun perdiendo dos diputados". ABC (in Spanish). 2 June 2001.
19. "Galicia: el PP confía en mantener su mayoría aún perdiendo diputados". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 2 June 2001.
20. "El aumento de los indecisos ante la cercanía de las elecciones perjudica a PP y Bloque". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 14 April 2001.
21. "La llave de Raxoi está en América". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 24 March 2001.
22. "El PP perdió tres puntos desde el verano y sólo supera en unas décimas a la oposición". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 1 January 2001.
23. "El PSOE disputa al BNG la condición de alternativa a los populares, según un sondeo". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 19 January 2001.
24. "La mitad de los gallegos con más de 55 años decantan su voto a favor del PPdeG". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 23 September 2001.
25. "El PP aumenta en intención de voto para las autonómicas en detrimento del BNG". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 2 July 2000.

Other

1. "Ley Orgánica 1/1981, de 6 de abril, de Estatuto de Autonomía para Galicia". Organic Law No. 1 of 6 April 1981. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 August 2017.
2. "Ley 8/1985, de 13 de agosto, de elecciones al Parlamento de Galicia". Law No. 2 of 13 August 1985. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 August 2017.
3. Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
4. "Ley 1/1983, de 22 de febrero, de normas reguladoras de la Xunta y su Presidencia". Law No. 1 of 22 February 1983. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 August 2017.
5. "Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
6. "Elecciones al Parlamento de Galicia (1981 - 2020)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 September 2017.
7. "Parliament of Galicia election results, 21 October 2001" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Central Electoral Commission. 13 November 2001. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
8. "Parliament of Galicia election results, 21 October 2001. Error correction" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Central Electoral Commission. 11 December 2001. Retrieved 25 September 2017.