2011 Riojan regional election

The 2011 Riojan regional election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th Parliament of the autonomous community of La Rioja. All 33 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

2011 Riojan regional election

22 May 2011
All 33 seats in the Parliament of La Rioja 17 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	242,007 1.8%
Turnout	168,826 (69.8%) 3.5 pp
Leader Pedro Sanz Francisco Martínez-Aldama Miguel González de Legarra Party PP PSOE PR Leader since 2 October 1993 30 July 2000 16 December 1995 Last election 17 seats, 48.8% 14 seats, 40.4% 2 seats, 6.0% Seats won 20 11 2 Seat change 3 3 0 Popular vote 85,975 50,169 8,983 Percentage 52.0% 30.3% 5.4% Swing 3.2 pp 10.1 pp 0.6 pp
President before election Pedro Sanz PP Elected President Pedro Sanz PP

The People's Party (PP) had formed the government of the region since the 1995 election, holding a majority of seats since then. As a result of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) collapse at the national level, the PP increased its majority, gaining 3 seats and obtaining its best historical result in a regional election; the same 3 seats that were lost by the PSOE, which obtained its worst result ever. The Riojan Party (PR) held its 2 seats with a slightly reduced vote share.

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of La Rioja was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of La Rioja, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Riojan Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Autonomous Community.[1] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in La Rioja and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Riojans abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado).[2]

The 33 members of the Parliament of La Rioja were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5 percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution.[1][3]

The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure the signature of at least 1 percent of the electors registered in La Rioja. Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election being called.[3][4][5]

Election date

The term of the Parliament of La Rioja expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Parliament were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 27 May 2007, setting the election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 22 May 2011.[1][3][4][5]

The President of the Autonomous Community had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of La Rioja and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election was due and some time requirements were met: namely, that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or within the legislature's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year has elapsed since a previous dissolution. 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. Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances would not alter the period to the next ordinary election, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.[1]

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. 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of La Rioja.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout			PR			Lead
2011 regional election	22 May 2011	N/A	69.8	52.0 20	30.3 11	5.4 2	3.7 0	3.6 0	21.7
NC Report/La Razón[p 1]	3–10 May 2011	?	?	51.1 17/18	34.5 13/14	? 2	–	–	16.6
TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3[p 2][p 3]	4–5 May 2011	500	?	51.9 19/20	31.2 11/12	5.7 2	4.1 0	–	20.7
NC Report/La Razón[p 4][p 5]	25 Apr 2011	?	?	? 18	? 13	? 2	–	–	?
Celeste-Tel/Terra[p 6]	13–20 Apr 2011	400	?	52.7 19	32.1 12	5.7 2	4.6 0	–	20.6
CIS[p 7][p 8]	17 Mar–18 Apr 2011	784	?	50.9 19	31.5 12	6.7 2	4.2 0	1.5 0	19.4
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 9][p 10]	12–15 Apr 2011	400	?	53.3 19/20	35.4 13	4.6 0/1	–	–	17.9
Ikerfel/Vocento[p 11][p 12]	10–12 Apr 2011	1,000	?	48.1 17/18	37.9 13/14	5.2 1/2	–	–	10.2
GAD/ABC[p 13]	10–16 Mar 2011	600	?	50.9 18	36.9 13	5.6 2	–	–	14.0
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 14]	7 Jan 2011	400	?	52.3 18/19	33.8 12/13	6.5 2	–	–	18.5
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 15]	25–26 May 2010	400	?	51.6 18/20	36.6 13/14	4.7 0/1	3.2 0	–	15.0
Sigma Dos/Diario La Rioja[p 16][p 17]	14–18 May 2010	1,000	?	50.7 18/19	36.3 13	5.2 1/2	3.1 0	–	14.4
Diario La Rioja[p 18][p 19]	3–24 Mar 2010	838	?	? 18	? 13	? 2	–	–	?
2009 EP election	7 Jun 2009	N/A	50.4	50.7 18	40.6 15	–	1.9 0	3.0 0	10.1
2008 general election	9 Mar 2008	N/A	79.3	49.5 18	43.6 15	1.5 0	1.9 0	1.3 0	5.9
2007 regional election	27 May 2007	N/A	73.3	48.8 17	40.4 14	6.0 2	3.1 0	–	8.4

Results

← Summary of the 22 May 2011 Parliament of La Rioja election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	85,975	51.98	+3.17	20	+3
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	50,169	30.33	–10.08	11	–3
	Riojan Party (PR)	8,983	5.43	–0.57	2	±0
	United Left of La Rioja (IU)	6,114	3.70	+0.64	0	±0
	Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)	5,891	3.56	New	0	±0
	Greens of La Rioja–Ecolo (Ecolo–V)	2,041	1.23	New	0	±0
	For a Fairer World (PUM+J)	697	0.42	New	0	±0
	Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)	567	0.34	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	482	0.29	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		4,496	2.72	+1.00
Total		165,415			33	±0
Valid votes		165,415	97.98	–1.23
Invalid votes		3,411	2.02	+1.23
Votes cast / turnout		168,826	69.76	–3.54
Abstentions		73,181	30.24	+3.54
Registered voters		242,007
Sources[6][7]

Popular vote PP   51.98% PSOE   30.33% PR   5.43% IU   3.70% UPyD   3.56% Ecolo–V   1.23% Others   1.06% Blank ballots   2.72%

Seats PP   60.61% PSOE   33.33% PR   6.06%

Aftermath

Investiture Pedro Sanz (PP)
Ballot →		22 June 2011
Required majority →		17 out of 33
	Yes • PP (20)	20 / 33
	No • PSOE (11)	11 / 33
	Abstentions • PR (2)	2 / 33
	Absentees	0 / 33
Sources[7]

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "El PP blinda sus feudos". La Razón (in Spanish). 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 16 September 2011.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
2. "El PP podría recuperar la alcaldía de Palma de Mallorca". Antena 3 (in Spanish). 7 May 2011.
3. "Encuesta de TNS para Antena 3 y Onda Cero. Elecciones 22M. Expectativas electorales en La Rioja" (PDF). TNS Demoscopia (in Spanish). 7 May 2011. Archived from the original on 26 June 2012.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
4. "El PSOE se rinde al PP". La Razón (in Spanish). 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 25 June 2011.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
5. "El PP ganaría un escaño a costa del PSOE, según la encuesta de NC Report para La Razón". ForoCoches (in Spanish). 25 April 2011.
6. "Barómetro electoral autonómico" (PDF). Celeste-Tel (in Spanish). 9 May 2011.
7. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas, 2011. Comunidad Autónoma de La Rioja (Estudio nº 2882. Marzo-Abril 2011)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 5 May 2011.
8. "El PSOE fija su objetivo: salvar los muebles". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 6 May 2011.
9. "El Mundo 25-27 de Abril 2011". El Mundo (in Spanish). 25 April 2011.
10. "Sanz consolida su ventaja en La Rioja (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
11. "Pedro Sanz afronta con tranquilidad su quinta reelección". ABC (in Spanish). 8 May 2011.
12. "El PP amplía su ventaja". El Correo (in Spanish). 8 May 2011.
13. "El PP refuerza su mayoría en La Rioja y recupera Logroño". ABC (in Spanish). 20 March 2011.
14. "Aumenta la ventaja del PP frente al PSOE en La Rioja (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 7 January 2011. Archived from the original on 13 January 2011.
15. "Caso electoral histórico en más comunidades autónomas (El Mundo)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 22 June 2010.
16. "El PP refuerza su hegemonía". Diario La Rioja (in Spanish). 23 May 2010.
17. "El PP ganaría hasta 2 escaños más a costa de PSOE y PR (La Rioja)". Electómetro (in Spanish). 25 May 2010. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
18. "El PP reeditaría la mayoría absoluta y recuperaría la Alcaldía de Logroño". Diario La Rioja (in Spanish). 22 April 2010.
19. "Un sondeo de larioja.com augura otra mayoría absoluta del PP en La Rioja". Electómetro (in Spanish). 22 April 2010. Archived from the original on 1 May 2010.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Other

1. "Statute of Autonomy of La Rioja of 1982". Organic Law No. 3 of 9 June 1982. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
2. Reig Pellicer, Naiara (16 December 2015). "Spanish elections: Begging for the right to vote". cafebabel.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
3. "General Deputation of La Rioja Elections Law of 1991". Law No. 3 of 21 March 1991. Official Gazette of La Rioja (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
4. "General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
5. "Representation of the people Institutional Act". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es. Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
6. "Parliament of La Rioja election results, 22 May 2011" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of La Rioja. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
7. "Elecciones al Parlamento de La Rioja (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2017.