Toledo (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Toledo is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

Parliament, the Cortes Generales

Cortes Generales

The Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...

. It is one of the five electoral districts which correspond to the provinces of Castilla La Mancha. Talavera de la Reina is the largest town, while the provincial capital of Toledo

Toledo, Spain

Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...

is the only other municipality with over 50,000 voters.

Boundaries and electoral system

Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution
the boundaries must be the same as the province of Toledo

Toledo (province)

Toledo is a province of central Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Badajoz, Cáceres, and Ávila....

and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage

Universal suffrage

Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...

in a secret ballot

Secret ballot

The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of...

. The electoral system used is closed list

Closed list

Closed list describes the variant of party-list proportional representation where voters can only vote for political parties as a whole and thus have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected...

proportional representation

Proportional representation

Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method

D'Hondt method

The d'Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method described is named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt who described it in 1878...

. 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.

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 elected. Article 70 also makes active judges, magistrates, public defenders, serving military personnel, active police officers and members of constitutional and electoral tribunals ineligible.

Electoral procedures

The laws regulating the conduct and administration of elections are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General.) Under this law, the elections in Toledo, as in other districts, are supervised by the Electoral Commission (Junta Electoral), a permanent body composed of eight Supreme Court judges and five political scientists or sociologists appointed by the Congress of Deputies. The Electoral commission is supported in its work by the Interior Ministry. On election day, polling station

Polling station

A polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as schools, churches, sports...

s are run by electoral boards which consist of groups of citizens selected by lottery.

The format of the ballot paper is designed by the Spanish state, however, the law allows political parties to produce and distribute their own ballot papers, either by mailing them to voters or by other means such as street distribution, provided that they comply with the official model. The government then covers the cost of all printed ballot papers. These must then be marked by voters, either in the polling station or outside the polling station and placed inside sealed envelopes which are then placed inside ballot box

Ballot box

A ballot box is a temporarily sealed container, usually square box though sometimes a tamper resistant bag, with a narrow slot in the top sufficient to accept a ballot paper in an election but which prevents anyone from accessing the votes cast until the close of the voting period...

es in the polling station. Following the close of polls, the ballots are then counted in each individual polling station in the presence of representatives of the political parties and candidates. The ballots are then immediately destroyed, with the exception of those considered invalid or challenged by the candidates' representatives, which are retained for further scrutiny. The result is that full recounts are impossible.

Number of members

Toledo returned five members at every election from 1977 to 2004. This was increased to six members for the 2008 general election.

Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population. These laws are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General) The practical effect of this has been to overrepresent smaller provinces at the expense of larger provinces. Toledo had a ratio of 90,605 voters per deputy in 2004 a figure below the Spanish average of 98,777 voters per deputy 2004 Spanish election.

Summary of seats won 1977–2008

	1977	1979	1982	1986	1989	1993	1996	2000	2004	2008
Democratic Centre Union (UCD)	2	3
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in... (PSOE)	2	2	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	3
Popular Alliance / People's Party People's Party (Spain) The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship... (PP)	1		2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3

Vote share summary 1977-2008

	1977	1979	1982	1986	1989	1993	1996	2000	2004	2008
Democratic Centre Union (UCD)	38.3	41.7	9.7
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in... (PSOE)	31.6	32.1	47.1	46.1	47.0	44.6	41.8	40.3	46.5	43.0
People's Party People's Party (Spain) The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship... (PP)	16.6	5.6	33.5	35.4	34.4	44.4	48.3	52.7	47.5	51.2
United Left United Left (Spain) The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain... (IU)	8.3	10.9	4.4	4.7	7.3	7.3	8.2	4.6	3.5	3.0
National Union National Union (Spain) The National Union was a right-wing electoral coalition which contested the 1979 election. It linked Blas Piñar's Fuerza Nueva francoist party with the Carlists.... (UN)		7.3	2.2
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)			1.8	10.8	8.0	1.8	0.3	0.1	0.2

2008 General Election
Spanish general election, 2008
Legislative elections for the Spanish Cortes Generales were held on March 9, 2008. The elections were for 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies, and the 208 directly elected seats in the upper house, the Senate, determining the Prime Minister of Spain...

The 2008 election saw the PSOE gain the extra seat that had been granted to the district. However their vote fell by 3.6% and the PP vote rose by 3.9%. This swing

Swing (politics)

An electoral swing analysis shows the extent of change in voter support from one election to another. It is an indicator of voter support for individual candidates or political parties, or voter preference between two or more candidates or parties...

from PSOE to PP was the fifth largest of the election, with only Almería

Almería (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Almeria is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It was first contested in modern times in the 1977 General Election. It is one of eight districts which correspond to the provinces of Andalusia...

, Málaga

Málaga (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Málaga is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It was first contested in modern times in the 1977 General Election...

, Madrid

Madrid (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Madrid is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It has the largest electorate of all the 52 districts. Madrid is the largest city...

and Valencia

Valencia (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Valencia is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies—the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is the third largest district in Congress in terms of the numbers of deputies elected, as it elects sixteen deputies out of the total...

producing larger swings.

Summary of the 11 March 2008 Congress of Deputies election results in Toledo.
|-
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left valign=top|Parties and alliances
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Seats
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Members elected
|-
|align=left|People's Party

People's Party (Spain)

The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...

Alejandro Ballestero

Alejandro Francisco Ballestero de Diego is a Spanish politician who belongs to the main opposition People's Party ....

, Francisco Vañó
|-
|align=left|Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...

Alejandro Alonso Núñez

Alejandro Alonso Núñez is a Spanish politician.Married, with two daughters, Alonso Núñez is a qualified veterinarian. He was a Government official of the Cuerpo Nacional de Veterinarios...

|-
|align=left|United Left

United Left (Spain)

The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain...

Union, Progress and Democracy

Union, Progress and Democracy is a Spanish political party founded in September 2007.It is a progressivist party, between social democracy and social liberalism. One of its goals is to build a federal system for Spain and European Union, with clear responsibilities distributed among local...

|align="right" |3,775
|align="right" |0.96
|align="right" |0
|align="left" |
|-
|align=left|Others
|align="right" |4,365
|align="right" |1.10
|align="right" |0
|align="right" |
|-
|}

2004 General Election

The 2004 election was the first time that the party that won the election had failed to poll most votes in Toledo province.

Summary of the 14 March 2004 Congress of Deputies election results

Spanish legislative election, 2004

Legislative elections were held in Spain on 14 March 2004. At stake were all 350 seats in the lower house of the Cortes Generales, the Congress of Deputies, and 208 seats in upper house, the Senate. The governing People's Party was led into the campaign by Mariano Rajoy, successor to outgoing...

People's Party (Spain)

Alejandro Ballestero

Alejandro Francisco Ballestero de Diego is a Spanish politician who belongs to the main opposition People's Party ....

, Ana Palacio

Ana Palacio

Ana Isabel de Palacio y del Valle-Lersundi in Madrid, daughter of Luis María de Palacio y de Palacio, 4th Marqués de Matonte, and wife Luisa Mariana del Valle-Lersundi y del Valle, was Spain's Minister for Foreign Affairs in the People's Party government of José María Aznar from July 2002-March...

, Francisco Vañó
|-
|align=left|Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

Alejandro Alonso Núñez

Alejandro Alonso Núñez is a Spanish politician.Married, with two daughters, Alonso Núñez is a qualified veterinarian. He was a Government official of the Cuerpo Nacional de Veterinarios...

, Raquel Cruz
|-
|align=left|United Left

United Left (Spain)

|align="right" |12,707
|align="right" |3.52
|align="right" |0
|align="left" |
|-
|align=left|Others
|align="right" |4,067
|align="right" |1.10
|align="right" |0
|align="right" |
|-
|}

Source:

2000 General Election
Spanish general election, 2000
Legislative elections were held in Spain on 12 March 2000. The incumbent People's Party of Prime Minister José María Aznar was elected to a second term in office, converting its plurality of seats in the Congress of Deputies into a majority, and increasing its lead over the opposition Spanish...

Summary of the 12 March 2000 Congress of Deputies election results

Spanish legislative election, 2004

People's Party (Spain)

Alejandro Ballestero

Alejandro Francisco Ballestero de Diego is a Spanish politician who belongs to the main opposition People's Party ....

, Miguel Organero, Isabel Tocino^#
|-
|align=left|Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

United Left (Spain)

|align="right" |15,018
|align="right" |4.57
|align="right" |0
|align="left" |
|-
|align=left|Others
|align="right" |4,458
|align="right" |1.40
|align="right" |0
|align="right" |
|-
|}

^#Tocino was replaced by Juan Muñoz Gallego on 17 July 2002

External links

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