Zaragoza (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Zaragoza is one of the 52 electoral districts (circunscripciones) 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 three electoral districts which correspond to the provinces of Aragon

Aragon

Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...

. Zaragoza

Zaragoza

Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...

is by far the largest municipality with over 500,000 voters (70% of the total electorate.) There are no other municipalities with electorates over 15,000. Like its Aragonese neighbour Teruel

Teruel (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Teruel 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 one of the three electoral districts which correspond to the provinces of Aragon...

, Zaragoza has been a political Bellwether

Bellwether

A bellwether is any entity in a given arena that serves to create or influence trends or to presage future happenings.The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram leading his flock of sheep.The movements of...

as the party that has won most seats in the district has gone on to form the government.

Boundaries and electoral system

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

Zaragoza (province)

Zaragoza is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon.Its capital is Zaragoza, which is also the capital of the autonomous community. Other towns in Zaragoza include Calatayud, Borja, La Almunia de Doña Godina, Ejea de los Caballeros and Tarazona.Its...

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.

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 Zaragoza, 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.

Eligibility

Article 67.3 of the Spanish Constitution prohibits dual membership of both chambers of the Cortes or 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. Additionally, under Article 11 of the Political Parties Law, June 2002 (Ley Orgánica 6/2002, de 27 de junio, de Partidos Políticos), parties and individual candidates may be prevented from standing by the Spanish Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Spain

The Supreme Court of Spain is the highest court in Spain for all matters not pertaining to the Spanish Constitution. The court which meets in the Convent of the Salesas Reales in Madrid, consists of a president and an indeterminate number of magistrates appointed to the five chambers of the...

(Tribunal Supremo), if they are judged to have violated Article 9 of that law which prohibits parties which are perceived to discriminate against people on the basis of ideology, religion, beliefs, nationality, race, gender or sexual orientation (Article 9a), foment or organise violence as a means of achieving political objectives (Article 9b) or support or compliment the actions of "terrorist organisations" (Article 9c). Article 55, Section 2 of the 1985 electoral law also disqualifies director generals or equivalent leaders of state monopolies and public bodies such as the Spanish state broadcaster RTVE. Lastly, following changes to the electoral law which took effect for the 2007 municipal elections, candidates' lists must be composed of at least 40% of candidates of either gender and each group of five candidates must contain at least two males and two females.

Number of members

From the 1977 General Election

Spanish general election, 1977

The Spanish general election of 1977 took place on 15 June 1977. It was the first election since the death of Francisco Franco.Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. The elections were held using closed list proportional representation in 52 electoral districts...

onwards Zaragoza returned eight members. At the 1989 General Election

Spanish general election, 1989

-Results:-External links:**...

it lost a seat and has returned seven members since then.

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. Zaragoza had a ratio of 103,831 voters per deputy in 2004, a figure slightly above the Spanish average of 98,777 voters per deputy but far ahead of the ratio of 38,714 voters per deputy in Teruel

Summary of seats won 1977–2008

	1977	1979	1982	1986	1989	1993	1996	2000	2004	2008
Democratic Centre Union (UCD)	3	4
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)	3	3	5	4	3	3	3	2	3	4
Popular Socialist Party Popular Socialist Party (Spain) The People's Socialist Party was a Spanish political party.The origins of the party dated back to 1954 when the University professor, Enrique Tierno Galván published various academic studies of a Marxist character. In 1965, working together with Raúl Morodo, he formed the Castillian Socialist... (PSP)	1
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)			3	2	2	2	4	4	3	3
Independent / Aragonese Party Aragonese Party The Aragonese Party is a political party which advocates the interests of Aragon within Spain. The party was founded in 1978 under the name Aragonese Regionalist Party, but changed its name in 1990, keeping the initials PAR.... (PAR)	1	1	3	1	1	1	4
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)				1
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)					1	1
Chunta Aragonesista (CHA)								1	1

Note: Seats shown for the PP include seats won by their predecessors, the Popular Alliance and Popular Coalition before 1989. They ran in an electoral alliance with the Aragonese Party (Partido Aragonés) in 1982 and 1996. The Aragonese party did not exist in 1977 and the candidate who was elected for them in 1979 was elected as an Independent Aragonese Centre Candidate {Candidatura Aragonesa Independiente de centro (CAIC) } in 1977.

Vote share summary 1977-2008

	1977	1979	1982	1986	1989	1993	1996	2000	2004	2008
Democratic Centre Union (UCD)	31.8	36.1	6.8
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)	25.5	26.8	51.3	43.6	38.0	32.4	31.9	29.2	40.3	46.4
Popular Socialist Party Popular Socialist Party (Spain) The People's Socialist Party was a Spanish political party.The origins of the party dated back to 1954 when the University professor, Enrique Tierno Galván published various academic studies of a Marxist character. In 1965, working together with Raúl Morodo, he formed the Castillian Socialist... (PSP)	10.7
Aragonese Party Aragonese Party The Aragonese Party is a political party which advocates the interests of Aragon within Spain. The party was founded in 1978 under the name Aragonese Regionalist Party, but changed its name in 1990, keeping the initials PAR.... (PAR)	8.5	9.0	31.5	11.6	10.6	20.2	48.3	4.4	4.1	4.7
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)	8.0	5.4	31.5	25.2	27.5	32.2	48.3	47.6	35.6	36.5
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)	5.2	8.0	3.3	3.8	11.3	11.2	10.1	3.7	2.8	2.9
Party of Labour of Spain Party of Labour of Spain Communist Party of Spain , was a political party in Spain. It was formed around 1967, following a split from the 'Unidad' group within the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia... (PTE)		4.7
Coalition for Aragon (PSAR-PSDA)		4.1
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)			4.0	10.9	7.2	1.1		0.0	0.1
Chunta Aragonesista (CHA)					0.5	0.9	8.0	12.8	14.5	5.9

Results

The 2008 election saw the tenth largest increase overall in the PSOE vote share and they gained the seat previously held by Chunta Aragonesista, whose MP had retired.

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...

Summary of the 11 March 2008 Congress of Deputies election results in Zaragoza.
|-
!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|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...

Jesús Membrado Giner

Jesús Membrado Giner is a Spanish politician for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party .Married with one daughter, Membrado gained a degree in History and Geography and subsequently worked as a school teacher...

, María Alegria Continente

María Alegria Continente

María Alegria Continente is a Spanish politician for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party .Single, Alegria gained a masters degree in primary education and worked with the Department of Education, Culture and Sports in the Government of Aragon...

, Alfredo Arola Blanquet

Alfredo Arola Blanquet

Alfredo Francisco Arola Blanquet is a Spanish politician for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party .Arola entered politics in 1983 when he was elected to the Aragonese Corts representing Zargoza Province...

, Concepción Sanz Carrillo
|-
|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...

Luisa Fernanda Rudi Ubeda

Luisa Fernanda Rudi Ubeda is a Spanish politician andMember of the European Parliament with the People's Party. She is a member of the Bureau of the European People's Party and sits on...

, Baudilio Tomé Muguruza

Baudilio Tomé Muguruza

Baudilio Tomé Muguruza is a Spanish politician who belongs to the main opposition People's Party .Married, with three children, he holds a degree in Economic and Business Sciences and a Masters in Law and International fiscal issues. After working as a state auditor he was appointed Secretary of...

, Ramón Moreno Bustos

Ramón Moreno Bustos

Ramón Moreno Bustos is a Spanish politician who belongs to the People's Party .Married with one daughter he gained a degree in Business Law. He entered politics at the 1995 regional election when he was elected to the Aragonese Corts, the legislature of the Spanish region of Aragon...

Aragonese Party

The Aragonese Party is a political party which advocates the interests of Aragon within Spain. The party was founded in 1978 under the name Aragonese Regionalist Party, but changed its name in 1990, keeping the initials PAR....

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...

-Greens

Confederation of The Greens

The Confederation of the Greens is a green political party in 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...

(Unión Progreso y Democracia)
|align="right" |6,621
|align="right" |1.21
|align="right" |0
|align="left" |
|-
|align=left|Others
|align="right" |6,527
|align="right" |1.20
|align="right" |0
|align="right" |
|-
|}

The 2004 election saw the PP vote drop by 12.1%, this was the third biggest drop overall in the PP vote in any district. The PSOE vote grew by 11.1%. Consequently the 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 PP to PSOE was 11.6% - the largest swing of the election between the two main parties.

2004 General Election

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...

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

Jesús Membrado Giner

, Alfredo Arola Blanquet

Alfredo Arola Blanquet

, Eva Sáenz Royo
|-
|align=left|People's Party

People's Party (Spain)

Luisa Fernanda Rudi Ubeda

Luisa Fernanda Rudi Ubeda is a Spanish politician andMember of the European Parliament with the People's Party. She is a member of the Bureau of the European People's Party and sits on...

^{#^{, Gabriel Cisneros LabordaGabriel Cisneros
Gabriel Cisneros Laborda was a Spanish politician and one of the co-authors and "fathers" of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 following Spain's move to democracy...

^{*^{, Ramón Moreno BustosRamón Moreno Bustos
Ramón Moreno Bustos is a Spanish politician who belongs to the People's Party .Married with one daughter he gained a degree in Business Law. He entered politics at the 1995 regional election when he was elected to the Aragonese Corts, the legislature of the Spanish region of Aragon...

|-

|align=left| Aragonese Council (Chunta Aragonesista)

|align="right" |81,160

|align="right" |14.54

|align="right" |1

|align="left" | José Antonio LabordetaJosé Antonio Labordeta
José Antonio Labordeta Subías , described by The Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa 2000 as “The most important Aragonese singer-songwriter”, began singing in an attempt to give more relevance to his poetry. His songs are anthems, not only in Aragón, but all around Spain...

|-

|align=left|Aragonese PartyAragonese Party
The Aragonese Party is a political party which advocates the interests of Aragon within Spain. The party was founded in 1978 under the name Aragonese Regionalist Party, but changed its name in 1990, keeping the initials PAR....

(Partido Aragonés)

|align="right" |22,758

|align="right" |4.08

|align="right" |0

|align="left" |

|-

|align=left|United LeftUnited 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...

-GreensConfederation of The Greens
The Confederation of the Greens is a green political party in Spain....

|align="right" |15,672

|align="right" |2.81

|align="right" |0

|align="left" |

|-

|align=left|Others

|align="right" |3,693

|align="right" |0.70

|align="right" |0

|align="right" |

|-

|}

^{#^{On 6 July 2004, Rudi was replaced by Verónica Lope Fontagne

^{*^{On 27 July 2007, Cisneros died and was replaced by Rafael Lapeña Gil

2000 General ElectionSpanish 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 resultsSpanish 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...

in Teruel.

|-

!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 PartyPeople'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...

(Partido Popular)

|align="right" |244,403

|align="right" |47.63

|align="right" |4

|align="left" | Luisa Fernanda Rudi UbedaLuisa Fernanda Rudi Ubeda
Luisa Fernanda Rudi Ubeda is a Spanish politician andMember of the European Parliament with the People's Party. She is a member of the Bureau of the European People's Party and sits on...

, Gabriel Cisneros LabordaGabriel Cisneros
Gabriel Cisneros Laborda was a Spanish politician and one of the co-authors and "fathers" of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 following Spain's move to democracy...

|-

|align=left|Spanish Socialist Workers' PartySpanish 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...

(Partido Socialista Obrero Español)

|align="right" |149,672

|align="right" |29.17

|align="right" |2

|align="left" |

|-

|align=left| Aragonese Council (Chunta Aragonesista)

|align="right" |65,599

|align="right" |12.78

|align="right" |1

|align="left" | José Antonio LabordetaJosé Antonio Labordeta
José Antonio Labordeta Subías , described by The Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa 2000 as “The most important Aragonese singer-songwriter”, began singing in an attempt to give more relevance to his poetry. His songs are anthems, not only in Aragón, but all around Spain...

|-

|align=left|Aragonese PartyAragonese Party
The Aragonese Party is a political party which advocates the interests of Aragon within Spain. The party was founded in 1978 under the name Aragonese Regionalist Party, but changed its name in 1990, keeping the initials PAR....

(Partido Aragonés)

|align="right" |22,382

|align="right" |4.36

|align="right" |0

|align="left" |

|-

|align=left|United LeftUnited 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...

|align="right" |19,059

|align="right" |3.71

|align="right" |0

|align="left" |

|-

|align=left|Others

|align="right" |4,906

|align="right" |1.00

|align="right" |0

|align="right" |

|-

|}

Source:

External links

List of members by year
Party lists for the 2004 election

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