Asturian parliamentary election, 1983

Asturian parliamentary election, 1983

8 May 1983

All 45 seats in the Asturian General Junta 23 seats needed for a majority Registered 873,690 Turnout 568,271 (65.0%)   First party Second party Third party   Leader Pedro de Silva Francisco Álvarez Cascos Francisco Javier Suárez Party PSOE CP PCE Leader since 15 March 1983 1983 1983 Seats won 26 14 5 Popular vote 293,320 170,654 62,855 Percentage 52.0% 30.2% 11.1%

President before election Rafael Fernández PSOE Elected President Pedro de Silva PSOE

The 1983 Asturian parliamentary election was held on Sunday, 8 May 1983, to elect the 1st General Junta of the Principality of Asturias, the regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Asturias. At stake were all 45 seats in the General Junta, determining the President of the Principality of Asturias.

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) won the election with a comfortable absolute majority of 26 out of 45 seats and 52.0% of the vote. The People's Coalition, headed by the conservative People's Alliance, became the second political force and the main opposition party in the General Junta with 14 seats and 30.2%. The Communist Party of Spain (PCE) won 5 seats and 11.1%.

As a result of the election, Socialist Pedro de Silva replaced Rafael Fernández as President of Asturias, becoming the first democratically elected head of the regional government.

Electoral system

The 45 members of the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias were elected in 3 multi-member districts using the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation system. Unlike other regions, districts did not coincide with provincial limits, being determined by law as such:

• Central District, comprising the municipalities of: Aller, Avilés, Bimenes, Carreño, Caso, Castrillón, Corvera de Asturias, Gijón, Gozón, Illas, Las Regueras, Langreo, Laviana, Lena, Llanera, Mieres, Morcín, Noreña, Oviedo, Proaza, Quirós, Ribera de Arriba, Riosa, San Martín del Rey Aurelio, Santo Adriano, Sariego, Siero, Sobrescobio and Soto del Barco.
• Eastern District, comprising the municipalities of: Amieva, Cabrales, Cabranes, Cangas de Onís, Caravia, Colunga, Llanes, Nava, Onís, Parres, Peñamellera Alta, Peñamellera Baja, Piloña, Ponga, Ribadedeva, Ribadesella and Villaviciosa.
• Western District, comprising the municipalities of: Allande, Belmonte de Miranda, Boal, Candamo, Cangas del Narcea, Castropol, Coaña, Cudillero, Degaña, El Franco, Grado, Grandas de Salime, Ibias, Illano, Muros del Nalón, Navia, Pesoz, Pravia, Salas, San Martín de Oscos, Santa Eulalia de Oscos, San Tirso de Abres, Somiedo, Tapia de Casariego, Taramundi, Teverga, Tineo, Valdés, Vegadeo, Villanueva de Oscos, Villayón and Yernes y Tameza.

As the community had not passed an electoral law of its own at the time, the electoral system came regulated under Decree 57/1983, which distributed the General Junta seats as follows: Central District (32), Eastern District (5) and Western District (8).

Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. Only lists polling above 3% of the total vote in each district (which include blank ballots—for none of the above) were entitled to enter the seat distribution.^[1]

Opinion polls

Seat projections

Opinion polls showing seat projections are displayed in the table below. The highest seat figures in each polling survey have their background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. 23 seats were required for an absolute majority in the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias.

23 seats needed for majority

Date	Polling Firm/Source	PSOE	CP	PCE	CDS	Others
8 May 1983	Regional Election	26	14	5	0	0
Exit polls
23–26 Apr	Sofemasa	26−29	12−14	4−6	0−1	0
1983
28 Oct 1982	General Election	(26)	(13)	(4)	(1)	(1)

Results

Overall

Summary of the 8 May 1983 Asturian General Junta election results →

Party		Vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	293,320	51.96	−	26	−
	People's Coalition (AP-PDP-UL)	170,654	30.23	−	14	−
	Communist Party of Asturias (PCA-PCE)	62,855	11.13	−	5	−
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	19,495	3.45	−	0	−
	Workers' Socialist Party (PST)	4,703	0.83	−	0	−
	Communist Candidature (PRUC-PCPE)	4,226	0.75	−	0	−
	Communist Movement-Revolutionary Communist League (MC-LCR)	2,833	0.50	−	0	−
	Asturian Nationalist Ensame (ENA)	2,505	0.44	−	0	−
	People's Fight Coalition (CLP)	867	0.15	−	0	−
	Youth Students and Workers (MEyT)	764	0.14	−	0	−
	Blank ballots	2,298	0.41	−
Total		564,520	100.00		45	−
Valid votes		564,520	99.34	−
Invalid votes		3,751	0.66	−
Votes cast / turnout		568,271	65.04	−
Abstentions		305,419	34.96	−
Registered voters		873,690
Source(s): General Junta of the Principality of Asturias Argos Information Portal

Vote share
PSOE			51.96%
AP-PDP-UL			30.23%
PCE			11.13%
CDS			3.45%
Others			2.82%
Blank ballots			0.41%

Parliamentary seats
PSOE			57.78%
AP-PDP-UL			31.11%
PCE			11.11%

Results by district

Election results by district.

References

1. "Decree 57/1983, of 10 March, by which elections to the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias are called" (PDF).