Ceuta (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Ceuta is one of the 52 electoral districts (circunscripciones) used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It has the second smallest electorate of all the 52 districts ^[1] and together with the other African enclave of Melilla it is one of just two single member districts in Congress.

Boundaries and electoral system

Under Article 68.2 of the Spanish constitution ^[2] the constituency must be a single member district and the boundaries must be the same as the Autonomous City of Ceuta and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. Officially, the electoral system used is closed list proportional representation with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method. The fact that Ceuta is a single member district means that in practice it uses the same first past the post system used in many anglophone countries like the United Kingdom and USA.

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. ^[2]

Results

Generally elections in Ceuta have followed the national trend. The Union of the Democratic Centre won the first two elections in 1977 and 1979, but the seat was gained by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) during their landslide victory of 1982. They held the seat until the 1993 General Election when it was gained by the Partido Popular (PP) who have held the seat since then.

2008 General Election

Congress of Deputies: Ceuta
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PP	Francisco González Pérez	20,040	55.11
	PSOE		14,716	40.47
	UPyD		481	1.32
	IU		244	0.67
	Greens		220	0.6
	PACMA		104	0.29
	PSD		67	0.18
	Falange		58	0.16
	For a Fairer World		42	0.12
	C's		32	0.09
	AE		18	0.05
Majority			5,324
Turnout			36,605	63.3
	PP hold		Swing

2004 General Election

Congress of Deputies: Ceuta
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PP	Francisco González Pérez	21,142	59.24
	PSOE		12,769	35.78
	PSPC		807	2.26
	IU		218	0.61
	Falange		116	0.33
	DN		62	0.17
	IR		37	0.1
	PADE		25	0.07
Majority			8,373
Turnout			36,010	63.5
	PP hold		Swing

2000 General Election

Congress of Deputies: Ceuta
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PP	Francisco González Pérez	14,514	49.80
	GIL		8,758	28.71
	PSOE		5,491	18.00
	PSPC		788	2.58
	IU		229	0.75
	Falange		93	0.3
	Natural Law		76	0.25
	CDS		31	0.1
	PADE		24	0.08
Majority			5,756
Turnout			30,801	55.2
	PP hold		Swing

External links

• List of members by year

References

1. Melilla 2004 electorate
2. Spanish Constitution