Riojan parliamentary election, 2011

Riojan parliamentary election, 2011

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   First party Second party Third party   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 2011 Riojan parliamentary election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th Parliament of La Rioja, the regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of La Rioja. At stake were all 33 seats in the Parliament, determining the President of La Rioja.

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.

Electoral system

The number of seats in the Parliament of La Rioja was set to a fixed-number of 33. All Parliament members were elected in a single multi-member district, consisting of the Community's territory (the province of La Rioja), using the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation system.

Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. Only lists polling above 5% of valid votes in all of the community (which include blank ballots—for none of the above) were entitled to enter the seat distribution.^[1]

Opinion polls

Vote

Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The lead column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two parties with the highest figures. Poll results use the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. However, if such date is unknown, the date of publication will be given instead.

Date	Polling Firm/Source	PP	PSOE	PR	IU	UPyD	Oth.	Lead
22 May 2011	Regional Election	52.0	30.3	5.4	3.7	3.6	5.0	21.7
Exit polls
7 May	TNS-Demoscopia	51.9	31.2	5.7			11.2	20.7
13–20 Apr	Celeste-Tel	52.7	32.1	5.7	4.6		4.9	20.6
17 Mar–18 Apr	CIS	50.9	31.5	6.7	4.2	1.5	5.2	19.4
12–15 Apr	Sigma-2	53.3	35.4	4.6			6.7	17.9
10–12 Apr	Ikerfel	48.1	37.9	5.2			8.8	10.2
10–16 Mar	GAD	50.9	36.9	5.6			6.6	14.0
7 Jan	Sigma-2	52.3	33.8	6.5			7.4	18.5
2011
25–26 May	Sigma-2	51.6	36.6	4.7	3.2		3.5	15.0
14–18 May	Sigma-2	50.7	36.3	5.2	3.1		4.7	14.4
2010
7 Jun 2009	EP Election	50.7	40.6	N/A	1.9	3.0	3.8	10.1
2009
9 Mar 2008	General Election	49.5	43.6	1.5	1.9	1.3	2.2	5.9
2008
22 May 2011	Regional Election	48.8	40.4	6.0	3.1		1.7	8.4

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

17 seats needed for majority

Date	Polling Firm/Source	PP	PSOE	PR	IU	UPyD	Others
22 May 2011	Regional Election	20	11	2	0	0	0
Exit polls
7 May	TNS-Demoscopia	19−20	11−12	2	0	0	0
13–20 Apr	Celeste-Tel	19	12	2	0	0	0
17 Mar–18 Apr	CIS	19	12	2	0	0	0
12–15 Apr	Sigma-2	19−20	13	0−1	0	0	0
10–12 Apr	Ikerfel	17−18	13−14	1−2	0	0	0
10–16 Mar	GAD	18	13	2	0	0	0
7 Jan	Sigma-2	18−19	12−13	2	0	0	0
2011
25–26 May	Sigma-2	18−20	13−14	0−1	0	0	0
14–18 May	Sigma-2	18−19	13	1−2	0	0	0
3–24 Mar	Sigma-2	18	13	2	0	0	0
2010
7 Jun 2009	EP Election	(18)	(15)	N/A	(0)	(0)	(0)
2009
9 Mar 2008	General Election	(18)	(15)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)
2008
27 May 2007	Regional Election	17	14	2	0		0

Results

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

Party		Vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	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 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	100.00		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
Source: Argos Information Portal

Vote share
PP			51.98%
PSOE			30.33%
PR			5.43%
IU			3.70%
UPyD			3.56%
ECOLO-V			1.23%
Others			1.06%
Blank			2.72%

Parliamentary seats
PP			60.61%
PSOE			33.33%
PR			6.06%

References

1. "Law 3/1991, of 21 March, of elections to the Regional Deputation of La Rioja.".