1983 Valencian regional election

1983 Valencian regional election

8 May 1983
All 89 seats in the Corts Valencianes 45 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	2,654,967
Turnout	1,931,142 (72.7%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Joan Lerma Manuel Giner José Galán Party PSOE AP–PDP–UL–UV PCE–PCPV Leader since 31 July 1979 December 1981 23 September 1980 Leader's seat Valencia Valencia Alicante Seats won 51 32 6 Popular vote 982,567 609,519 142,570 Percentage 51.4% 31.9% 7.5%
Election result by constituency
President before election Joan Lerma PSOE Elected President Joan Lerma PSOE

The 1983 Valencian regional election was held on Sunday, 8 May 1983, to elect the 1st Corts of the Valencian Community. All 89 seats in the Corts were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) won the election with an absolute majority of 51 out of 89 seats and almost one million votes (51.4% of the vote). The People's Coalition, composed in the Valencian Community by the People's Alliance (AP), the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the Liberal Union and the Valencian Union (UV), became the second political force and the main opposition party in the Corts Valencianes with 32 seats. The Communist Party of Spain (PCE) managed to surpass the 5% regional threshold and entered the Corts with 6 seats, seeing a slight recovery from its results in the October 1982 general election.[1][2]

As a result of the election, regional PSOE leader Joan Lerma became the first democratically elected president of the Valencian Government.[3]

Overview

Electoral system

The Corts Valencianes were the devolved, unicameral legislature of the Valencian autonomous community, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Government.[4] Voting for the Corts was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Valencian Community and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 89 members of the Corts Valencianes were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5 percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Alicante, Castellón and Valencia. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of seats: 29 for Alicante, 25 for Castellón and 35 for Valencia.[4]

The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure the signature of at least 0.1 percent of the electors registered in the constituency for which they sought election—needing to secure, in any case, the signature of 500 electors—. Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within fifteen days of the election being called.[5]

Election date

The Council of the Valencian Country, in agreement with the Government of Spain, was required to call an election to the Corts Valencianes within from 1 February to 31 May 1983.[4]

Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a poll. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 45 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Corts Valencianes.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout					Lead
1983 regional election	8 May 1983	—	72.7	51.4 51	31.9 32	7.5 6	1.9 0	19.5
Sofemasa/El País[p 1][p 2]	23–26 Apr 1983	?	?	? 62/67	? 23/26	–	–	?
1982 general election	28 Oct 1982	—	84.0	53.1 (54)	29.1 (29)	4.6 (0)	2.5 (0)	24.0

Results

Overall

Summary of the 8 May 1983 Corts Valencianes election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	982,567	51.41	n/a	51	n/a
	People's Coalition–Valencian Union (AP–PDP–UL–UV)	609,519	31.89	n/a	32	n/a
	Communist Party of the Valencian Country (PCE–PCPV)	142,570	7.46	n/a	6	n/a
	Valencian People's Union (UPV)	58,712	3.07	n/a	0	n/a
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	36,015	1.88	n/a	0	n/a
	Liberal Democratic Party (PDL)	29,788	1.56	n/a	0	n/a
	Valencian Independent Organization (OIV)	12,585	0.66	n/a	0	n/a
	Workers' Socialist Party (PST)	10,156	0.53	n/a	0	n/a
	Valencian Nationalist Left (ENV–URV)	7,623	0.40	n/a	0	n/a
	Spanish Communist Workers' Party (PCOE)	5,945	0.31	n/a	0	n/a
	Popular Struggle Coalition (CLP)	2,586	0.14	n/a	0	n/a
Blank ballots		13,180	0.69	n/a
Total		1,911,246			89	n/a
Valid votes		1,911,246	98.97	n/a
Invalid votes		19,896	1.03	n/a
Votes cast / turnout		1,931,142	72.74	n/a
Abstentions		723,825	27.26	n/a
Registered voters		2,654,967
Sources[6][7][8]

Popular vote PSOE   51.41% AP–PDP–UL–UV   31.89% PCE–PCPV   7.46% UPV   3.07% CDS   1.88% PDL   1.56% Others   2.04% Blank ballots   0.69%

Seats PSOE   57.30% AP–PDP–UL–UV   35.96% PCE–PCPV   6.74%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PSOE		CP–UV		PCE–PV
	%	S	%	S	%	S
Alicante	54.7	17	31.1	10	6.6	2
Castellón	49.1	14	34.1	10	5.6	1
Valencia	50.2	20	31.8	12	8.3	3
Total	51.4	51	31.9	32	7.5	6
Sources[6][8]

Aftermath

Investiture
Candidate		Ballot →		6 June 1983
		Required majority →		45 out of 89
	Joan Lerma (PSOE)		Yes • PSOE (51)	51 / 89	Y
			No • AP–PDP–UL–UV (32)	32 / 89
			Abstentions • PCPV (6)	6 / 89
			Absentees	0 / 89
	José Galán (PCPV)		Yes • PCPV (6)	6 / 89	N
			No • PSOE (51) • AP–PDP–UL–UV (32)	83 / 89
			Abstentions	0 / 89
			Absentees	0 / 89
Sources[3][8]

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Los socialistas pueden alcanzar los dos tercios del Parlamento autónomo". El País (in Spanish). 1 May 1983.
2. "Ficha técnica de los sondeos". El País (in Spanish). 1 May 1983.

Other

1. "Apreciable recuperación de los comunistas". El País (in Spanish). 10 May 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
2. "Lerma mantendrá los actuales consejeros en el Gobierno de la Generalitat valenciana". El País (in Spanish). 12 May 1983. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
3. "Joan Lerma, investido presidente de la Generalitat valenciana". El País (in Spanish). 23 June 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
4. Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community of 1982 (Organic Law 1) (in Spanish). 1 July 1982. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
5. Electoral Rules Decree of 1977 (Royal Decree-Law 20) (in Spanish). 18 March 1977. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
6. "Corts Valencianes election, 1983". www.datoselecciones.com (in Spanish). Election Data. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
7. "Electoral Results. Electoral Data - Regional Election: 1983". www.cortsvalencianes.es (in Spanish). Corts Valencianes. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
8. "Eleccions a les Corts Valencianes (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2017.