1985 Galician regional election

The 1985 Galician regional election was held on Sunday, 24 November 1985, to elect the 2nd Parliament of the autonomous community of Galicia. All 71 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

1985 Galician regional election

← 1981 24 November 1985 1989 →
All 71 seats in the Parliament of Galicia 36 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	2,226,449 2.4%
Turnout	1,277,897 (57.4%) 11.1 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Gerardo Fernández Albor Fernando González Laxe Pablo González Mariñas Party AP–PDP–PL–CdG PSdG–PSOE CG Leader since 1981 19 June 1985 23 July 1985 Leader's seat La Coruña La Coruña La Coruña Last election 26 seats, 30.5%[a] 16 seats, 19.6% Did not contest Seats won 34 22 11 Seat change 8 6 11 Popular vote 516,218 361,946 163,425 Percentage 40.9% 28.7% 12.9% Swing 10.4 pp 9.1 pp New party   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Camilo Nogueira Xosé Manuel Beiras Party PSG–EG BNG Leader since 1980 1982 Leader's seat Pontevedra La Coruña Last election 1 seat, 3.4%[b] 3 seats, 6.3%[c] Seats won 3 1 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 71,599 53,072 Percentage 5.7% 4.2% Swing 2.3 pp 2.1 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of Galicia
President before election Gerardo Fernández Albor AP–PDP–PL–CdG Elected President Gerardo Fernández Albor AP–PDP–PL–CdG

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of Galicia was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Galicia, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Galician Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.^[1] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Galicia and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 71 members of the Parliament of Galicia were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of La Coruña, Lugo, Orense and Pontevedra, with each being allocated a fixed number of seats:^[1][2]

Seats	Constituencies
22	La Coruña
19	Pontevedra
15	Lugo, Orense

In smaller constituencies, the use of the electoral method resulted in an effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies.^[3]

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.^[2][4]

Election date

The term of the Parliament of Galicia expired four years after the date of its previous election. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Journal of Galicia (DOG), with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. The previous election was held on 20 October 1981, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 20 October 1985. The election decree was required to be published in the DOG no later than 26 September 1985, with the election taking place up to the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Monday, 25 November 1985.^[1][2][4]

The Parliament of Galicia could not be dissolved before the date of expiry of parliament except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot. In such a case, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called.^[5]

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; 36 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Galicia.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				BNG					CG	Lead
1985 regional election	24 Nov 1985	—	57.4	[d]	–	28.7 22	4.2 1	5.7 3	0.8 0	3.3 0	40.9 34	12.9 11	12.2
Alef/El País[p 1][p 2]	13–14 Nov 1985	1,200	?	[d]	–	30.6 23/25	6.1 2/3	4.9 2	1.0 0	7.5 4	40.0 32/34	8.1 5/6	9.4
Aresco/ABC[p 3]	4–8 Nov 1985	1,050	?	[d]	–	28.8 21/25	4.2 0/2	4.9 0/3	2.0 0	6.6 2/5	41.3 35/40	7.1 3/7	12.5
Alef/El País[p 4]	23–25 Oct 1985	1,000	64.7	[d]	–	31.9 23/27	6.0 3	–	2.0 2	7.3 3/4	40.0 32/36	7.3 4/5	8.1
Sofemasa/CEOE[p 5]	24 Jun–7 Jul 1985	1,865	?	[d]	–	31.9 27	2.9 0	3.5 2	1.0 0	3.5 1	45.1 38	5.9 3	13.2
Typol/AP[p 6]	18 Sep–9 Oct 1984	2,003	65.5	[d]	–	33.5 26/28	6.2 1/3	3.5 1/2	2.7 0	3.7 1	38.9 30/34	9.2 6/8	5.4
1983 local elections	8 May 1983	—	56.8	[d]	–	27.5	4.1	1.6[e]	3.1	1.0	35.6	13.9[f]	8.1
1982 general election	28 Oct 1982	—	63.7	37.6 (31)	17.7 (15)	32.8 (25)	3.0 (0)	1.7[e] (0)	1.5 (0)	2.6 (0)	–	–	4.8
1981 regional election	20 Oct 1981	—	46.3	30.5 26	27.8 24	19.6 16	6.3 3	3.4[e] 1	2.9 1	–	–	–	2.7

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 24 November 1985 Parliament of Galicia election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Coalition (AP–PDP–PL–CdG)1	516,218	40.89	+10.37	34	+8
	Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdG–PSOE)	361,946	28.67	+9.05	22	+6
	Galician Coalition (CG)	163,425	12.94	New	11	+11
	Galician Socialist Party–Galician Left (PSG–EG)2	71,599	5.67	+2.27	3	+2
	Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG)3	53,072	4.20	–2.07	1	–2
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	41,411	3.28	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of Galicia (PCE–PCG)	10,625	0.84	–2.09	0	–1
	Workers' Socialist Party (PST)	9,689	0.77	–1.08	0	±0
	Communist Party of Galicia (Revolutionary Marxist) (PCG (m–r))	8,318	0.66	New	0	±0
	Humanist Platform (PH)	7,280	0.58	New	0	±0
	Galician Party of the Country (PGC)	3,172	0.25	New	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	2,922	0.23	+0.08	0	±0
	Communist Party of Spain (Marxist–Leninist) (PCE (m–l))	1,554	0.12	±0.00	0	±0
	Galician Socialist Unity (USG)	1,379	0.11	–1.18	0	±0
	Communist Movement of Galicia (MCG)	1,327	0.11	–0.38	0	±0
	Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD)	n/a	n/a	–27.80	0	–24
Blank ballots		8,627	0.68	+0.68
Total		1,262,564			71	±0
Valid votes		1,262,564	98.80	+0.79
Invalid votes		15,333	1.20	–0.79
Votes cast / turnout		1,277,897	57.40	+11.12
Abstentions		948,552	42.60	–11.12
Registered voters		2,226,449
Sources[6][7]
Footnotes: 1 People's Coalition results are compared to People's Alliance totals in the 1981 election. 2 Galician Socialist Party–Galician Left results are compared to Galician Left totals in the 1981 election. 3 Galician Nationalist Bloc results are compared to Galician National-Popular Bloc–Galician Socialist Party totals in the 1981 election.

Popular vote CP   40.89% PSdG–PSOE   28.67% CG   12.94% PSG–EG   5.67% BNG   4.20% CDS   3.28% Others   3.66% Blank ballots   0.68%

Seats CP   47.89% PSdG–PSOE   30.99% CG   15.49% PSG–EG   4.23% BNG   1.41%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	CP		PSdG		CG		PSG–EG		BNG
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
La Coruña	38.0	10	32.3	8	9.9	2	5.7	1	5.2	1
Lugo	44.9	8	24.4	4	20.4	3	2.0	–	3.3	–
Orense	40.1	7	25.7	4	22.8	4	3.0	–	3.0	–
Pontevedra	43.0	9	27.4	6	8.9	2	8.6	2	3.9	–
Total	40.9	34	28.7	22	12.9	11	5.7	3	4.2	1
Sources[6][7]

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture Gerardo Fernández Albor (AP)
Ballot →		16 January 1986	17 January 1986
Required majority →		36 out of 71 N	Simple N
	Yes • AP–PDP–PL–CdG (34)	34 / 71	34 / 71
	No • PSdG (22) • CG (11) • PSG–EG (3) • BNG (1)	37 / 71	37 / 71
	Abstentions	0 / 71	0 / 71
	Absentees	0 / 71	0 / 71
Sources[6]

Investiture Gerardo Fernández Albor (AP)
Ballot →		20 February 1986	21 February 1986
Required majority →		36 out of 71 N	Simple Y
	Yes • AP–PDP–PL–CdG (34) (33 on 20 Feb)	33 / 71	34 / 71
	No • PSdG (22) • PSG–EG (3) • BNG (1)	26 / 71	26 / 71
	Abstentions • CG (11) (10 on 20 Feb)	10 / 71	11 / 71
	Absentees • AP–PDP–PL–CdG (1) (on 20 Feb) • CG (1) (on 20 Feb)	2 / 71	0 / 71
Sources[6]

1987 motion of no confidence

Motion of no confidence Fernando González Laxe (PSdG)
Ballot →		23 September 1987
Required majority →		36 out of 71 Y
	Yes • PSdG (22) • CG–UDG (10) • PNG (5) • PSG–EG (3)	40 / 71
	No • AP–PDP–PL–CdG (29)	29 / 71
	Abstentions • AP–PDP–PL–CdG (1) • BNG (1)	2 / 71
	Absentees	0 / 71
Sources[6]

Notes

1. Results for AP in the 1981 election.
2. Results for EG in the 1981 election.
3. Results for BNPG–PSG in the 1981 election.
4. Within CP.
5. Results for EG.
6. Results for PG–CIGA.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Coalición Popular será la fuerza más votada, pero no tiene segura la mayoría absoluta, según un sondeo de EL PAÍS". El País (in Spanish). 18 November 1985.
2. "Coalición Popular roza la mayoría absoluta, según un sondeo de EL PAÍS". El País (in Spanish). 18 November 1985.
3. "Coalición Popular podrá obtener mayoría absoluta en las elecciones del domingo en Galicia". ABC (in Spanish). 17 November 1985.
4. "Coalicion Popular, al borde de la mayoría absoluta en las elecciones gallegas, según un sondeo de EL PAÍS". El País (in Spanish). 10 November 1985.
5. "Coalición Popular obtendría ahora mayoría absoluta, según la encuesta realizada para la CEOE". ABC (in Spanish). 25 August 1985.
6. "Alianza Popular relanza la convocatoria de mayoría natural, con el centro y la derecha". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 15 January 1985.

Other

1. Ley Orgánica 1/1981, de 6 de abril, de Estatuto de Autonomía para Galicia (Organic Law 1) (in Spanish). 6 April 1981. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
2. Ley 8/1985, de 13 de agosto, de elecciones al Parlamento de Galicia (Law 2) (in Spanish). 13 August 1985. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
3. Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
4. Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5) (in Spanish). 19 June 1985. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
5. Ley 1/1983, de 22 de febrero, de normas reguladoras de la Xunta y su Presidencia (Law 1) (in Spanish). 22 February 1983. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
6. "Elecciones al Parlamento de Galicia (1981 - 2020)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 September 2017.
7. "Parliament of Galicia election results, 24 November 1985" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Galicia. 17 January 1986. Retrieved 25 September 2017.