2003 Canarian regional election

The 2003 Canarian regional election was held on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 6th Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. All 60 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

2003 Canarian regional election

← 1999 25 May 2003 2007 →
All 60 seats in the Parliament of the Canary Islands 31 seats needed for a majority
Registered	1,439,784 8.2%
Turnout	930,449 (64.6%) 1.9 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Adán Martín José Manuel Soria Juan Carlos Alemán Party CC PP PSOE Leader since 2003 16 July 1999 2000 Leader's seat Tenerife Gran Canaria Tenerife Last election 26 seats, 37.3%[a] 15 seats, 27.1% 19 seats, 24.0% Seats won 23 17 17 Seat change 3 2 2 Popular vote 304,413 283,186 235,234 Percentage 32.9% 30.6% 25.4% Swing 4.4 pp 3.5 pp 1.4 pp   Fourth party   Leader Lorenzo Olarte Party FNC Leader since 2003 Leader's seat Gran Canaria (lost) Last election 0 seats, 4.8% Seats won 3 Seat change 3 Popular vote 44,703 Percentage 4.8% Swing 0.0 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of the Canary Islands
President before election Román Rodríguez CC Elected President Adán Martín CC

Overview

Electoral system

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

The 60 members of the Parliament of the Canary Islands were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of 30 percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Alternatively, parties could also enter the seat distribution as long as they reached six percent regionally. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the islands of El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma, Lanzarote and Tenerife. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of seats: 3 for El Hierro, 7 for Fuerteventura, 15 for Gran Canaria, 4 for La Gomera, 8 for La Palma, 8 for Lanzarote and 15 for Tenerife.^[1]

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 1 percent of the electors registered in the constituency for which they sought election. 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 ten days of the election being called.^[2][3][4]

Election date

The term of the Parliament of the Canary Islands expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Parliament were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 13 June 1999, setting the election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 25 May 2003.^[1][2][3][4]

The Parliament of the Canary Islands 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, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.^[1]

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 25 May 2003 Parliament of the Canary Islands election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Canarian Coalition (CC)1	304,413	32.90	–4.36	23	–3
	People's Party (PP)	283,186	30.61	+3.48	17	+2
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	235,234	25.42	+1.39	17	–2
	Canarian Nationalist Federation (FNC)	44,703	4.83	+0.02	3	+3
	The Greens of the Canaries (Verdes)	18,340	1.98	+0.52	0	±0
	Canarian United Left (IUC)	12,128	1.31	–1.43	0	±0
	Canarian Popular Alternative (APCa)	6,737	0.73	New	0	±0
	25 May Citizens' Alternative (AC25M)	2,719	0.29	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Canarian People (PCPC)	1,776	0.19	New	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	1,322	0.14	–0.02	0	±0
	Lanzarote Assembly–PdA–PCL (AC–PdA–PCL)	964	0.10	New	0	±0
	Tenerife Union (UTI)	571	0.06	New	0	±0
	Pensionist Assembly of the Canaries (TPC)	449	0.05	–0.03	0	±0
	Party of The People (LG)	448	0.05	New	0	±0
	National Democracy (DN)	409	0.04	New	0	±0
	Centrist Union (UC)	43	0.00	–0.53	0	±0
Blank ballots		11,806	1.28	–0.23
Total		925,248			60	±0
Valid votes		925,248	99.44	+0.02
Invalid votes		5,201	0.56	–0.02
Votes cast / turnout		930,449	64.62	+1.88
Abstentions		509,335	35.38	–1.88
Registered voters		1,439,784
Sources[5][6][7][8]
Footnotes: 1 Canarian Coalition results are compared to the combined totals of Canarian Coalition and Independent Herrenian Group in the 1999 election.

Popular vote CC   32.90% PP   30.61% PSOE   25.42% FNC   4.83% Verdes   1.98% IUC   1.31% Others   1.67% Blank ballots   1.28%

Seats CC   38.33% PP   28.33% PSOE   28.33% FNC   5.00%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	CC		PP		PSOE		FNC
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
El Hierro	45.0	2	24.8	1	21.6	−	7.1	−
Fuerteventura	30.2	2	32.5	3	25.4	2	7.1	−
Gran Canaria	21.6	4	47.4	8	20.6	3	4.6	−
La Gomera	34.8	1	7.3	−	54.4	3	1.0	−
La Palma	50.7	4	23.4	2	23.1	2
Lanzarote	19.5	2	17.7	1	20.9	2	30.4	3
Tenerife	44.3	8	15.5	2	30.6	5	2.7	−
Total	32.9	23	30.6	17	25.4	17	4.8	3

Notes

1. Results for CC (36.93%, 24 seats) and AHI (0.33%, 2 seats) in the 1999 election.

References

1. Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands of 1982. Official State Gazette (Organic Law 10) (in Spanish). 10 August 1982. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
2. Parliament of the Canary Islands Elections Law of 2003. Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (Law 7) (in Spanish). 20 March 2003. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
3. General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985. Official State Gazette (Organic Law 5) (in Spanish). 19 June 1985. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
4. "Representation of the people Institutional Act". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es. Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
5. "Electoral Information System in the Canary Islands". www.gobiernodecanarias.org (in Spanish). Canarian Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
6. "2003 Election Results". parcan.es (in Spanish). Parliament of the Canary Islands. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
7. "Parliament of the Canary Islands election results, 25 May 2003" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of the Canary Islands. 24 September 2003. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
8. "Elecciones al Parlamento de Canarias (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2017.