Álava (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Álava is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

Parliament, the Cortes Generales

Cortes Generales

The Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...

. It was first contested in modern times in the 1977 General Election

Spanish general election, 1977

The Spanish general election of 1977 took place on 15 June 1977. It was the first election since the death of Francisco Franco.Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. The elections were held using closed list proportional representation in 52 electoral districts...

. The largest municipality is Vitoria-Gasteiz

Vitoria-Gasteiz

Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital city of the province of Álava and of the autonomous community of the Basque Country in northern Spain with a population of 235,661 people. It is the second largest Basque city...

where approximately 75% of the electorate live.

Boundaries and electoral system

Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution
the boundaries must be the same as the province of Álava

Álava

Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...

and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage

Universal suffrage

Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...

in a secret ballot

Secret ballot

The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of...

. The electoral system used is closed list

Closed list

Closed list describes the variant of party-list proportional representation where voters can only vote for political parties as a whole and thus have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected...

proportional representation

Proportional representation

Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method

D'Hondt method

The d'Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method described is named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt who described it in 1878...

. Only lists which poll 3% or more of all valid votes cast, including votes "en blanco" i.e. for "none of the above" can be considered for seats. 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.

Number of members

Álava has returned four members at every election from 1977 onwards.

Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population. These laws are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General) The practical effect of this law has been to overrepresent smaller provinces like Álava at the expense of larger provinces.

At the time of the 2008 General Election, Spain had 35,073,179 voters, giving an average of 100,209 voters per deputy. In Álava the ratio was only 61,983. In contrast in the neighbouring district of Vizcaya

Vizcaya (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Biscay is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is situated in the Basque Country and the largest city is Bilbao where around 30% of the electorate of almost a million live...

the ratio was 119,589.

Summary of seats won 1977–2008

	1977	1979	1982	1986	1989	1993	1996	2000	2004	2008	2011
Democratic Centre Union (UCD)	2	2	1
People's Party People's Party (Spain) The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship... (PP)			1	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	1
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in... (PSOE)	1	1	2	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	1
Basque Nationalist Party Basque Nationalist Party The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country... (PNV)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Amaiur Amaiur Amaiur is a left-wing Basque nationalist and separatist political coalition from the Southern Basque Country in Spain, which encompasses the autonomous communities of the Basque Country and Navarre...											1

Note: Seats shown for the PP include seats won by their predecessors, the Popular Alliance and Popular Coalition before 1989. They ran in an electoral alliance with the UCD in 1982.

Vote share summary 1977–2011

	1977	1979	1982	1986	1989	1993	1996	2000	2004	2008	2011
Democratic Centre Union (UCD)	30.9	25.4	12.0
People's Party People's Party (Spain) The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship... (PP)	6.4	6.2	12.0	15.8	14.1	19.6	27.3	39.1	26.9	26.5	27.2
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in... (PSOE)	27.6	21.4	35.3	33.1	25.9	26.1	25.4	24.3	30.8	40.7	23.4
Euskadiko Ezkerra Euskadiko Ezkerra Euskadiko Ezkerra or EE was a Basque socialist political organisation. It was founded as a coalition of Euskal Iraultzarako Alderdia and other Basque Marxist forces in 1977 to present lists for the Spanish general elections in the constituencies of Vizcaya,... (EE)		4.7	7.0	8.1	8.6	26.1	25.4	24.3	30.8	40.7	23.4
Basque Nationalist Party Basque Nationalist Party The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country... (PNV)	17.5	22.9	22.0	19.1	16.9	16.8	20.2	20.7	25.8	18.8	18.9
United Left United Left (Spain) The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain... (IU)	3.1	3.3	2.2	0.9	3.1	6.9	11.7	5.6	7.8	4.2	4.1
Batasuna Batasuna Batasuna was a Basque nationalist political party based mainly in Spain, where it was outlawed in 2003, after a court ruling declared proven that the party was financing ETA with public money. Batasuna is included in the "European Union list of terrorist persons and organizations" as a component... (HB)		9.9	9.9	12.0	11.6	9.4	7.5
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)			3.8	8.8	6.7	1.2	0.1	0.1	0.2
Eusko Alkartasuna Eusko Alkartasuna Eusko Alkartasuna is a Basque nationalist political party operating in Spain and France. The Basque language name means Basque Solidarity and abbreviated as EA. The party describes itself as a Basque nationalist, democratic, popular, progressive and non-denominational party... (EA)					8.5	5.8	5.6	4.7	4.3	3.1	^*
Unidad Alavesa (UA)						10.6
Amaiur Amaiur Amaiur is a left-wing Basque nationalist and separatist political coalition from the Southern Basque Country in Spain, which encompasses the autonomous communities of the Basque Country and Navarre... (EA)											19.1

Note:PP's predecessors contested the 1979 election under the label "Unión Foral"

^*Eusko Alkartasuna contested the 2011 election as part of the Amaiur coalition along with other parties such as Aralar

Aralar

Aralar may refer to:*Aralar Range, a mountain range*Aralar Party, a political party...

Results

People's Party (Spain)

The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...

Amaiur

Amaiur is a left-wing Basque nationalist and separatist political coalition from the Southern Basque Country in Spain, which encompasses the autonomous communities of the Basque Country and Navarre...

Basque Nationalist Party

The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...

United Left (Spain)

The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain...

Union, Progress and Democracy

Union, Progress and Democracy is a Spanish political party founded in September 2007.It is a progressivist party, between social democracy and social liberalism. One of its goals is to build a federal system for Spain and European Union, with clear responsibilities distributed among local...

|align="right" valign=top|4,649
|align="right" valign=top|2.75
|align="right" valign=top|0
|align="left" |
|-
|align=left|Others
|align="right" |5,796
|align="right" |3.40
|align="right" |0
|align="right" |
|-
|}

2008 General Election
Spanish general election, 2008
Legislative elections for the Spanish Cortes Generales were held on March 9, 2008. The elections were for 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies, and the 208 directly elected seats in the upper house, the Senate, determining the Prime Minister of Spain...

In common with the other Basque provinces, in 2008 PSOE increased their vote share by over 10%, mainly at the expense of the PNV. This was their third biggest increase in vote share overall. The 2008 election had been overshadowed by the killing of a former PSOE councillor by ETA

ETA

ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...

People's Party (Spain)

Basque Nationalist Party

United Left (Spain)

Eusko Alkartasuna

Eusko Alkartasuna is a Basque nationalist political party operating in Spain and France. The Basque language name means Basque Solidarity and abbreviated as EA. The party describes itself as a Basque nationalist, democratic, popular, progressive and non-denominational party...

Aralar Party

Aralar is a Basque socialist and separatist political party in Spain. The party is led by Patxi Zabaleta. It is opposed to the violent struggle of ETA....

Union, Progress and Democracy

|align="right" valign=top|2,006
|align="right" valign=top|1.18
|align="right" valign=top|0
|align="left" |
|-
|align=left|Others
|align="right" |2,798
|align="right" |1.65
|align="right" |0
|align="right" |
|-
|}

Source:

2004 General Election

Summary of the 14 March 2004 Congress of Deputies election results

Spanish legislative election, 2004

Legislative elections were held in Spain on 14 March 2004. At stake were all 350 seats in the lower house of the Cortes Generales, the Congress of Deputies, and 208 seats in upper house, the Senate. The governing People's Party was led into the campaign by Mariano Rajoy, successor to outgoing...

People's Party (Spain)

Jaime Mayor Oreja

Jaime Mayor Oreja, is a €Spain|Spanish]] politician who served as Interior Minister in the People's Party government of José María Aznar before resigning in February 2001 to stand for Basque President on 13 May 2001, a post he failed to win. He is known for his strongly anti-ETA views.He graduated...

^†
|-
|align=left|Basque Nationalist Party

Basque Nationalist Party

United Left (Spain)

Eusko Alkartasuna

Aralar Party

Aralar is a Basque socialist and separatist political party in Spain. The party is led by Patxi Zabaleta. It is opposed to the violent struggle of ETA....

|align="right" valign=top|3,417
|align="right" valign=top|1.87
|align="right" valign=top|0
|align="left" |
|-
|align=left|Others
|align="right" |5,476
|align="right" |3.30
|align="right" |0
|align="right" |
|-
|}

^†On 6 July 2004, Mayor was replaced by María Martín

Maria Martin

Maria Martin Bachman of Charleston, South Carolina, USA, was a watercolor painter who provided many of the background paintings for John James Audubon on Birds of America and Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America . The U.S...

.

Source:

2000 General Election
Spanish general election, 2000
Legislative elections were held in Spain on 12 March 2000. The incumbent People's Party of Prime Minister José María Aznar was elected to a second term in office, converting its plurality of seats in the Congress of Deputies into a majority, and increasing its lead over the opposition Spanish...

People's Party (Spain)

Rafael Cámara

Rafael Cámara was a Mexican Olympic fencer. He competed in the individual sabre event at the 1952 Summer Olympics.-References:...

Basque Nationalist Party

United Left (Spain)

Eusko Alkartasuna

|align="right" valign=top|7,985
|align="right" valign=top|4.71
|align="right" valign=top|0
|align="left" |
|-
|align=left|Others
|align="right" |4,227
|align="right" |2.50
|align="right" |0
|align="right" |
|-
|}

Notes:-

^†Cámara was replaced by Santiago Abascal on 30 April 2003.
^#Alonso was replaced by María Sagarna on 12 February 2002.

External links

List of members by year

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