A regional election was held in the Basque Country on 26 February 1984 to elect the 2nd Parliament of the autonomous community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

The Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) won 32 seats, the Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) came second with 19 seats, People's Unity (HB) came third with 11 seats, the People's Coalition (AP–PDP–UL) won 7 seats, and Basque Country Left (EE) won 6 seats.

Overview Under the 1979 Statute of Autonomy, the Basque Parliament was the unicameral legislature of the Basque Autonomous Community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a lehendakari.. The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions..

Date The term of the Basque Parliament expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be published in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV) between 36 and 45 days before the scheduled election day.; . The previous election was held on 9 March 1980, which meant that the chamber's term would have expired on 9 March 1984, setting the latest possible date for election day on 23 April 1984.

Amendments in 1981 granted the lehendakari the prerogative to dissolve the Basque Parliament at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process.. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a lehendakari within a 60-day period from the Parliament's reconvening, the chamber was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called..

The Basque Parliament was officially dissolved on 18 January 1984 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOPV, setting election day for 26 February..

Electoral system Voting for the Parliament was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Basque Country and with full civil and political rights.; ( by ).

The Basque Parliament had 75 seats. All were elected in three multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Álava, Biscay and Guipúzcoa, each of which was assigned a fixed number of 25 seats to provide for an equal parliamentary representation of the three provinces—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a five percent-threshold of valid votes (not including blank ballots) in each constituency.; ; .

The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacant seats; instead, any vacancies arising after the proclamation of candidates and during the legislative term were filled by the next candidates on the party lists or, when required, by designated substitutes. ( by ).

Opinion polls The tables below list opinion polling results 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.

Voting intention estimates The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Basque Parliament (31 in the 1980 election).

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout PNV Lead 1984 regional election 26 Feb 1984 68.5 41.8 14.6 23.0 7.9 – 9.3 1.4 – 18.8 ECO/CIS 20 Feb 1984 1,506? 46.0 16.0 18.0 13.0 – 4.0 1.0 – 28.0 Emopública/El País 13–16 Feb 1984 1,200? 46.0 13.6 16.6 10.3 – 1.8 – – 29.4 AP 30 Jan 1984?? 41.5 16.7 17.6 9.4 – 8.3 – – 23.9 PSE–PSOE 21 Jan 1984?????? –? – –? Basque Government 21 Jan 1984?????? –? – –? Gabinete Azterka/EE 3–10 Nov 1983 600 65 35.0 13.0 23.0 10.0 – 12.0 – – 12.0 1983 foral elections 8 May 1983 64.6 39.6 14.2 26.3 7.9 – 8.8 2.0 0.3 13.3 1982 general election 28 Oct 1982 79.3 31.7 14.7 29.2 7.7 11.6 1.8 1.8 2.5 ICSA–Gallup/Tribuna Vasca 25 Aug 1982?? 36.5 13.3 20.3 13.7 5.2 2.4 2.8 – 16.2 1980 regional election 9 Mar 1980 59.8 38.0 16.5 14.2 9.8 8.5 4.8 4.0 – 21.5

Voting preferences The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size PNV Lead 1984 regional election 26 Feb 1984 28.5 9.9 15.6 5.4 – 6.3 0.9 – 31.5 12.9 ECO/CIS 20 Feb 1984 1,506 33.0 13.0 12.0 8.0 – 3.0 1.0 – 17.0 12.0 20.0 Emopública/El País 13–16 Feb 1984 1,200 32.3 9.5 11.6 7.2 – 1.3 – – 21.3 8.6 20.7 CIS 10 Feb 1984 2,900 24.4 9.3 13.5 6.2 – 3.1 1.4 – 31.5 10.1 10.9 AP 30 Jan 1984? 32.4 13.0 13.7 7.3 – 6.5 – – 22.0 18.7 Alef/CIS 22–30 Jan 1984 1,999 37.0 8.0 11.0 8.0 – 1.0 1.0 – 26.0 9.0 26.0 ECO/CIS 25–27 Jan 1984 1,515 32.0 9.0 11.0 8.0 – 1.0 1.0 – 23.0 14.0 21.0 CIS 1 Nov 1983 1,500 28.0 9.0 13.0 6.0 – 4.0 1.0 – 26.0 13.0 15.0 Aryo/CIS 1 Sep 1983 3,000 28.0 8.0 17.0 6.0 – 3.0 2.0 – 26.0 10.0 11.0 1983 foral elections 8 May 1983 25.2 9.1 16.8 5.0 – 5.6 1.3 0.2 35.4 8.4 1983 local elections 8 May 1983 25.0 8.7 16.4 4.7 – 5.0 1.3 0.3 35.3 8.6 1982 general election 28 Oct 1982 24.7 11.4 22.7 6.0 9.0 1.4 1.4 20.7 2.0 1980 regional election 9 Mar 1980 22.5 9.8 8.4 5.8 5.0 2.8 2.4 – 40.2 12.7

Victory likelihood The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size PNV Other/None Lead CIS 10 Feb 1984 2,900 56.8 2.5 12.1 0.9 1.2 0.3 0.0 26.2 44.7 Alef/CIS 22–30 Jan 1984 1,999 82.0 – 6.0 – – – 1.0 10.0 76.0 ECO/CIS 1 Nov 1983 1,500 60.0 – 14.0 – – – 5.0 21.0 46.0 Aryo/CIS 1 Sep 1983 3,000 74.0 – 13.0 – – – 2.0 12.0 61.0

Preferred Lehendakari The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become Lehendakari.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead ECO/CIS 20 Feb 1984 1,506 41.0 9.0 13.0 9.0 2.0 17.0 9.0 28.0 CIS 10 Feb 1984 2,900 39.5 – 20.7 – – – 39.9 18.8 Alef/CIS 22–30 Jan 1984 1,999 65.0 – 16.0 – – – 18.0 49.0 ECO/CIS 25–27 Jan 1984 1,515 55.0 – 14.0 – – 18.0 13.0 41.0 CIS 1 Nov 1983 1,500 41.0 – 19.0 – – – 40.0 22.0 Aryo/CIS 1 Sep 1983 3,000 48.0 – 19.0 – – – 35.0 29.0

Results Overall + ← Summary of the 26 February 1984 Basque Parliament election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) 451,178 41.81 +3.86 32 +7 Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) 247,786 22.96 +8.80 19 +10 Popular Unity (HB) 157,389 14.59 −1.89 11 ±0 People's Coalition (AP–PDP–UL)1 100,581 9.32 +4.56 7 +5 Basque Country Left (EE) 85,671 7.94 −1.84 6 ±0 Communist Party of the Basque Country (PCE/EPK) 14,985 1.39 −2.62 0 −1 Neighborhood Labor (Auzolan)2 10,714 0.99 −0.76 0 ±0 Left Socialist Candidacy (CSI) 2,507 0.23 New 0 ±0 Workers' Socialist Party (PST) 2,173 0.20 −0.03 0 ±0 Communist Party of Spain (Marxist–Leninist) (PCE (m–l)) 1,044 0.10 New 0 ±0 Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) n/a n/a −8.49 0 −6 Blank ballots 5,029 0.47 +0.08 Total 1,079,057 75 +15 Valid votes 1,079,057 99.42 +0.41 Invalid votes 6,247 0.58 −0.41 Votes cast / turnout 1,085,304 68.49 +8.73 Abstentions 499,236 31.51 −8.73 Registered voters 1,584,540 Sources

Distribution by constituency Constituency PNV PSE HB CP EE % S % S % S % S % S Álava 35.5 9 25.1 7 10.8 3 16.2 4 7.7 2 Biscay 43.8 12 23.1 6 12.9 3 9.4 2 7.4 2 Guipúzcoa 40.8 11 22.1 6 18.7 5 6.8 1 8.9 2 Total 41.8 32 23.0 19 14.6 11 9.3 7 7.9 6 Sources

Aftermath Government formation Investiture Ballot → 11 April 1984 12 April 1984 Required majority → 38 out of 75 Simple Sources

1985 investiture Investiture Ballot → 23 January 1985 24 January 1985 Required majority → 38 out of 75 Simple Sources

Notes

References Opinion poll sources

Other

Bibliography