A regional election was held in the Region of Murcia on 24 May 2015 to elect the 9th Regional Assembly of the autonomous community. All 45 seats in the Regional Assembly were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.
Overview Electoral system The Regional Assembly of Murcia was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Murcia, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Murcian Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.
Voting for the Regional Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Region of Murcia and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Additionally, Murcians abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (). The 45 members of the Regional Assembly of Murcia were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally. Seats were allocated to constituencies, which were established by law as follows:
District One District Two District Three District Four District Five
Each constituency was entitled to an initial minimum of one seat, with the remaining 40 allocated among the constituencies in proportion to their populations.
Election date The term of the Regional Assembly of Murcia expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Regional Assembly were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 22 May 2011, setting the election date for the Regional Assembly on 24 May 2015.
The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Regional Assembly of Murcia and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election was due and some time requirements were met: namely, that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or within the legislature's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution under this procedure. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Regional Assembly was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called. Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances would not alter the period to the next ordinary election, with elected lawmakers serving the remainder of its original four-year term.
Parties and candidates 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 Region of Murcia, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:
Candidacy Parties andalliances Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats PP Pedro Antonio Sánchez ConservatismChristian democracy 58.8% PSOE Rafael González Tovar Social democracy 23.9% Ganar.IP José Antonio Pujante SocialismCommunismEco-socialism 7.8% Podemos Óscar Urralburu Left-wing populismDirect democracyDemocratic socialism colspan="2" C's Miguel Sánchez Liberalism colspan="2"
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; 23 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Regional Assembly of Murcia.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout Lead 2015 regional election 24 May 2015 63.6 37.4 23.9 4.8 1.6 13.2 12.6 13.5 GAD3/Antena 3 11–22 May 2015???? – –??? GAD3/ABC 17 May 2015???? – –??? NC Report/La Razón 17 May 2015 400? 40.2 21.6 4.8 1.8 12.3 14.2 18.6 CEMOP 4–10 May 2015 800 68.4 35.2 21.3 5.2 1.1 13.8 21.8 13.4 CIS 23 Mar–19 Apr 2015 1,492? 41.0 24.9 5.0 1.1 10.4 13.8 16.1 NC Report/La Razón 4–16 Mar 2015 400? 39.1 20.3 5.1 2.3 14.2 15.6 18.8 CEMOP 2 Feb–6 Mar 2015 2,944? 37.6 21.2 5.4 3.1 15.7 15.1 16.4 CEMOP 2 Feb–1 Mar 2015 2,667? 39.2 21.1 5.4 3.4 16.3 13.1 18.1 CEMOP 2–20 Feb 2015 1,996? 39.3 21.1 5.4 3.1 17.3 12.5 18.2 CEMOP 2–13 Feb 2015 1,458? 39.4 21.9 5.8 3.1 17.5 11.4 17.5 Llorente & Cuenca 31 Oct 2014??????? –? PP 19 Oct 2014??????? –? CEMOP 17–30 Sep 2014 800 63.3 42.2 18.3 9.4 6.1 17.3 4.2 23.9 Ganemos RM 26 Sep 2014???? ?? –? 2014 EP election 25 May 2014 42.5 37.5 20.7 9.8 9.5 7.6 3.6 16.8 TNS Demoscopia/CEMOP 12–16 May 2014 700 60.9 40.9 20.1 14.4 11.9 – – 20.8 Sigma Dos/La Verdad 8–9 Apr 2014 1,000? 50.1 25.8 10.1 7.7 – – 24.3 Celeste-Tel/La Verdad 24 Nov 2013?? 45.1 27.3 12.7 12.2 – – 17.8 NC Report/La Razón 15 Oct–12 Nov 2013?????? – –? NC Report/La Razón 15 Apr–10 May 2013 200? 48.1 22.0?? – – 26.1 TNS Demoscopia/CEMOP 24–30 Jan 2013 802 60.2 41.8 27.1 14.3 12.1 – – 14.7 2011 general election 20 Nov 2011 74.1 64.2 21.0 5.7 6.3 – – 43.2 2011 regional election 22 May 2011 67.9 58.8 23.9 7.8* 4.5 – – 34.9
Results Overall + ← Summary of the 24 May 2015 Regional Assembly of Murcia election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− People's Party (PP) 239,011 37.35 −21.44 22 −11 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 153,231 23.95 +0.07 13 +2 We Can (Podemos) 84,577 13.22 New 6 +6 Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's) 80,459 12.57 New 4 +4 Winning the Region of Murcia.Plural Left (IU–V–RM–CLI–AS)1 30,761 4.81 −3.02 0 −1 Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) 10,422 1.63 −2.87 0 ±0 Citizens' Movement of Cartagena (MCC) 8,793 1.37 New 0 ±0 Citizens of Democratic Centre (CCD) 6,772 1.06 New 0 ±0 Vox (Vox) 5,427 0.85 New 0 ±0 Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) 4,663 0.73 New 0 ±0 Blank Seats (EB) 2,002 0.31 New 0 ±0 Zero Cuts (Recortes Cero) 1,422 0.22 New 0 ±0 Citizens' Democratic Renewal Movement (RED) 912 0.14 New 0 ±0 Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) 763 0.12 New 0 ±0 Centre and Democracy Forum (CyD) 532 0.08 −0.05 0 ±0 Spain on the Move (LEM) 88 0.01 New 0 ±0 Blank ballots 10,057 1.57 −0.59 Total 639,892 45 ±0 Valid votes 639,892 98.00 −0.37 Invalid votes 13,087 2.00 +0.37 Votes cast / turnout 652,979 63.57 −4.34 Abstentions 374,234 36.43 +4.34 Registered voters 1,027,213 Sources
Distribution by constituency Constituency PP PSOE Podemos C's % S % S % S % S One 41.6 4 28.1 2 10.1 1 7.4 − Two 35.2 5 21.0 3 14.7 2 13.4 1 Three 37.1 10 21.5 5 14.6 3 14.4 3 Four 34.5 2 38.9 2 8.3 − 9.4 − Five 41.7 1 26.1 1 8.6 − 9.7 − Total 37.4 22 23.9 13 13.2 6 12.6 4 Sources
Aftermath Government formation InvestiturePedro Antonio Sánchez (PP) Ballot → 30 June 2015 Required majority → 23 out of 45 Abstentions Absentees Sources
2017 investiture InvestitureFernando López Miras (PP) Ballot → 27 April 2017 29 April 2017 Required majority → 23 out of 45 Simple Absentees Sources
Notes
References Opinion poll sources
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