A regional election was held in Castile and León on 27 May 2007 to elect the 7th of the autonomous community. All 83 seats in the were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

Overview Under the 1999 Statute of Autonomy, the Cortes of Castile and León was the unicameral legislature of the homonymous autonomous community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a regional president. ( by ). The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions..

Date The term of the of Castile and León expired four years after the date of its previous ordinary election, with election day being fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The election decree was required to be issued no later than 25 days before the scheduled expiration date of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of Castile and León (BOCYL). ( by ); ( by ). The previous election was held on 25 May 2003, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 27 May 2007.

The regional president had the prerogative to dissolve the of Castile and León at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election had been called and that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or during the last year of parliament before its planned expiration, nor before one year after a previous one. ( by ); . In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the were to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called, except if it happened in the final year before the expiry of the legislative term. ( by ). 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. ( by ).

The election to the of Castile and León was officially called on 3 April 2007 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOCYL, setting election day for 27 May and scheduling for the chamber to reconvene on 19 June..

Electoral system Voting for the was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Castile and León and with full political rights, provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence, nor were legally incapacitated. ( by ; ( by ).

The of Castile and León had three seats per each multi-member constituency—corresponding to the provinces of Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora—plus one additional seat per 45,000 inhabitants or fraction above 22,500. All were elected using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency. ( by ; . The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each constituency was entitled the following seats:.

Seats Constituencies 15 Valladolid 14 León 11 Burgos, Salamanca 7 Ávila, Palencia, Zamora 6 Segovia 5 Soria

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 ).

Outgoing parliament The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of the election call.

+ Parliamentary composition in April 2007 Groups Parties Legislators Seats Total People's Parliamentary Group PP 48 48 Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 32 32 Mixed Parliamentary Group UPL 2 2

Parties and candidates The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within 10 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. ( by ). Amendments earlier in 2007 required a balanced composition of men and women in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition..

Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy Parties andalliances Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats PP Juan Vicente Herrera ConservatismChristian democracy 48.5% PSOE Ángel Villalba Social democracy 36.8% UPL–ZU Joaquín Otero LeonesismRegionalismAutonomism 4.0% IU–LV–CyL José María González SocialismCommunism 3.4%

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; 42 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castile and León.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout UPL CI Lead 2007 regional election 27 May 2007 70.7 49.2 37.7 2.7 3.1 1.1 11.5 Ipsos/RTVE–FORTA 27 May 2007???????? Celeste-Tel/Terra 9–15 May 2007?? 47.8 36.8 4.1 4.0 – 11.0 Telecyl/El Norte de Castilla 7–11 May 2007 1,800 70.4 48.8 36.9 2.1 3.9 – 11.9 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 27 Apr–8 May 2007 1,600? 49.0 40.4 1.7 3.8 – 8.6 CIS 9 Apr–6 May 2007 2,991? 48.1 36.5 3.9 3.9 – 11.6 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 16–24 Nov 2006?? 49.1 40.6 3.2 4.2 – 8.5 Telecyl/El Norte de Castilla 23–30 Oct 2006 874 70.4 47.9 34.8 3.7 3.3 – 13.1 Telecyl/El Norte de Castilla 11–20 May 2006 820 74.0 45.7 35.9 1.1 3.1 – 9.8 2004 EP election 13 Jun 2004 52.3 53.1 41.6 – 2.4 – 11.5 2004 general election 14 Mar 2004 77.8 50.3 41.9 0.8 2.8 0.1 8.4 2003 regional election 25 May 2003 72.7 48.5 36.8 3.8 3.4 0.7 11.7

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

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size UPL Lead 2007 regional election 27 May 2007 35.6 27.0 2.0 2.2 28.6 8.6 CIS 9 Apr–6 May 2007 2,991 31.1 23.2 1.2 2.3 31.6 6.5 7.9 2004 EP election 13 Jun 2004 28.5 22.0 – 1.3 46.5 6.5 2004 general election 14 Mar 2004 40.0 33.3 0.7 2.2 20.0 6.7 2003 regional election 25 May 2003 36.0 27.2 2.9 2.5 25.3 8.8

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

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size UPL Other/None Lead CIS 9 Apr–6 May 2007 2,991 37.2 29.9 1.4 2.7 8.1 20.6 7.3

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 UPL Other/None Lead CIS 9 Apr–6 May 2007 2,991 63.2 9.8 0.0 0.2 0.8 25.9 53.4

Preferred President The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Regional Government of Castile and León.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead CIS 9 Apr–6 May 2007 2,991 37.4 21.6 1.9 2.6 36.5 15.8

Results Overall + ← Summary of the 27 May 2007 Cortes of Castile and León election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− People's Party (PP) 748,746 49.17 +0.68 48 ±0 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 574,596 37.73 +0.96 33 +1 United Left–The Greens–Commitment for Castile and León (IU–LV–CyL) 46,878 3.08 −0.37 0 ±0 Leonese People's Union–United Zamora (UPL–ZU)1 41,519 2.73 −1.28 2 ±0 Alternative for Castile and León (ACAL) 17,496 1.15 −0.19 0 ±0 Commoners' Land–Alternative for Castile and León (TC–ACAL) 16,069 1.06 −0.13 0 ±0 Party of El Bierzo–Alternative for Castile and León (PB–ACAL) 1,427 0.09 −0.06 0 ±0 Independent Candidacy–The Party of Castile and León (CI–PCL) 16,435 1.08 +0.37 0 ±0 Union of the Salamancan People (UPSa) 7,965 0.52 +0.10 0 ±0 The Greens (LV) 5,562 0.37 −0.10 0 ±0 The Greens of Europe (LVE) 5,481 0.36 New 0 ±0 Leonese Autonomist Party–Leonesist Unity (PAL–UL) 4,972 0.33 New 0 ±0 Initiative for the Development of Soria (IDES) 3,760 0.25 +0.13 0 ±0 Zamoran Independent Electors–Zamoran People's Union (ADEIZA–UPZ) 3,241 0.21 +0.08 0 ±0 Republican Left (IR) 2,941 0.19 +0.04 0 ±0 Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL) 1,713 0.11 −0.01 0 ±0 National Democracy (DN) 1,522 0.10 New 0 ±0 Independent Segovian Alternative (ASí) 1,214 0.08 ±0.00 0 ±0 Citizens of Burgos (CiBu) 1,148 0.08 New 0 ±0 Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE de las JONS)2 1,147 0.08 +0.04 0 ±0 Communist Party of the Castilian People (PCPC) 1,121 0.07 New 0 ±0 Regionalist Party of El Bierzo (PRB) 1,028 0.07 ±0.00 0 ±0 Regionalist Unity of Castile and León (URCL) 914 0.06 −0.28 0 ±0 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 713 0.05 −0.14 0 ±0 The Phalanx (FE) 559 0.04 −0.04 0 ±0 Citizens' Group (AGRUCI) 523 0.03 New 0 ±0 Humanist Party (PH) 462 0.03 −0.10 0 ±0 Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL) 330 0.02 New 0 ±0 Liberal Centrist Union (UCL) 315 0.02 −0.02 0 ±0 Authentic Phalanx (FA) 290 0.02 ±0.00 0 ±0 Blank ballots 30,200 1.98 −0.32 Total 1,522,791 83 +1 Valid votes 1,522,791 99.20 +0.06 Invalid votes 12,305 0.80 −0.06 Votes cast / turnout 1,535,096 70.70 −1.96 Abstentions 636,096 29.30 +1.96 Registered voters 2,171,192 Sources

Distribution by constituency Constituency PP PSOE UPL % S % S % S Ávila 58.9 5 32.3 2 Burgos 51.6 7 35.3 4 León 39.6 6 39.7 6 13.4 2 Palencia 49.2 4 40.2 3 Salamanca 53.0 7 37.6 4 Segovia 52.9 4 37.5 2 Soria 50.4 3 36.7 2 Valladolid 48.8 8 38.9 7 Zamora 51.2 4 37.3 3 0.6 − Total 49.2 48 37.7 33 2.7 2 Sources

Aftermath Government formation Investiture Ballot → 27 June 2007 Required majority → 42 out of 83 Abstentions Absentees Sources

Notes

References Opinion poll sources

Other

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