A regional election was held in Asturias on 28 May 2023 to elect the 12th General Junta of the autonomous community. All 45 seats in the General Junta were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in eleven other autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.
Overview Under the 1981 Statute of Autonomy, the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias 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.. The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions..
Date The term of the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias expired four years after the date of its previous 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 54 days before the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias (BOPA).; ( by ). The previous election was held on 26 May 2019, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 28 May 2023.
The regional president had the prerogative to dissolve the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias at any given time 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 during the last year of parliament before its planned expiration, nor before one year after a previous one.; . In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the General Junta was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called. Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances did not alter the date of the chamber's next ordinary election, with elected lawmakers serving the remainder of its original four-year term.; .
The election to the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias was officially called on 4 April 2023 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOPA, setting election day for 28 May..
Electoral system Voting for the General Junta was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Asturias and with full political rights, provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence.; ( by ).
The General Junta had a minimum of 35 and a maximum of 45 seats, with electoral provisions fixing its size at the latter number. All were elected in three multi-member constituencies—corresponding to sub-provincial divisions, each of which was assigned an initial minimum of two seats and the remaining 39 distributed in proportion to population—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency.; . 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 General Junta constituency (comprising the municipalities indicated below) was entitled the following seats:; .
Seats Constituencies Municipalities 34 Central Aller, Avilés, Bimenes, Carreño, Caso, Castrillón, Corvera de Asturias, Gijón, Gozón, Illas, Las Regueras, Langreo, Laviana, Lena, Llanera, Mieres, Morcín, Noreña, Oviedo, Proaza, Quirós, Ribera de Arriba, Riosa, San Martín del Rey Aurelio, Santo Adriano, Sariego, Siero, Sobrescobio, Soto del Barco 6 Western Allande, Belmonte de Miranda, Boal, Candamo, Cangas del Narcea, Castropol, Coaña, Cudillero, Degaña, El Franco, Grado, Grandas de Salime, Ibias, Illano, Muros de Nalón, Navia, Pesoz, Pravia, Salas, San Martín de Oscos, Santa Eulalia de Oscos, San Tirso de Abres, Somiedo, Tapia de Casariego, Taramundi, Teverga, Tineo, Valdés, Vegadeo, Villanueva de Oscos, Villayón, Yernes y Tameza 5 Eastern Amieva, Cabrales, Cabranes, Cangas de Onís, Caravia, Colunga, Llanes, Nava, Onís, Parres, Peñamellera Alta, Peñamellera Baja, Piloña, Ponga, Ribadedeva, Ribadesella, Villaviciosa
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 2023 Groups Parties Legislators Seats Total Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 20 20 People's Parliamentary Group PP 10 10 Citizens Parliamentary Group CS 4 4 We Can Asturias Parliamentary Group Podemos 4 4 Asturias Forum Parliamentary Group Foro 2 2 United Left Parliamentary Group IU/IX 2 2 Vox Parliamentary Group Vox 2 2 Mixed Parliamentary Group INDEP 1 1
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 ). Additionally, a balanced composition of men and women was required 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 PSOE Adrián Barbón Social democracy 35.3% PP Diego Canga ConservatismChristian democracy 17.5% CS Manuel Iñarra Liberalism 14.0% PodemosAsturies Covadonga Tomé Left-wing populismDirect democracyDemocratic socialism 11.0% IU–MP–IAS Ovidio Zapico SocialismCommunism 6.6% Foro Adrián Pumares RegionalismConservatism 6.5% Vox Carolina López Right-wing populismUltranationalismNational conservatism 6.4%
Campaign Debates + 2023 Asturian regional election debates Date Organizer(s) Moderator(s) PSOE PP CS Podemos CxAst Foro Vox Audience 17 May RTPA Nacho MonserratNatalia Alonso 6.8%
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.
Graphical summary
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; 23 seats were required for an absolute majority in the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout SOS Lead 2023 regional election 28 May 2023 56.8 36.5 32.6 0.9 3.9 7.6 3.7 10.1 – 1.1 3.9 NC Report/La Razón 22 May 2023?? 36.8 32.3 – 4.8 9.3 10.5 – 4.5 KeyData/Público 17 May 2023? 60.1 35.7 29.8 1.8 7.6 6.4 4.7 9.3 – – 5.9 EM-Analytics/El Plural 11–17 May 2023 600? 37.2 28.8 2.0 6.6 6.4 4.6 10.7 – 0.9 8.4 GESOP/La Nueva España 2–17 May 2023 2,806? 36.4 29.5 2.0 5.3 7.3 4.1 10.2 – 1.0 6.9 EM-Analytics/El Plural 4–10 May 2023 600? 37.1 28.8 2.1 6.5 6.6 4.6 10.7 – 0.8 8.3 GAD3/Vocento 28 Apr–3 May 2023 1,004? 37.8 31.9 1.3 5.0 6.3 4.7 9.9 – – 5.9 EM-Analytics/El Plural 26 Apr–3 May 2023 600? 37.3 29.4 2.2 6.3 6.3 4.8 10.4 – 0.8 7.9 Sondaxe/La Voz de Asturias 24 Apr–2 May 2023 800? 34.5 28.8 2.6 9.3 6.6 4.6 8.1 – – 5.7 CIS 10–26 Apr 2023 494? 36.7 27.3 3.7 8.0 6.8 4.5 9.1 – – 9.4 EM-Analytics/El Plural 19–25 Apr 2023 600? 37.3 28.5 2.1 6.3 6.6 5.1 10.8 – 0.9 8.8 GAD3/PP 14–18 Apr 2023 1,014? 36.3 33.9 1.3 7.0 5.2 2.3 10.8 – – 2.4 EM-Analytics/El Plural 12–18 Apr 2023 600? 37.7 27.9 2.1 7.0 6.1 5.2 11.0 – 0.9 9.8 Simple Lógica/elDiario.es 4–13 Apr 2023 452? 36.6 27.8 3.0 5.8 12.9 3.4 8.9 – – 8.8 EM-Analytics/El Plural 5–11 Apr 2023 600? 38.5 26.6 1.8 7.3 6.5 5.1 11.2 – 0.9 11.9 EM-Analytics/El Plural 27 Mar–4 Apr 2023 600? 38.8 26.0 1.7 7.4 6.5 5.1 11.5 – 0.9 12.8 NC Report/La Razón 3–10 Mar 2023? 54.9 33.4 31.4 – 5.0 8.9 15.2 – 2.0 GAD3/IU 1–7 Mar 2023 2,003? 34.8 32.4 2.3 8.3 6.0 4.8 10.4 – – 2.4 EM-Analytics/Electomanía 15 Jan–26 Feb 2023 1,101???????? –?? Sigma Dos/El Mundo 9–15 Dec 2022 711? 33.9 26.9 4.5 8.8 6.4 4.7 10.9 – – 7.0 CIS 17 Nov–2 Dec 2022 266? 45.5 19.3 1.6 0.5 8.4 14.9 – 26.2 EM-Analytics/Electomanía 1 Jun–13 Jul 2022 231? 42.1 19.5 1.6 7.8 6.4 5.4 13.0 – 0.8 22.6 Metroscopia/PP 23–29 Jun 2022 800? 33.7 35.4 1.0 8.7 5.1 1.6 11.5 – – 1.7 La Nueva España 23 Mar–7 Apr 2022????????? – –? EM-Analytics/Electomanía 15 Oct–29 Nov 2021 1,093? 41.4 20.6 2.1 8.4 6.4 6.5 11.1 – – 20.8 EM-Analytics/Electomanía 15 Apr 2021 800? 42.4 21.5 4.0 7.7 5.2 5.4 10.0 – – 20.9 SyM Consulting 27–31 Dec 2020 1,276 60.6 35.8 16.9 9.1 13.9 6.9 6.4 8.2 – – 18.9 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 1 Apr–15 May 2020?? 43.3 19.6 7.2 5.8 7.2 5.0 10.0 – – 23.7 SyM Consulting 4–6 May 2020 1,194 62.2 43.9 19.8 6.4 6.3 6.6 4.2 11.1 – – 24.1 November 2019 general election 10 Nov 2019 58.1 33.3 23.2 6.7 15.9 16.0 – 10.1 2019 regional election 26 May 2019 55.1 35.3 17.5 14.0 11.0 6.6 6.5 6.4 – – 17.8
Voting preferences The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Lead 2023 regional election 28 May 2023 23.2 20.7 0.6 2.5 4.8 2.3 6.4 – 35.6 2.5 Sondaxe/La Voz de Asturias 24 Apr–2 May 2023 800 19.0 15.9 – 4.3 2.9 – 3.9 – – – 3.1 CIS 10–26 Apr 2023 494 28.9 19.7 1.7 4.5 5.6 2.8 6.2 – 25.6 1.7 9.2 CIS 17 Nov–2 Dec 2022 266 25.9 12.7 0.6 0.4 6.5 9.5 34.6 4.4 13.2 November 2019 general election 10 Nov 2019 21.6 15.1 4.3 10.3 10.4 34.5 6.5 2019 regional election 26 May 2019 21.8 10.8 8.6 6.8 4.1 4.0 4.0 – 37.6 11.0
Results Overall