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1984 Basque regional election

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1984 Basque regional election
← 1980
26 February 1984
1986 →
All 75 seats in the Basque Parliament
38 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered1,584,540 Increase 1.9%
Turnout1,085,304 (68.5%)
Increase 8.7 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Carlos Garaikoetxea Txiki Benegas —
Party EAJ/PNV PSE–PSOE HB
Leader since April 1977 26 February 1978 —
Leader's seat Guipúzcoa Biscay —
Last election 25 seats, 38.0% 9 seats, 14.2% 11 seats, 16.5%
Seats won 32 19 11
Seat change Increase 7 Increase 10 Steady 0
Popular vote 451,178 247,786 157,389
Percentage 41.8% 23.0% 14.6%
Swing Increase 3.8 pp Increase 8.8 pp Decrease 1.9 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Jaime Mayor Oreja Mario Onaindia
Party AP–PDP–UL EE
Leader since 1984 1982
Leader's seat Guipúzcoa Álava
Last election 2 seats, 4.8%[a] 6 seats, 9.8%
Seats won 7 6
Seat change Increase 5 Steady 0
Popular vote 100,581 85,671
Percentage 9.3% 7.9%
Swing Increase 4.5 pp Decrease 1.9 pp
Vote winner strength by constituency
Lehendakari before election

Carlos Garaikoetxea
EAJ/PNV

Elected Lehendakari

Carlos Garaikoetxea
EAJ/PNV

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

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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.[1] The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions.[2]

Date

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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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6]

Electoral system

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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.[7]

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)[b] in each constituency.[8]

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.[9]

Opinion polls

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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

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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).

Voting preferences

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The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Victory likelihood

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

Preferred Lehendakari

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

Results

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Overall

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← 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[g] 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[10][11]
Footnotes:
Popular vote
EAJ/PNV
 
 41.81%
PSE–PSOE
 
 22.96%
HB
 
 14.59%
AP–PDP–UL
 
 9.32%
EE
 
 7.94%
PCE/EPK
 
 1.39%
Others
 
 1.52%
Blank ballots
 
 0.47%
Seats
EAJ/PNV
 
 42.67%
PSE–PSOE
 
 25.33%
HB
 
 14.67%
AP–PDP–UL
 
 9.33%
EE
 
 8.00%

Distribution by constituency

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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[10][11]

Aftermath

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Government formation

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Investiture
Ballot → 11 April 1984 12 April 1984
Required majority → 38 out of 75 Simple
32 / 75
 ☒N
32 / 75
 checkY
Abstentions/Blank ballots
32 / 75
32 / 75
Absentees
  • • HB (11)
11 / 75
11 / 75
Sources[10]

1985 investiture

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Investiture
Ballot → 23 January 1985 24 January 1985
Required majority → 38 out of 75 Simple
  • • PNV (30/32)
  • • PSE (2/4)
34 / 75
 ☒N
34 / 75
 checkY
Abstentions/Blank ballots
30 / 75
30 / 75
Absentees
  • • HB (11)
11 / 75
11 / 75
Sources[10]

Notes

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  1. ^ Results for AP in the 1980 election.
  2. ^ Unlike other electoral legislation in Spain, valid votes under the 1983 Basque electoral law did not include blank ballots.
  3. ^ a b c Undecided and/or abstentionists excluded.
  4. ^ a b Within AP–PDP–PDL–UCD.
  5. ^ a b Results for AP–PDP–PDL–UCD.
  6. ^ a b Results for AP.
  7. ^ The 1983 electoral law provided that blank ballots would not count as valid votes for the application of the 5 percent threshold in each district. However, this rule was not determinant in excluding any party from seat distribution during its time of application (the 1984 and 1986 elections). As a result, and for comparison purposes, blank ballots are shown here included within valid votes.
  8. ^ Parliamentary records do not specify the party membership of the 34 MPs that voted for Ardanza, but it is hypothesized that between 2 and 4 PSE MPs voted for him, and that up to 2 PNV MPs abstained.

References

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Opinion poll sources

  1. ^ a b c "Preelectoral País Vasco 1984 (V) (Estudio nº 1.400. Febrero 1984)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 20 February 1984.
  2. ^ a b "El PNV alcanza la mayoría absoluta en Euskadi, con un 23% de votantes indecisos". El País (in Spanish). 19 February 1984.
  3. ^ "Probable mayoría absoluta del PNV en las elecciones del próximo domingo en Euskadi". El País (in Spanish). 19 February 1984.
  4. ^ "Ficha técnica del sondeo". El País (in Spanish). 19 February 1984.
  5. ^ a b "Alianza Popular confía conseguir en Cataluña el 14 por ciento de los votos". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 31 January 1984.
  6. ^ a b c "Los partidos vascos ven muy difícil un pacto de Gobierno tras las elecciones". ABC (in Spanish). 22 January 1984.
  7. ^ "PNV se mantiene y PSOE baja, según una encuesta relativa a las próximas elecciones autonómicas". Diario de Navarra (in Spanish). 2 January 1984.
  8. ^ "Socialistas y EE pueden desbancar a Herri Batasuna en unas próximas elecciones". Diario de Navarra (in Spanish). 25 August 1982.
  9. ^ a b c "Preelectoral País Vasco 1984 (IV) (Estudio nº 1393. Febrero 1984)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 10 February 1984.
  10. ^ a b c "Sondeo pre-electoral País Vasco (Febrero 1984. E. 1.388)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 1 February 1984.
  11. ^ a b "Sondeo preelectoral País Vasco (Enero 1984. E. 1387)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 27 January 1984.
  12. ^ a b c "Estudio 1.378 ("País Vasco". Diciembre 1983)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 1 November 1983.
  13. ^ a b c "Resultados sondeo País Vasco. Estudio nº 1367" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 1 September 1983.

Other

  1. ^ Statute (1979), arts. 25 & 27–28.
  2. ^ LEPV (1983), reas. 1.
  3. ^ Statute (1979), art. 26; LEPV (1983), arts. 45–47.
  4. ^ LGV (1981), arts. 7 & 50–51.
  5. ^ LGV (1981), art. 6.
  6. ^ Decree 13/1984 (1984), arts. 1–2.
  7. ^ Statute (1979), art. 26; LEPV (1983), art. 2 (suppl. by Royal Decree-Law 20/1977 (1977), art. 2).
  8. ^ Statute (1979), art. 26; LEPV (1983), arts. 8–11; Decree 13/1984 (1984), art. 2.
  9. ^ LEPV (1983), arts. 11, 48 & 67 (suppl. by Royal Decree-Law 20/1977 (1977), art. 20).
  10. ^ a b c d Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones al Parlamento Vasco / Eusko Legebilitzarra (desde 1980)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Resultados Electorales" (in Spanish). Basque Government. Retrieved 28 December 2025.

Bibliography

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