A regional election was held in Extremadura on 8 May 1983 to elect the 1st Assembly of the autonomous community. All 65 seats in the Assembly were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), under the leadership of pre-autonomic president Juan Carlos RodrÃÂguez Ibarra, won a landslide victory by securing 53% of the share and 36 out of 65 seats. The People's Coalition, the electoral alliance of the People's Alliance (AP), the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Liberal Union (UL), emerged as the second largest political force with 30% of the vote and 20 seats, whereas United Extremadura (EU) and the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) entered the Assembly with 6 and 4 seats, respectively.
Under the 1983 Statute of Autonomy, the Assembly of Extremadura 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.
Voting for the Assembly was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Extremadura and with full political rights.
The Assembly of Extremadura had 65 seats in its first election. All were elected in two multi-member constituenciesâÂÂcorresponding to the provinces of Badajoz and Cáceres, each of which was assigned a fixed number of seatsâÂÂusing the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency.
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Assembly constituency was entitled the following seats:
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.
The Regional Government of Extremadura, in agreement with the Government of Spain, was required to call an election to the Assembly before 31 May 1983. The Assembly of Extremadura could not be dissolved before the expiration date of parliament, except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot. In such a case, the Assembly was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected lawmakers serving the remainder of its original four-year term.
On 7 March 1983, it was confirmed that the first election to the Assembly of Extremadura would be held on 8 May, together with regional elections for twelve other autonomous communities as well as the regularly scheduled nationwide local elections.
The election to the Assembly of Extremadura was officially called on 10 March 1983 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the Official Journal of Extremadura (DOE), setting election day for 8 May.
The regional Statute established a provisional composition for the Assembly of ExtremaduraâÂÂto remain in place until an election could be heldâÂÂwhich was to be made up of all elected members in the , as well as by 45 members designated by political parties which had obtained at least three percent of the valid votes cast at the regional level in the 1982 Spanish general election (in proportion to the number of votes obtained). As a result, the composition of the provisional Assembly, upon its constitution in March 1983, was as indicated below:
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 ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within fifteen days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one permilleâÂÂand, in any case, 500 signaturesâÂÂof the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, 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: