A regional election was held in Castile and León on 26 May 1991 to elect the 3rd of the autonomous community. All 84 seats in the were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.
The preceding legislature had seen José MarÃÂa Aznar forming a minority government of People's Alliance (AP) in 1987 through the abstention of the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) and the support of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent Solution (SI) of Burgos mayor José MarÃÂa Peña San MartÃÂn. In May 1989, following AP's re-foundation into the People's Party (PP) earlier that year, the CDS joined the cabinet as a coalition partner, granting the regional government an overall majority in the . In September 1989, Aznar resigned in order to become the PP's leading candidate for the 29 October general electionâÂÂand eventually, PP national president in April 1990âÂÂ, with the regional presidency being granted to Jesús Posada. However, Posada renounced contesting the party's candidacy for re-election in January 1991, following Aznar's decision to pick Juan José Lucas as regional candidate instead.
The election saw the PP secure its first absolute majority in the region, virtually ensuring the election of Lucas to the regional presidency. The CDS, on the other hand, saw its support collapse from 18 to 5 seats, with the PP's majority leaving the party out of government. The opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) slightly increased its vote share and seat count compared to its 1987 result, whereas United Left (IU) entered the for the first time with one seat.
Under the 1983 Statute of Autonomy, the Cortes of Castile and León were 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 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 court ruling, nor being legally incapacitated.
The of Castile and León had three seats per each multi-member constituencyâÂÂcorresponding to the provinces of ÃÂvila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and ZamoraâÂÂplus 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. 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:
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 term of the of Castile and León expired four years after the date of their previous ordinary election, with amendments earlier in 1991 fixing election day for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The election decree was required to be issued between the fifty-fourth and sixtieth day prior to the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of Castile and León (BOCYL). The previous election was held on 10 June 1987, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 26 May 1991.
The of Castile and León 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 were to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected lawmakers serving the remainder of its original four-year term.
The election to the of Castile and León was officially called on 2 April 1991 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOCYL, setting election day for 26 May and scheduling for the chamber to reconvene on 21 June.
The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of the election call.
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 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 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:
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.
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; 43 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castile and León.
The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.
Opinion poll sources
Other