A regional election was held in the Valencian Community on 25 May 2003 to elect the 6th of the autonomous community. All 89 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.
Despite growing discontent with the nationwide José MarÃÂa Aznar's government, the People's Party (PP) was able to comfortably retain its absolute majority in the , losing only one seat compared to 1999, which was gained by the Agreement (L'Entesa) alliance led by United Left of the Valencian Country (EUPV). The Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPVâÂÂPSOE), while increasing its vote share in two percentage points compared to its 1999 result, failed to translate it into any new seats. Valencian Union (UV), the former PP coalition partner during the first Zaplana government (1995âÂÂ1999), continued its decline into irrelevance and fell below 3%, depriving it of any possibility of overcoming the five percent threshold to enter the .
Francisco Camps became the new president of the Valencian Government succeeding José Luis Olivas, who had replaced Eduardo Zaplana in 2002 after the latter was named Labour and Social Affairs minister in Aznar's second cabinet.
Under the 1982 Statute of Autonomy, the were the unicameral legislature of the Valencian 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 the Valencian Community 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 had a minimum of 75 and a maximum of 100 seats, with the electoral law fixing its size at 89. All were elected in three multi-member constituenciesâÂÂcorresponding to the provinces of Alicante, Castellón and Valencia, each of which was assigned an initial minimum of 20 seats and the remaining 29 distributed in proportion to population (with the seat-to-population ratio in any given province not exceeding three times that of any other)âÂÂusing the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a five percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) regionally.
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 expired four years after the date of their 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 the fifty-fifth day prior to the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official Journal of the Valencian Government (DOGV). The previous election was held on 13 June 1999, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 25 May 2003.
The could not be dissolved before the expiration date of parliament.
The were officially dissolved on 1 April 2003 with the publication of the dissolution decree in the DOGV, setting election day for 25 May and scheduling for the chamber to reconvene on 12 June.
The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.
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; 45 seats were required for an absolute majority in the .
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.
The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.
The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Valencian Government.
Opinion poll sources
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