- Las Palmas (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
Las Palmas is one of the 52 electoral districts (circunscripciónes) used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the
Cortes Generales . It was first contested in modern times in the 1977 General Election and covers the Eastern part of theCanary Islands .Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the largest municipality, accounting for over 40% of the electorate [ [http://www.ine.es/censoe/elec2000/00mun35.htm electorates by municipality] ]Boundaries and electoral system
Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution [ [http://www.mir.es/DGPI/Normativa/Normativa_Estatal/Constitucion_Espanola/constitucion_espanola.html Spanish Constitution] ] the boundaries must be the same as the province of Las Palmas and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of
universal suffrage in asecret ballot . The electoral system used isclosed list proportional representation with seats allocated using theD'Hondt method . Only lists which poll 3% or more of all valid votes cast, including votes "en blanco" i.e. for "none of the above" can be considered for seats. Under article 12 of the constitution, the minimum voting age is 18.Eligibility
Article 67.3 of the Spanish Constitution prohibits dual membership of the Cortes and regional assemblies, meaning that candidates must resign from Regional Assemblies if successfully elected. Article 70 also makes active judges, magistrates, public defenders, serving military personnel, active police officers and members of constitutional and electoral tribunals ineligible. [ [http://www.mir.es/DGPI/Normativa/Normativa_Estatal/Constitucion_Espanola/constitucion_espanola.html Spanish Constitution] ]
Number of members
Las Palmas initially returned six members. This was increased to seven members for the 1986 election. It was increased to its current figure of eight members at the 2004 election.
Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population. [ [http://electionresources.org/es/index_en.html General features of Spanish electoral system] ] These laws are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General) The practical effect of this law has been to overrepresent smaller provinces at the expense of larger provinces.
In 2004 Spain had 34,571,831 voters giving an average of 98,777 voters per deputy [http://www.electionresources.org/es/congress.php?election=2004 2004 Spanish election] ] . Las Palmas was close to the average with the ratio being 92,020. [ [http://www.electionresources.org/es/congress.php?election=2004&province=35 Las Palmas 2004 election results] ]
ummary of seats won 1977–2004
Note: Seats shown for the PP include seats won by their predecessors, the Popular Alliance and Popular Coalition before 1989.
The Canarian Peoples Union was a coalition of various local left wing or regionalist parties. After its dissolution in the 1980s some of these parties became part of either the PSOE or the Canarian Coalition.
Results
The PSOE had one of their best performances of the entire election here in 2004, gaining two seats and increasing their vote by 15.5%. This was their third biggest percentage increase anywhere. Only Ceuta and Melilla registered bigger increases and the results there where affected by the absence of third party candidates in 2004 who had polled well in 2000.
electiontable|Spanish congress election, 2004"'Summary of the 14 March 2004 Congress of Deputies election results in Las Palmas
-!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left valign=top|Parties and alliances!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Seats!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Members elected
-
align=left|People's Party (Partido Popular)
align="right" |208,995
align="right" |42.21
align="right" |4
align="left" |
-
align=left|Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español)
align="right" |167,926
align="right" |33.92
align="right" |3
align="left" |
-
align=left|Canarian Coalition (Coalición Canaria)
align="right" valign=top|89,420
align="right" valign=top|18.06
align="right" valign=top|1
align="left" |
-
align=left| United Left
align="right" |9,876
align="right" |1.99
align="right" |0
align="left" |
-
align=left|Others
align="right" |12,871
align="right" |2.60
align="right" |0
align="right"
-Source: [ [http://www.elecciones.mir.es/MIR/jsp/resultados/index.htm Interior ministry link to election results] ]
electiontable|Spanish congress election, 2000"'Summary of the 12 March 2000 Congress of Deputies election results in Las Palmas.
-!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left valign=top|Parties and alliances!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Seats!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Members elected
-
align=left|People's Party (Partido Popular)
align="right" |210,774
align="right" |48.05
align="right" |4
align="left" |
-
align=left|Canarian Coalition (Coalición Canaria)
align="right" valign=top|113,075
align="right" valign=top|25.78
align="right" valign=top|2
align="left" |
-
align=left|Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español)
align="right" |80,695
align="right" |18.40
align="right" |1
align="left" |
-
align=left| United Left
align="right" |10,941
align="right" |2.49
align="right" |0
align="left" |
-
align=left|Others
align="right" |19,202
align="right" |4.40
align="right" |0
align="right"
-External links
* [http://www.congreso.es/portal/page/portal/Congreso/Congreso/Diputados/DipCircuns List of members by year]
References
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