A regional election was held in the Basque Country on 9 March 1980 to elect the 1st Parliament of the autonomous community. All 60 seats in the Parliament were up for election.
The Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) emerged as the largest party with 25 seats, followed by People's Unity (HB) with 11 seats and the Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) with nine seats. Basque Country Left (EE) and the ruling party in Spain, the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), secured six seats each, with other parties securing parliamentary representation including the right-wing People's Alliance (AP), with two seats, and the Communist Party of the Basque Country (PCE/EPK) with one seat. No party secured an absolute majority in parliament. Voter turnout was 929,051 (59.8%) from an electorate of 1,554,527.
Following the election, the newly elected parliament proceeded to re-elect Carlos Garaikoetxea as lehendakari.
Overview 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.. The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions (which were those used in the 1977 general election).; .
Date The Basque General Council was required to call an election to the Basque Parliament within 60 days from the enactment of the Statute, with election day taking place within four months after the call.. The Statute was published in the Official State Gazette on 22 December 1979, setting the latest possible date for election day on 20 May 1980.
The Basque Parliament could not be dissolved before the expiration date of parliament, except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a lehendakari within a 60-day period period from the Parliament's reconvening. In such a case, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called.
Initially, 24 February or 2 March 1980 were considered as the most likely dates for the election to be held, but on 22 December 1979 it was announced that it would be called for 9 March. The election to the Basque Parliament was officially called on 12 January 1980 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country, setting election day for 9 March..
Electoral system 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. ( by ).
The Basque Parliament had 60 seats in its first election. 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 three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency. ( by ); . The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.
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..
Parties and candidates 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 were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within 15 days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one permille—and, in any case, 500 signatures—of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list..
Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:
Candidacy Parties andalliances Leading candidate Ideology EAJ/PNV Carlos Garaikoetxea Basque nationalismChristian democracyConservative liberalism PSE–PSOE Txiki Benegas Social democracy UCD Jesús María Viana Christian democracySocial democracyLiberalism HB Francisco Letamendia Basque independenceAbertzale leftRevolutionary socialism EE Juan María Bandrés Basque nationalismSocialism AP Florencio Aróstegui ConservatismNational conservatism
Opinion polls 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 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; 31 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Basque Parliament.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout PNV Lead 1980 regional election 9 Mar 1980 59.8 38.0 14.2 8.5 16.5 9.8 4.0 4.8 21.5 ABC 27 Feb 1980?????????? Europa Press 26 Feb 1980?????????? ABC 25 Feb 1980?????????? Diario 16 30 Jan 1980?????????? 1979 foral elections 3 Apr 1979 61.9 37.2 15.3 11.9 18.0 7.2 4.5 0.0 19.2 1979 general election 1 Mar 1979 65.9 27.6 19.0 16.9 15.0 8.0 4.6 3.4 8.6
Voting preferences The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size PNV Lead 1980 regional election 9 Mar 1980 22.5 8.4 5.0 9.8 5.8 2.4 2.8 40.2 12.7 Arvay/CIS 28 Feb 1980 1,500 25.4 9.4 3.7 8.9 9.9 2.2 1.1 22.1 13.4 15.5 1979 foral elections 3 Apr 1979 22.7 9.4 7.3 11.0 4.4 2.7 0.0 38.1 11.7 1979 general election 1 Mar 1979 17.8 12.3 10.9 9.7 5.2 3.0 2.2 34.1 5.5
Victory likelihood The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size PNV Other/None Lead Arvay/CIS 28 Feb 1980 1,500 73.8 3.4 3.5 1.1 0.6 0.0 0.1 0.3 17.3 70.3
Preferred Lehendakari The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become lehendakari.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead Arvay/CIS 28 Feb 1980 1,500 32.6 8.0 2.2 28.8 28.4 24.6
Predicted Lehendakari The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood for each leader to become lehendakari.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead Arvay/CIS 28 Feb 1980 1,500 70.5 2.2 1.1 3.6 22.6 68.3
Results Overall + Summary of the 9 March 1980 Basque Parliament election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) 349,102 37.95 n/a 25 n/a Popular Unity (HB) 151,636 16.48 n/a 11 n/a Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) 130,221 14.16 n/a 9 n/a Basque Country Left (EE) 89,953 9.78 n/a 6 n/a Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) 78,095 8.49 n/a 6 n/a People's Alliance (AP) 43,751 4.76 n/a 2 n/a Communist Party of the Basque Country (PCE/EPK) 36,845 4.01 n/a 1 n/a Communist Movement of the Basque Country (EMK/MCE) 10,959 1.19 n/a 0 n/a Socialists' Unification of the Basque Country (ESEI) 6,280 0.68 n/a 0 n/a Revolutionary Communist League (LKI/LCR) 5,182 0.56 n/a 0 n/a Workers' Party of the Basque Country (ORT–PTE) 3,448 0.37 n/a 0 n/a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (historical) (PSOEh) 2,760 0.30 n/a 0 n/a Carlist Party (EKA/PC) 2,434 0.26 n/a 0 n/a Workers' Socialist Party (PST) 2,099 0.23 n/a 0 n/a Communist Unity (UC) 2,044 0.22 n/a 0 n/a Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) 1,466 0.16 n/a 0 n/a Blank ballots 3,570 0.39 n/a Total 919,845 60 n/a Valid votes 919,845 99.01 n/a Invalid votes 9,206 0.99 n/a Votes cast / turnout 929,051 59.76 n/a Abstentions 625,476 40.24 n/a Registered voters 1,554,527 Sources
Distribution by constituency Constituency PNV HB PSE EE UCD AP PCE/EPK % S % S % S % S % S % S % S Álava 30.1 7 14.1 3 14.0 3 9.2 2 19.7 4 5.7 1 3.0 – Biscay 40.0 9 16.4 4 14.4 3 7.8 1 6.8 1 5.8 1 4.8 1 Guipúzcoa 37.3 9 17.6 4 13.8 3 13.5 3 7.6 1 2.7 – 3.0 – Total 38.0 25 16.5 11 14.2 9 9.8 6 8.5 6 4.8 2 4.0 1 Sources
Aftermath Government formation Investiture Ballot → 9 April 1980 9 April 1980 Required majority → 31 out of 60 Simple Abstentions Sources
Notes
References Opinion poll sources
Other
Bibliography