A regional election was held in Catalonia on 29 April 1984 to elect the 2nd Parliament of the autonomous community. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

Overview Under the 1979 Statute of Autonomy, the Parliament of Catalonia 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.. The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions (which were those used in the 1977 general election)..

Date The term of the Parliament of Catalonia expired four years after the date of its previous ordinary election. The election was required to be called no later than 15 days before the scheduled expiration date of parliament, with election day taking place within 60 days from the call.; . The previous election was held on 20 March 1980, which meant that the chamber's term would have expired on 20 March 1984. The election was required to be called no later than 5 March 1984, setting the latest possible date for election day on 4 May 1984.

The Parliament of Catalonia 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 Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called..

The election to the Parliament of Catalonia was officially called on 5 March 1984 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the Official Journal of the Government of Catalonia (DOGC), setting election day for 29 April..

Electoral system Voting for the Parliament was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Catalonia and with full political rights. ( by ).

The Parliament of Catalonia had a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 150 seats, with electoral provisions fixing its size at 135. All were elected in four multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Barcelona, Gerona, Lérida and Tarragona, each of which was assigned a fixed number of seats—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.

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Parliament constituency was entitled the following seats:; .

Seats Constituencies 85 Barcelona 18 Tarragona 17 Gerona 15 Lérida

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 Previous result Vote % Seats CiU Jordi Pujol Catalan nationalismCentrism 27.8% PSC–PSOE Raimon Obiols Social democracy 22.4% PSUC Antoni Gutiérrez CommunismCatalanism 18.8% ERC Heribert Barrera Catalan nationalismLeft-wing nationalismSocial democracy 8.9% AP–PDP–UL Eduard Bueno ConservatismChristian democracy 2.4%

Opinion polls The tables below lists 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; 68 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Catalonia.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout EEC Lead 1984 regional election 29 Apr 1984 64.4 46.8 30.1 5.6 – 4.4 – 7.7 1.2 – 16.7 Iope–Etmar/El Periódico 12–17 Apr 1984 2,300 66–72 42.3 30.6 5.3 – 6.0 – 11.3 – – 11.7 Sofemasa/La Vanguardia 11–13 Apr 1984 2,400 70 44.6 32.1 6.4 – 4.6 – 7.2 2.1 – 12.5 Metra Seis/El País 9–12 Apr 1984 2,700 64 36.9 32.0 8.6 – 7.3 – 9.9 – – 4.9 Avui 3 Apr 1984?? 40.2 23.6 – – – – – – – 16.6 Aresco/ABC 9–12 Mar 1984 2,200? 41.0 29.1 6.9 – 6.3 – 13.9 – – 11.9 Sofemasa/La Vanguardia 21–23 Mar 1984 2,400? 33.7 38.8 8.2 – 6.2 – 8.8 – – 5.1 1982 general election 28 Oct 1982 80.8 22.5 45.8 4.6 2.0 4.0 0.2 14.7 0.9 2.0 23.3 1980 regional election 20 Mar 1980 61.3 27.8 22.4 18.8 10.6 8.9 2.7 2.4 1.7 – 5.4

Voting preferences The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size EEC Lead 1984 regional election 29 Apr 1984 30.0 19.3 3.6 – 2.8 – 4.9 0.8 – 35.6 10.7 CIS 23–25 Apr 1984 2,281 38.2 19.7 3.7 – 4.0 – 4.7 – – 16.0 10.6 18.5 CIS 15 Apr 1984 2,385 28.0 22.4 2.8 – 3.6 – 3.2 – – 29.2 9.0 5.6 Sofemasa/La Vanguardia 11–13 Apr 1984 2,400 27.9 20.1 4.0 – 2.9 – 4.5 1.3 – 24.8 10.6 7.8 CIS 10 Apr 1984 1,044 28.0 26.0 5.0 – 3.0 – 6.0 – – 24.0 6.0 2.0 DYM/CIS 1 Apr 1984 2,271 26.5 20.9 3.6 – 2.9 – 3.6 – – 35.9 4.6 5.6 Sofemasa/La Vanguardia 21–23 Mar 1984 2,400 20.2 23.3 4.9 – 3.7 – 5.3 – – 31.1 8.9 3.1 CIS 1 Mar 1984 2,466 25.2 22.4 3.9 – 2.7 – 4.2 – – 33.2 6.5 2.8 Metra Seis/CIS 1 Jan 1984 2,101 27.0 22.0 5.0 – 2.0 – 4.0 – – 31.0 7.0 5.0 CIS 1 Nov 1983 1,680 24.0 27.0 5.0 – 4.0 – 6.0 1.0 – 26.0 7.0 3.0 DYM/CIS 1 Sep 1983 2,198 19.3 35.7 5.0 – 3.4 – 3.2 0.6 – 22.8 8.7 16.4 1983 local elections 8 May 1983 17.0 26.9 7.6 – 1.9 – 6.3 0.1 0.4 32.6 9.9 1982 general election 28 Oct 1982 17.9 36.5 3.7 1.6 3.2 0.2 11.7 0.7 1.6 19.2 18.6 1980 regional election 20 Mar 1980 17.0 13.7 11.5 6.5 5.4 1.6 1.4 1.0 – 38.7 3.3

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 Other/None Lead CIS 23–25 Apr 1984 2,281 70.0 14.1 0.3 0.8 1.0 0.4 13.3 55.9 CIS 15 Apr 1984 2,385 41.4 22.0 1.0 0.7 1.9 0.2 32.7 19.4 CIS 10 Apr 1984 1,044 42.0 27.0 1.0 1.0 4.0 – 25.0 15.0 DYM/CIS 1 Apr 1984 2,271 42.1 22.7 2.2 0.8 2.3 0.2 29.7 19.4 CIS 1 Mar 1984 2,466 41.3 19.3 0.9 0.9 2.6 – 35.0 22.0 Metra Seis/CIS 1 Jan 1984 2,101 38.0 23.0 2.0 1.0 4.0 – 31.0 15.0 CIS 1 Nov 1983 1,680 33.0 33.0 – – – 6.0 28.0 Tie DYM/CIS 1 Sep 1983 2,198 28.9 43.9 – – – 7.9 19.3 15.0

Preferred President The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Government of Catalonia.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead CIS 23–25 Apr 1984 2,281 51.1 21.1 4.2 6.2 3.3 6.3 7.8 30.0 CIS 15 Apr 1984 2,385 40.9 20.5 3.4 4.7 2.5 – 28.1 20.4 Sofemasa/La Vanguardia 11–13 Apr 1984 2,400 36.9 25.5 9.1 10.3 6.3 11.9 11.4 Metra Seis/El País 9–12 Apr 1984 2,700 36.1 22.1 7.8 7.8 4.3 21.9 14.0 CIS 10 Apr 1984 1,044 37.0 26.0 7.0 4.0 5.0 – 21.0 11.0 DYM/CIS 1 Apr 1984 2,271 37.4 18.2 5.0 5.4 3.0 3.6 27.4 19.2 Sofemasa/La Vanguardia 21–23 Mar 1984 2,400 30.8 22.0 9.3 8.5 6.5 22.9 8.8 CIS 1 Mar 1984 2,466 34.8 16.2 3.2 4.4 3.5 – 37.9 18.6 Metra Seis/CIS 1 Jan 1984 2,101 50.0 26.0 – – – – 23.0 24.0 CIS 1 Nov 1983 1,680 34.0 19.0 5.0 7.0 3.0 – 32.0 15.0 DYM/CIS 1 Sep 1983 2,198 32.1 16.5 6.1 8.7 – 1.5 35.1 15.6

Results Overall + ← Summary of the 29 April 1984 Parliament of Catalonia election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− Convergence and Union (CiU) 1,346,729 46.80 +18.97 72 +29 Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE) 866,281 30.11 +7.68 41 +8 People's Coalition (AP–PDP–UL)1 221,601 7.70 +5.33 11 +11 Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) 160,581 5.58 −13.19 6 −19 Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) 126,943 4.41 −4.49 5 −9 Party of the Communists of Catalonia (PCC)2 68,836 2.39 +2.09 0 ±0 Agreement of the Catalan Left (EEC)3 35,937 1.25 −0.41 0 ±0 Spanish Vertex Ecological Development Revindication (VERDE) 8,714 0.30 New 0 ±0 Social Democratic Party of Catalonia (PSDC) 6,768 0.24 New 0 ±0 Workers' Socialist Party (PST) 5,381 0.19 New 0 ±0 Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI) 3,533 0.12 New 0 ±0 Revolutionary Workers' Party of Spain (PORE) 2,694 0.09 New 0 ±0 Communist Workers' Party of Catalonia (PCOC) 2,593 0.09 −0.39 0 ±0 Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) 1,861 0.06 New 0 ±0 Communist Party of Spain (Marxist–Leninist) (PCE (m–l)) 1,834 0.06 New 0 ±0 Spanish Democratic Party (PDE) 1,110 0.04 New 0 ±0 Party of Lleida (PLL) 856 0.03 New 0 ±0 Unity of Aran–Aranese Nationalist Party (UA–PNA) 787 0.03 New 0 ±0 Communist Movement of Catalonia (MCC)4 164 0.01 −1.21 0 ±0 Centrists of Catalonia (CC–UCD) n/a n/a −10.61 0 −18 Socialist Party of Andalusia–Andalusian Party (PSA–PA) n/a n/a −2.66 0 −2 Blank ballots 14,313 0.49 −0.17 Total 2,877,516 135 ±0 Valid votes 2,877,516 99.48 −0.02 Invalid votes 14,970 0.52 +0.02 Votes cast / turnout 2,892,486 64.36 +3.02 Abstentions 1,601,854 35.64 −3.02 Registered voters 4,494,340 Sources

Distribution by constituency Constituency CiU PSC CP PSUC ERC % S % S % S % S % S Barcelona 44.3 41 32.3 29 7.6 7 6.1 5 4.1 3 Gerona 59.6 11 21.5 4 5.6 1 3.2 − 6.1 1 Lérida 57.7 10 19.9 3 8.8 1 2.8 − 5.7 1 Tarragona 48.1 10 26.7 5 10.2 2 5.3 1 4.6 − Total 46.8 72 30.1 41 7.7 11 5.6 6 4.4 5 Sources

Aftermath Investiture Ballot → 30 May 1984 Required majority → 68 out of 135 Absentees Sources

Notes

References Opinion poll sources

Other

Bibliography Legislation

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