# 2003 Seville City Council election

The 2003 Seville City Council election, also the 2003 Seville municipal election, was held on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 7th City Council of the municipality of Seville. All 33 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

## Electoral system

The City Council of Seville (Spanish: Ayuntamiento de Sevilla) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Seville, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly. Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the municipality of Seville and in full enjoyment of their political rights, as well as resident non-national European citizens and those whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty.
Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each local council. Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:
| Population | Councillors |
| <250 | 5 |
| 251–1,000 | 7 |
| 1,001–2,000 | 9 |
| 2,001–5,000 | 11 |
| 5,001–10,000 | 13 |
| 10,001–20,000 | 17 |
| 20,001–50,000 | 21 |
| 50,001–100,000 | 25 |
| >100,001 | +1 per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction +1 if total is an even number |
The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the appointee would be determined by lot.
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition 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 a determined amount of the electors registered in the municipality for which they were seeking election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. In the case of Seville, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 signatures were required.

## Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates 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. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Seville.

### Color key

Exit poll
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | | | | IULV | Lead |
| 2003 municipal election | 25 May 2003 | — | 58.6 | 35.2 12 | 38.6 14 | 12.3 4 | 9.0 3 | 3.4 |
| Sigma Dos/Antena 3 | 25 May 2003 | ? | ? | ? 12 | ? 13 | ? 5 | ? 3 | ? |
| Ipsos–Eco/RTVE | 25 May 2003 | ? | ? | ? 11/12 | ? 14/15 | – | – | ? |
| Demoscopia/Tele 5 | 25 May 2003 | ? | ? | ? 12 | ? 13 | ? 5 | ? 3 | ? |
| Opina/El País | 19 May 2003 | ? | ? | 35.0 12 | 38.0 14 | 14.0 5 | 7.0 2 | 3.0 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo | 8–13 May 2003 | 400 | ? | 31.4 11 | 41.3 14/15 | 16.4 5/6 | 7.5 2 | 9.9 |
| Vox Pública/El Periódico | 9 May 2003 | ? | ? | 32.0– 33.0 11/12 | 35.5– 36.5 12/13 | 18.5– 19.5 6/7 | 7.0– 8.0 2 | 3.5 |
| Ipsos–Eco/ABC | 28 Apr 2003 | ? | ? | 30.4 10/11 | 33.2 11/12 | 23.5 8 | 9.3 2/3 | 2.8 |
| CIS | 22 Mar–28 Apr 2003 | 549 | 60.4 | 31.4 11 | 41.7 14 | 14.8 5 | 8.9 3 | 10.3 |
| Opina/CES | 8–9 Apr 2003 | 800 | 55–60 | 32.0 11 | 39.0 13/14 | ? 5/6 | ? 3 | 7.0 |
| Idea Consultores/PP | 20–23 Jan 2003 | 800 | ? | ? 13/14 | ? 11/12 | ? 6 | ? 3 | ? |
| PSOE | 9–15 Dec 2002 | 813 | ? | 34.0– 36.0 11/12 | 44.0– 46.0 15 | 13.0– 14.0 4/5 | 6.0– 7.0 2 | 10.0 |
| Ipsos–Eco/ABC | 3–5 Dec 2002 | 502 | ? | 32.9 11/12 | 35.7 12/13 | 19.5 7 | 6.8 2 | 2.8 |
| Demoscopia/PP | 6 Jun 2002 | ? | ? | ? 14/15 | ? 12/13 | ? 3/4 | ? 2 | ? |
| Opina/CES | 27–29 May 2002 | 800 | ? | 38.4 13 | 38.7 14 | 13.4 4 | 7.5 2 | 0.3 |
| Inner Line/PSOE | 30 Apr–5 May 2002 | 800 | ? | 35.0 | 40.0 | 14.0 | 8.0 | 5.0 |
| Metra Seis/PA | 13–20 Mar 2001 | 600 | ? | ? 12 | ? 12 | ? 7 | ? 2 | Tie |
| 2000 regional election | 12 Mar 2000 | — | 68.4 | 39.0 (13) | 43.3 (15) | 7.3 (2) | 7.5 (3) | 4.3 |
| 2000 general election | 12 Mar 2000 | — | 68.4 | 41.5 (15) | 43.2 (15) | 4.8 (0) | 7.1 (3) | 1.7 |
| 1999 municipal election | 13 Jun 1999 | — | 56.5 | 35.8 13 | 35.2 12 | 17.6 6 | 7.8 2 | 0.6 |

## Results

← Summary of the 25 May 2003 City Council of Seville election results → :
| Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Popular vote | Popular vote | Seats | Seats |
| Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− |
| | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia (PSOE–A)$^1$ | 130,958 | 38.60 | +3.21 | 14 | +2 |
| | People's Party (PP) | 119,395 | 35.20 | –0.65 | 12 | –1 |
| | Andalusian Party (PA) | 41,805 | 12.32 | –5.32 | 4 | –2 |
| | United Left/The Greens–Assembly for Andalusia (IULV–CA) | 30,443 | 8.97 | +1.20 | 3 | +1 |
| | The Greens of Andalusia (LVA)$^2$ | 4,535 | 1.34 | +0.55 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Socialist Party of Andalusia–Andalusian Left (PSA–IA) | 1,823 | 0.54 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Group of Independent Citizens (GCI) | 1,056 | 0.31 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Independent Spanish Phalanx–Phalanx 2000 (FEI–FE 2000) | 309 | 0.09 | +0.05 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Humanist Party (PH) | 296 | 0.09 | +0.03 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 217 | 0.06 | –0.01 | 0 | ±0 |
| Blank ballots | Blank ballots | 8,395 | 2.47 | +0.29 | | |
| Total | Total | 339,232 | | | 33 | ±0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 339,232 | 99.56 | +0.07 | | |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 1,494 | 0.44 | –0.07 | | |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | 340,726 | 58.55 | +2.06 | | |
| Abstentions | Abstentions | 241,213 | 41.45 | –2.06 | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 581,939 | | | | |
| Sources |||||||
| Footnotes: $^1$ Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia results are compared to the combined totals of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia and Democratic Party of the New Left–Andalusia in the 1999 election.$^2$ The Greens of Andalusia results are compared to The Greens–Andalusian Left totals in the 1999 election. |||||||
Popular vote
PSOE–A
38.60%
PP
35.20%
PA
12.32%
IULV–CA
8.97%
LVA
1.34%
Others
1.09%
Blank ballots
2.47% :
Seats
PSOE–A
42.42%
PP
36.36%
PA
12.12%
IULV–CA
9.09% :