# 2003 Ceuta Assembly election

The 2003 Ceuta Assembly election was held on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 3rd Assembly of the Autonomous City of Ceuta. All 25 seats in the Assembly 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 Assembly of Ceuta was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the autonomous city of Ceuta. Voting for the Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered and residing in the municipality of Ceuta 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.
The 25 members of the Assembly of Ceuta were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5 percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution.
The Mayor-President was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of members, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In case of a tie, a toss-up would determine the appointee.

## Parties and candidates

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 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.

## Results

← Summary of the 25 May 2003 Assembly of Ceuta 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 | +/− |
| | People's Party (PP) | 20,897 | 62.55 | +34.56 | 19 | +11 |
| | Ceutan Democratic Union (UDCE) | 3,589 | 10.74 | New | 3 | +3 |
| | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 2,905 | 8.70 | +1.26 | 2 | ±0 |
| | Democratic and Social Party of Ceuta (PDSC) | 1,722 | 5.15 | –4.87 | 1 | –2 |
| | Socialist Party of the People of Ceuta (PSPC) | 1,402 | 4.20 | –0.20 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Liberal Independent Party of Ceuta (PIL)$^1$ | 922 | 2.76 | –35.39 | 0 | –12 |
| | Ceutan Federation (FC) | 696 | 2.08 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Ceutan People's Union (UPCE) | 573 | 1.72 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | United Left–Ceuta (IU) | 322 | 0.96 | –3.00 | 0 | ±0 |
| | The Phalanx (FE) | 129 | 0.39 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| Blank ballots | Blank ballots | 251 | 0.75 | –0.45 | | |
| Total | Total | 33,408 | | | 25 | ±0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 33,408 | 99.56 | +0.05 | | |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 147 | 0.44 | –0.05 | | |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | 33,555 | 59.23 | –2.12 | | |
| Abstentions | Abstentions | 23,101 | 40.77 | +2.12 | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 56,656 | | | | |
| Sources |||||||
| Footnotes: $^1$ Liberal Independent Party of Ceuta results are compared to Liberal Independent Group totals in the 1999 election. |||||||
Popular vote
PP
62.55%
UDCE
10.74%
PSOE
8.70%
PDSC
5.15%
PSPC
4.20%
PIL
2.76%
FC
2.08%
UPCE
1.72%
Others
1.35%
Blank ballots
0.75% :
Seats
PP
76.00%
UDCE
12.00%
PSOE
8.00%
PDSC
4.00% :