# 1996 Andalusian regional election

The 1996 Andalusian regional election was held on Sunday, 3 March 1996, to elect the 5th Parliament of the autonomous community of Andalusia. All 109 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with the 1996 Spanish general election.
The 1994 election had resulted in a hung parliament. Manuel Chaves had formed a minority government of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia (PSOE–A), but was forced to dissolve the Parliament and call a snap election for March 1996 after barely twenty months into his term, as a result of the conservative People's Party (PP) and left-wing United Left (IULV–CA) joining into an unofficial alliance (dubbed as la pinza, Spanish for "the clamp") to block the Chaves government's parliamentary action. Scandals rocking Felipe González's national government and favourable opinion polls were among the reasons that led the two parties to team up to bring down the PSOE regional government.
Despite opinion polls predicting a likely PSOE defeat, the election result was a major upset: the PSOE gained over 500,000 votes and 7 seats compared to the previous election and won a resounding victory as the PP stagnated and the IU vote collapsed. At 77.9%, turnout was the highest ever registered for a regional election in Andalusia. This result allowed Chaves to form a coalition government with the Andalusian Party (PA), ending the period of political turmoil that had dominated the previous legislature.

## Overview
### Electoral system

The Parliament of Andalusia was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Andalusia, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Andalusian Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president. Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Andalusia and in full enjoyment of their political rights.
The 109 members of the Parliament of Andalusia were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga and Seville, with each being allocated an initial minimum of eight seats and the remaining 45 being distributed in proportion to their populations (provided that the number of seats in each province did not exceed two times that of any other).
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Parliament constituency was entitled the following seats:
| Seats | Constituencies |
| 19 | Seville$^{(+1)}$ |
| 15 | Cádiz, Málaga$^{(–1)}$ |
| 13 | Córdoba, Granada |
| 12 | Jaén |
| 11 | Almería, Huelva |
In smaller constituencies, the use of the electoral method resulted in an effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies.
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.

### Election date

The term of the Parliament of Andalusia expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. Election day was to take place between the thirtieth and the sixtieth day from the date of expiry of parliament barring any date from 1 July to 31 August. The previous election was held on 12 June 1994, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 12 June 1998. The election was required to take place no later than the sixtieth day from the date of expiry of parliament on the condition that it was not held between 1 July and 31 August, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Tuesday, 30 June 1998.
After legal amendments in 1994, the president was granted the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Andalusia and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since the previous one. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the candidate from the party with the highest number of seats was to be deemed automatically elected.

## Campaign
### Election debates

1996 Andalusian regional election debates :
| Date | Organisers | Moderator(s) | P Present  NI Not invited | P Present  NI Not invited | P Present  NI Not invited | P Present  NI Not invited | P Present  NI Not invited | P Present  NI Not invited |
| Date | Organisers | Moderator(s) | PSOE–A | PP | IULV–CA | PA | Audience | Ref. |
| 28 February | Cadena SER | Iñaki Gabilondo | P Chaves | P Arenas | NI | NI | — | |
| 29 February | Canal Sur | Rafael Rodríguez | P Chaves | P Arenas | P Romero | P Pacheco | 26.5% (454,000) | [16] [17] |

## 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; 55 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Andalusia.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | | | IULV | | Lead |
| 1996 regional election | 3 Mar 1996 | — | 78.1 | 44.1 52 | 34.0 40 | 14.0 13 | 6.7 4 | 10.1 |
| Demoscopia/El País | 16–21 Feb 1996 | ? | 80 | 33.3 39/42 | 39.7 47/49 | 18.3 16/18 | 7.5 3/6 | 6.4 |
| CIS | 12–21 Feb 1996 | 2,497 | 76.5 | 35.1 | 38.4 | 18.7 | 7.4 | 3.3 |
| Sigma Dos–Vox Pública/El Mundo | 15–20 Feb 1996 | 2,200 | ? | 32.5 36/39 | 37.9 43/48 | 18.7 19/22 | 8.5 5/8 | 5.4 |
| Vox Pública/El Periódico | 11–16 Feb 1996 | 2,000 | ? | 34.9 38/42 | 40.2 44/49 | 17.7 16/20 | 6.0 1/4 | 5.3 |
| Metra Seis/Colpisa | 10–15 Feb 1996 | 1,617 | ? | 34.0– 36.0 41/43 | 39.0– 40.0 45/49 | 14.0– 16.0 14/17 | 7.0– 9.0 4/8 | 4.0– 5.0 |
| Demoscopia/El País | 10 Feb 1996 | ? | 80 | 35.7 42/43 | 39.3 45/48 | 17.4 16/18 | ? 3 | 3.6 |
| Sigma Dos–Vox Pública/El Mundo | 21–25 Jan 1996 | 2,200 | ? | 32.7 36/40 | 39.4 45/49 | 18.0 17/20 | 8.2 4/7 | 6.7 |
| Sigma Dos/PP | 3–10 Dec 1995 | ? | ? | 37.4 41/44 | 38.7 44/48 | 19.4 17/23 | 2.5 0/1 | 1.3 |
| PSOE | 9 Dec 1995 | 2,400 | ? | 38.0 | 34.0 | 18.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| PSOE | 27 Nov 1995 | ? | ? | ? 38 | ? 46 | ? 24/25 | ? 0/1 | ? |
| PSOE | 23 Nov 1995 | ? | ? | ? 39/41 | ? 46/47 | ? 20/21 | – | ? |
| CIS | 27 Oct–5 Nov 1995 | 2,498 | 72.8 | 34.5 40 | 37.4 45/47 | 21.6 23/24 | 5.9 1/2 | 2.9 |
| 1995 local elections | 28 May 1995 | — | 68.8 | 34.0 | 31.2 | 18.1 | 6.9 | 2.8 |
| 1994 regional election | 12 Jun 1994 | — | 67.3 | 38.7 45 | 34.4 41 | 19.1 20 | 5.8 3 | 4.3 |
| ↑ Result for Andalusian Coalition–Andalusian Power. |||||||||

## Results
### Overall

← Summary of the 3 March 1996 Parliament of Andalusia 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) | 1,903,160 | 44.05 | +5.33 | 52 | +7 |
| | People's Party (PP) | 1,466,980 | 33.96 | –0.40 | 40 | –1 |
| | United Left/The Greens–Assembly for Andalusia (IULV–CA) | 603,495 | 13.97 | –5.17 | 13 | –7 |
| | Andalusian Party (PA)$^1$ | 287,764 | 6.66 | +0.86 | 4 | +1 |
| | Communist Party of the Andalusian People (PCPA) | 7,340 | 0.17 | –0.17 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Andalusian Nation (NA) | 5,846 | 0.14 | –0.13 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Humanist Party (PH) | 4,339 | 0.10 | –0.05 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Authentic Spanish Phalanx (FEA) | 3,869 | 0.09 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Centrist Union (UC) | 1,688 | 0.04 | –0.23 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Democratic Andalusian Unity (UAD) | 1,486 | 0.03 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Voice of the Andalusian People (VDPA) | 840 | 0.02 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| Blank ballots | Blank ballots | 33,165 | 0.77 | –0.08 | | |
| Total | Total | 4,319,972 | | | 109 | ±0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 4,319,972 | 99.37 | –0.03 | | |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 27,221 | 0.63 | +0.03 | | |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | 4,347,193 | 77.94 | +10.67 | | |
| Abstentions | Abstentions | 1,230,374 | 22.06 | –10.67 | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 5,577,567 | | | | |
| Sources |||||||
| Footnotes: $^1$ Andalusian Party results are compared to Andalusian Coalition–Andalusian Power totals in the 1994 election. |||||||
Popular vote
PSOE–A
44.05%
PP
33.96%
IULV–CA
13.97%
PA
6.66%
Others
0.59%
Blank ballots
0.77% :
Seats
PSOE–A
47.70%
PP
36.70%
IULV–CA
11.93%
PA
3.67% :

### Distribution by constituency

| Constituency | PSOE–A | PSOE–A | PP | PP | IULV–CA | IULV–CA | PA | PA |
| Constituency | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S |
| Almería | 45.6 | 5 | 39.7 | 5 | 10.3 | 1 | 3.3 | − |
| Cádiz | 39.5 | 6 | 32.5 | 5 | 12.8 | 2 | 13.8 | 2 |
| Córdoba | 41.7 | 6 | 31.6 | 4 | 19.7 | 3 | 5.7 | − |
| Granada | 44.9 | 7 | 37.5 | 5 | 12.4 | 1 | 3.9 | − |
| Huelva | 49.2 | 6 | 32.8 | 4 | 11.5 | 1 | 5.3 | − |
| Jaén | 47.3 | 6 | 36.2 | 5 | 12.2 | 1 | 3.3 | − |
| Málaga | 39.6 | 6 | 37.3 | 6 | 15.8 | 2 | 5.7 | 1 |
| Seville | 47.4 | 10 | 29.7 | 6 | 13.9 | 2 | 7.5 | 1 |
| Total | 44.1 | 52 | 34.0 | 40 | 14.0 | 13 | 6.7 | 4 |
| Sources |||||||||

## Aftermath

Investiture Manuel Chaves (PSOE–A) :
| Ballot → | Ballot → | 11 April 1996 |
| Required majority → | Required majority → | 55 out of 109 Y |
| | Yes • PSOE–A (52) • PA (4) | 56 / 109 |
| | No • PP (40) • IULV–CA (13) | 53 / 109 |
| | Abstentions | 0 / 109 |
| | Absentees | 0 / 109 |
| Sources |||