# 1980 Basque regional election

The 1980 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 9 March 1980, to elect the 1st Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 60 seats in the Parliament were up for election.
The Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) won 25 seats, People's Unity (HB) came second with 11 seats, the Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) came third with 9 seats. The Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) and Basque Country Left (EE) won 6 seats each.

## Overview
### Electoral system

The Basque Parliament was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of the Basque Country, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Basque Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a lehendakari. Transitory Provision First of the Statute established a specific electoral procedure for the first election to the Basque Parliament, to be supplemented by the provisions within the national electoral law. Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Basque Country and in full enjoyment of their political rights.
The 60 members of the Basque Parliament 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 Álava, Biscay and Guipúzcoa, with each being allocated a fixed number of 20 seats in order to provide for an equal parliamentary representation of the three provinces, as required under the regional statute of autonomy.
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.

### Election date

The Basque General Council was required to call an election to the Basque Parliament within sixty days from the enactment of the Statute, with election day taking place within four months after the call. As a result, an election could not be held later than the 180th day from the date of enactment of the Statute of Autonomy. The Statute was published in the Official State Gazette on 22 December 1979, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Tuesday, 20 May 1980. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a lehendakari within a sixty-day period from the Parliament re-assembly, the Parliament was to be 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.

## 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 fifteen days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one-thousandth of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election—with a compulsory minimum of 500 signatures—disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:
| Candidacy | Parties and alliances | Leading candidate | Ideology | Gov. |
| EAJ/PNV | List Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) | Carlos Garaikoetxea | Basque nationalism Christian democracy Conservative liberalism | Y |
| PSE–PSOE | List Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) | Txiki Benegas | Social democracy | Y |
| UCD | List Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) | Jesús María Viana | Christian democracy Social democracy Liberalism | Y |
| HB | List People's Socialist Revolutionary Party (HASI) Basque Nationalist Action (EAE/ANV) Patriotic Socialist Committees (ASK) | Francisco Letamendia | Basque independence Abertzale left Revolutionary socialism | N |
| EE | List Basque Country Left (EE) | Juan María Bandrés | Basque nationalism Socialism | Y |
| AP | List People's Alliance (AP) | Florencio Aróstegui | Conservatism National conservatism | N |

## 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 25 | 14.2 9 | 8.5 6 | 16.5 11 | 9.8 6 | 4.0 1 | 4.8 2 | 21.5 |
| ABC | 27 Feb 1980 | ? | ? | ? 19 | ? 7 | ? 12/13 | ? 9 | ? 8/9 | ? 1 | ? 0 | ? |
| Europa Press | 26 Feb 1980 | ? | ? | ? 19 | ? 12 | ? 13 | ? 8 | ? 5 | ? 1 | ? 2 | ? |
| ABC | 25 Feb 1980 | ? | ? | ? 19/20 | ? | ? 13/14 | ? 6/7 | ? 7/8 | ? | ? | ? |
| Diario 16 | 30 Jan 1980 | ? | ? | ? 18/22 | ? 10/13 | ? 12/16 | ? 7/11 | ? 5/7 | ? 1/3 | ? 1/4 | ? |
| 1979 foral elections | 3 Apr 1979 | — | 61.9 | 37.2 26 | 15.3 10 | 11.9 11 | 18.0 9 | 7.2 3 | 4.5 1 | 0.0* 0 | 19.2 |
| 1979 local elections | 3 Apr 1979 | — | 63.3 | 37.4 | 15.3 | 8.1 | 15.6 | 6.2 | 4.7 | 0.0* | 21.8 |
| 1979 general election | 1 Mar 1979 | — | 65.9 | 27.6 18 | 19.0 13 | 16.9 12 | 15.0 9 | 8.0 5 | 4.6 1 | 3.4* 2 | 8.6 |
| (*) Results for Foral Union of the Basque Country. ||||||||||||

### Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | PNV | | | | | | | ? | N | 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 local elections | 3 Apr 1979 | — | 22.9 | 9.2 | 5.7 | 9.6 | 3.7 | 2.8 | 0.0* | — | 38.0 | 13.3 |
| 1979 general election | 1 Mar 1979 | — | 17.8 | 12.3 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 5.2 | 3.0 | 2.2* | — | 34.1 | 5.5 |
| (*) Results for Foral Union of the Basque Country. |||||||||||||

### 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/ Not care | ? | Lead |
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Garaiko. EAJ/PNV | Benegas PSE–PSOE | Viana UCD | Other/ None/ Not care | ? | 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/ Not care | ? | Lead |
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Garaiko. EAJ/PNV | Benegas PSE–PSOE | Viana UCD | Other/ None/ Not care | ? | 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 | Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Popular vote | Popular vote | Seats | Seats |
| Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | 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 | Blank ballots | 3,570 | 0.39 | n/a | | |
| Total | Total | 919,845 | | | 60 | n/a |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 919,845 | 99.01 | n/a | | |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 9,206 | 0.99 | n/a | | |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | 929,051 | 59.76 | n/a | | |
| Abstentions | Abstentions | 625,476 | 40.24 | n/a | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 1,554,527 | | | | |
| Sources |||||||
Popular vote
EAJ/PNV
37.95%
HB
16.48%
PSE–PSOE
14.16%
EE
9.78%
UCD
8.49%
AP
4.76%
PCE/EPK
4.01%
EMK/MCE
1.19%
Others
2.80%
Blank ballots
0.39% :
Seats
EAJ/PNV
41.67%
HB
18.33%
PSE–PSOE
15.00%
EE
10.00%
UCD
10.00%
AP
3.33%
PCE/EPK
1.67% :

### Distribution by constituency

| Constituency | PNV | PNV | HB | HB | PSE | PSE | EE | EE | UCD | UCD | AP | AP | PCE/EPK | PCE/EPK |
| Constituency | % | 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 |||||||||||||||