# 2003 Castilian-Leonese regional election

The 2003 Castilian-Leonese regional election was held on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 6th Cortes of the autonomous community of Castile and León. All 82 seats in the Cortes were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

## Overview
### Electoral system

The Cortes of Castile and León were the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Castile and León, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Castilian-Leonese Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president. Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Castile and León and in full enjoyment of their political rights.
All members of the Cortes of Castile and León 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 Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora, with each being allocated an initial minimum of three seats, as well as one additional member per each 45,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 22,500.
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Cortes constituency was entitled the following seats:
| Seats | Constituencies |
| 14 | León, Valladolid |
| 11 | Burgos, Salamanca |
| 7 | Ávila, Palencia, Zamora$^{(–1)}$ |
| 6 | Segovia |
| 5 | Soria |
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 term of the Cortes of Castile and León expired four years after the date of their previous election. Elections to the Cortes were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 13 June 1999, setting the election date for the Cortes on Sunday, 25 May 2003.
The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Cortes of Castile and León and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election was due and some time requirements were met: namely, that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or within the legislature's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Cortes were to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called. Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances would not alter the period to the next ordinary election, with elected procurators merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.

## Parliamentary composition

The Cortes of Castile and León were officially dissolved on 1 April 2003, after the publication of the dissolution decree in the Official Gazette of Castile and León. The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the Cortes at the time of dissolution.
Parliamentary composition in April 2003 :
| Groups | Groups | Parties | Parties | Legislators | Legislators |
| Groups | Groups | Parties | Parties | Seats | Total |
| | People's Parliamentary Group | | PP | 48 | 48 |
| | Socialist Parliamentary Group | | PSOE | 30 | 30 |
| | Mixed Parliamentary Group | | UPL | 3 | 5 |
| | Mixed Parliamentary Group | | IUCyL | 1 | 5 |
| | Mixed Parliamentary Group | | TC | 1 | 5 |

## 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.
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:
| Candidacy | Candidacy | Parties and alliances | Leading candidate | Leading candidate | Ideology | Previous result | Previous result | Gov. | Ref. |
| Candidacy | Candidacy | Parties and alliances | Leading candidate | Leading candidate | Ideology | Votes (%) | Seats | Gov. | Ref. |
| | PP | List People's Party (PP) | | Juan Vicente Herrera | Conservatism Christian democracy | 50.45% | 48 | Y | [8] [9] |
| | PSOE | List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | | Ángel Villalba | Social democracy | 33.06% | 30 | N | |
| | IUCyL | List United Left of Castile and León (IUCyL) | | José Luis Conde | Socialism Communism | 5.43% | 1 | N | |
| | UPL | List Leonese People's Union (UPL) | | Joaquín Otero | Regionalism Autonomism | 3.70% | 3 | N | |
| | TC–PNC | List Commoners' Land–Castilian Nationalist Party (TC–PNC) | | Carlos Rad | Castilian nationalism Progressivism | 1.39% | 1 | N | |

## 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; 42 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castile and León.

### Color key

Exit poll
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | | | | UPL | TC | Lead |
| 2003 regional election | 25 May 2003 | — | 72.7 | 48.5 48 | 36.8 32 | 3.4 0 | 3.8 2 | 1.2 0 | 11.7 |
| Sigma Dos/Antena 3 | 25 May 2003 | ? | ? | ? 44/49 | ? 29/33 | ? 1 | ? 3 | – | ? |
| Ipsos–Eco/RTVE | 25 May 2003 | ? | ? | ? 45/47 | ? 32/34 | ? 1/2 | ? 2/3 | – | ? |
| CIS | 22 Mar–28 Apr 2003 | 2,999 | 74.2 | 45.4 45 | 37.6 32 | 6.0 2 | 3.7 3 | 1.9 0 | 7.8 |
| CIS | 9 Sep–9 Oct 2002 | 608 | 75.0 | 49.7 | 35.6 | 5.2 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 14.1 |
| 2000 general election | 12 Mar 2000 | — | 72.6 | 55.7 (51) | 32.2 (29) | 4.4 (1) | 2.6 (2) | 1.0 (0) | 23.5 |
| 1999 regional election | 13 Jun 1999 | — | 67.6 | 50.4 48 | 33.1 30 | 5.4 1 | 3.7 3 | 1.4 1 | 17.3 |

## Results
### Overall

← Summary of the 25 May 2003 Cortes of Castile and León 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) | 760,510 | 48.49 | –1.96 | 48 | ±0 |
| | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 576,769 | 36.77 | +3.71 | 32 | +2 |
| | Leonese People's Union (UPL) | 60,331 | 3.85 | +0.15 | 2 | –1 |
| | United Left of Castile and León (IUCyL) | 54,085 | 3.45 | –1.98 | 0 | –1 |
| | Commoners' Land–Castilian Nationalist Party (TC–PNC) | 18,595 | 1.19 | –0.20 | 0 | –1 |
| | Independent Candidacy–The Party of Castile and León (CI–PCL) | 11,180 | 0.71 | +0.25 | 0 | ±0 |
| | The Greens (LV) | 7,424 | 0.47 | +0.42 | 0 | ±0 |
| | The Greens–Left Forum (LV–FI) | 4,130 | 0.26 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | The Greens (LV) | 1,835 | 0.12 | +0.07 | 0 | ±0 |
| | The Greens–Cives (LV–Cives) | 1,459 | 0.09 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Union of the Salamancan People (UPSa) | 6,630 | 0.42 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Regionalist Unity of Castile and León (URCL) | 5,323 | 0.34 | –0.43 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Castilian Left (IzCa) | 3,972 | 0.25 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 3,016 | 0.19 | –0.52 | 0 | ±0 |
| | United Zamora (ZU) | 2,579 | 0.16 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Republican Left (IR) | 2,420 | 0.15 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Party of El Bierzo (PB) | 2,286 | 0.15 | –0.11 | 0 | ±0 |
| | The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV) | 2,196 | 0.14 | +0.05 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Leonese United Independent Citizens (CiuLe) | 2,051 | 0.15 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Humanist Party (PH) | 2,038 | 0.13 | –0.03 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Zamoran People's Union (UPZ) | 1,998 | 0.13 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Initiative for the Development of Soria (IDES) | 1,908 | 0.12 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Salamanca–Zamora–León–PREPAL (PREPAL) | 1,620 | 0.10 | –0.11 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Independent Segovian Alternative (ASí) | 1,314 | 0.08 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | The Phalanx (FE) | 1,197 | 0.08 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Regionalist Party of El Bierzo (PRB) | 1,041 | 0.07 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Liberal Centrist Union (UCL) | 652 | 0.04 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Independent Spanish Phalanx–Phalanx 2000 (FEI–FE 2000) | 556 | 0.04 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Spanish Democratic Party (PADE) | 465 | 0.03 | –0.19 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Authentic Phalanx (FA) | 243 | 0.02 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| Blank ballots | Blank ballots | 36,027 | 2.30 | –0.37 | | |
| Total | Total | 1,568,426 | | | 82 | –1 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,568,426 | 99.14 | +0.09 | | |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 13,557 | 0.86 | –0.09 | | |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | 1,581,983 | 72.66 | +5.08 | | |
| Abstentions | Abstentions | 595,239 | 27.34 | –5.08 | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 2,177,222 | | | | |
| Sources |||||||
Popular vote
PP
48.49%
PSOE
36.77%
UPL
3.85%
IUCyL
3.45%
TC–PNC
1.19%
Others
3.96%
Blank ballots
2.30% :
Seats
PP
58.54%
PSOE
39.02%
UPL
2.44% :

### Distribution by constituency

| Constituency | PP | PP | PSOE | PSOE | UPL | UPL |
| Constituency | % | S | % | S | % | S |
| Ávila | 59.4 | 5 | 32.1 | 2 | | |
| Burgos | 53.2 | 7 | 33.6 | 4 | | |
| León | 38.9 | 6 | 36.0 | 6 | 17.8 | 2 |
| Palencia | 48.6 | 4 | 41.6 | 3 | | |
| Salamanca | 51.7 | 7 | 36.8 | 4 | | |
| Segovia | 50.8 | 4 | 36.4 | 2 | | |
| Soria | 53.4 | 3 | 36.6 | 2 | | |
| Valladolid | 46.3 | 8 | 39.9 | 6 | | |
| Zamora | 50.8 | 4 | 36.5 | 3 | 3.0 | − |
| Total | 48.5 | 48 | 36.8 | 32 | 3.8 | 2 |
| Sources |||||||

## Aftermath

Investiture Juan Vicente Herrera (PP) :
| Ballot → | Ballot → | 2 July 2003 |
| Required majority → | Required majority → | 42 out of 82 Y |
| | Yes • PP (48) | 48 / 82 |
| | No • PSOE (32) • UPL (2) | 34 / 82 |
| | Abstentions | 0 / 82 |
| | Absentees | 0 / 82 |
| Sources |||