# 1987 Valencian regional election

The 1987 Valencian regional election was held on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 2nd Corts of the Valencian Community. All 89 seats in the Corts were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1987 European Parliament election.
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), suffering from a strong loss of popular support, lost 9 seats together with the absolute majority it had achieved in 1983. However, the PSOE remained as the largest party by a great margin due to the splitting up of the vote between the opposition parties. Incumbent President Joan Lerma was able to retain government thanks to the support of the IU-UPV alliance, and went on to form a minority government.
The People's Coalition had broken up after the 1986 general election. As a result, the People's Alliance (AP) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) contested the election separately. AP, with future Mayoress of Valencia Rita Barberá as regional candidate, scored slightly less than 24% of the vote and lost 2 seats compared to the combined totals for the AP-PDP-UL coalition in 1983, while the PDP was swept out of the Courts entirely.
On the other hand, the election saw an increase of support for minor parties: Centrist Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) experienced a significant increase of its popular support and became the third political force in the region with over 10% of the share. The regionalist right-wing Valencian Union (UV), which ran separately for the first time, won 6 seats to the 5 it had obtained within the People's Coalition in 1983. The Communist Party of Spain (PCE), which had formed the electoral alliance United Left (IU) in April 1986 with other smaller left-wing parties across Spain, stood in coalition with the regional Valencian People's Unity (UPV) and won 6 seats.

## Overview
### Electoral system

The Corts Valencianes were the devolved, unicameral legislature of the Valencian autonomous community, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Government. Voting for the Corts was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Valencian Community and in full enjoyment of their political rights.
The 89 members of the Corts Valencianes 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 regionally. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Alicante, Castellón and Valencia. Each constituency was entitled to an initial minimum of 20 seats, with the remaining 29 allocated among the constituencies in proportion to their populations on the condition that the seat to population ratio in any given province did not exceed three times that of any other.
The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure the signature of at least 1 percent of the electors registered in the constituency for which they sought election. Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election being called.

### Election date

The term of the Corts Valencianes expired four years after the date of their previous election. The election Decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Journal of the Valencian Community, with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. The previous election was held on 8 May 1983, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 8 May 1987. The election Decree was required to be published no later than 14 April 1987, with the election taking place no later than the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Corts on Saturday, 13 June 1987.
The Corts Valencianes could not be dissolved before the date of expiry of parliament.

## 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; 45 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Corts Valencianes.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | | | | | | | | | | Lead |
| 1987 regional election | 10 Jun 1987 | — | 74.5 | 41.3 42 | – | | | 11.2 10 | 9.1 6 | 23.7 25 | 1.0 0 | 7.9 6 | 17.6 |
| Demoscopia/El País | 22–26 May 1987 | ? | 74 | 42.2 43 | – | | | 12.7 11 | 4.8 0 | 26.8 30 | 0.7 0 | 7.4 5 | 15.4 |
| Sofemasa/AP | 16 Apr 1987 | ? | ? | 35.3 | – | 5.9 | – | 13.7 | 5.9 | 23.5 | 3.9 | – | 11.8 |
| 1986 general election | 22 Jun 1986 | — | 76.4 | 47.5 (49) | 28.8 (32) | 4.7 (0) | 1.9 (0) | 8.8 (8) | 3.1 (0) | | | – | 18.7 |
| 1983 regional election | 8 May 1983 | — | 72.7 | 51.4 51 | 31.9 32 | 7.5* 6 | 3.1 0 | 1.9 0 | | | | – | 19.5 |
| (*) Results for Communist Party of the Valencian Country. ||||||||||||||

## Results
### Overall

← Summary of the 10 June 1987 Corts Valencianes 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 (PSOE) | 828,961 | 41.28 | –10.13 | 42 | –9 |
| | People's Alliance (AP)$^1$ | 476,099 | 23.71 | n/a | 25 | +4 |
| | Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 225,663 | 11.24 | +9.36 | 10 | +10 |
| | Valencian Union (UV)$^1$ | 183,541 | 9.14 | n/a | 6 | +1 |
| | United Left–Valencian People's Union (IU–UPV)$^2$ | 159,579 | 7.95 | –2.58 | 6 | ±0 |
| | Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE–UC) | 33,770 | 1.68 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | The Greens (LV) | 22,262 | 1.11 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | People's Democratic Party–Valencian Centrists (PDP–CV)$^1$ | 20,171 | 1.00 | n/a | 0 | –5 |
| | Valencian Electoral Coalition (CEV) | 11,984 | 0.60 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Spanish Vertex Ecological Development Revindication (VERDE) | 5,056 | 0.25 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Communist Unification of Spain (UCE) | 4,325 | 0.22 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Valencian Nationalist Left (ENV–URV) | 4,175 | 0.21 | –0.19 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Humanist Platform (PH) | 3,658 | 0.18 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Republican Popular Unity (UPR)$^3$ | 3,309 | 0.16 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Left Front (FI) | 2,295 | 0.11 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI) | 1,884 | 0.09 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Liberal Union (UL)$^1$ | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0 | –1 |
| Blank ballots | Blank ballots | 21,497 | 1.07 | +0.38 | | |
| Total | Total | 2,008,229 | | | 89 | ±0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 2,008,229 | 98.88 | –0.09 | | |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 22,652 | 1.12 | +0.09 | | |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | 2,030,881 | 74.45 | +1.71 | | |
| Abstentions | Abstentions | 696,822 | 25.55 | –1.71 | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 2,727,703 | | | | |
| Sources |||||||
| Footnotes: $^1$ Within the People's Coalition–Valencian Union alliance in the 1983 election.$^2$ United Left–Valencian People's Union results are compared to the combined totals of Communist Party of the Valencian Country and Valencian People's Union in the 1983 election.$^3$ Republican Popular Unity results are compared to Popular Struggle Coalition totals in the 1983 election. |||||||
Popular vote
PSOE
41.28%
AP
23.71%
CDS
11.24%
UV
9.14%
IU–UPV
7.95%
PTE–UC
1.68%
LV
1.11%
PDP–CV
1.00%
Others
1.83%
Blank ballots
1.07% :
Seats
PSOE
47.19%
AP
28.09%
CDS
11.24%
UV
6.74%
IU–UPV
6.74% :

### Distribution by constituency

| Constituency | PSOE | PSOE | AP | AP | CDS | CDS | UV | UV | IU–UPV | IU–UPV |
| Constituency | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S |
| Alicante | 42.6 | 14 | 28.0 | 9 | 14.3 | 4 | 0.8 | − | 6.8 | 2 |
| Castellón | 40.9 | 11 | 30.7 | 8 | 11.5 | 3 | 3.1 | − | 5.5 | 1 |
| Valencia | 40.6 | 17 | 19.9 | 8 | 9.5 | 3 | 14.9 | 6 | 9.1 | 3 |
| Total | 41.3 | 42 | 23.7 | 25 | 11.2 | 10 | 9.1 | 6 | 7.9 | 6 |
| Sources |||||||||||

## Aftermath

Investiture :
| Candidate | Candidate | Ballot → | Ballot → | 21 July 1987 | 21 July 1987 |
| Candidate | Candidate | Required majority → | Required majority → | 45 out of 89 | 45 out of 89 |
| | Joan Lerma (PSOE) | | Yes • PSOE (42) • IU–UPV (6) | 48 / 89 | Y |
| | Joan Lerma (PSOE) | | No • AP (25) | 25 / 89 | Y |
| | Joan Lerma (PSOE) | | Abstentions • CDS (10) | 10 / 89 | Y |
| | Joan Lerma (PSOE) | | Absentees • UV (6) | 6 / 89 | Y |
| | Rita Barberá (AP) | | Yes • AP (25) | 25 / 89 | N |
| | Rita Barberá (AP) | | No • PSOE (42) • CDS (10) • IU–UPV (6) | 58 / 89 | N |
| | Rita Barberá (AP) | | Abstentions | 0 / 89 | N |
| | Rita Barberá (AP) | | Absentees • UV (6) | 6 / 89 | N |
| Sources ||||||