Alicante (Spanish Congress electoral district)

Alicante (Valencian: Alacant) is one of the 52 electoral districts (Spanish: circunscripciones) used for the Congress of Deputies—the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It was first contested in modern times in the 1977 General Election. It is the fifth largest district in terms of electorate after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Sevilla. It has been one of the fastest growing districts in recent years with the electorate growing by 20% between 1993 ^[1] and 2004 ^[2] compared to the Spanish average of 11% growth in electorate ^[3][4] and consequently gained an extra seat for the 2008 general election.^[5]

Alicante is the largest town with over 230,000 voters in the year 2008. With 162,000 voters Elche was the only other municipality with an electorate over 100,000. The next largest municipalities were Alcoy, Elda, Benidorm and Orihuela all with between 40,000 and 50,000 voters out of the total electorate of just over 1,170,000.^[6]

Overview

Boundaries and electoral system

Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution ^[7] the boundaries must be the same as the province of Alicante and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. The electoral system used is closed list proportional representation with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method. Only lists which poll 3% or more of all valid votes cast, including votes "en blanco" i.e. for "none of the above" can be considered for seats. Under article 12 of the constitution, the minimum voting age is 18.

Eligibility

Article 67.3 of the Spanish Constitution prohibits dual membership of the Cortes and regional assemblies, meaning that candidates must resign from Regional Assemblies if elected. Article 70 also makes active judges, magistrates, public defenders, serving military personnel, active police officers and members of constitutional and electoral tribunals ineligible.^[7]

Number of members

In the general elections of 1977, 1979 and 1982 Alicante returned nine members. That figure was increased to ten members for the 1986 election and it gained an eleventh seat for the 1996 election. It has elected twelve members from the 2008 election onwards.

Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population.^[8] These laws are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General) The practical effect of this law has been to overrepresent smaller provinces at the expense of larger provinces.

In 2004 Spain had 34,571,831 voters giving an average of 98,777 voters per deputy.^[9] In Alicante the ratio was slightly above that at 104,976.^[10]

Seat summary (1977–2016)

General elections

2016

2015

2011

2008

2004

2000

1996

1993

1989

1986

1982

1979

1977

References

Coordinates: 38°30′N 0°30′W / 38.500°N 0.500°W / 38.500; -0.500