1984 Catalan regional election
← 1980 29 April 1984 1988 →
All 135 seats in the Parliament of Catalonia
68 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered4,494,340 1.4%
Turnout2,892,486 (64.4%)
3.0 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Jordi Pujol Raimon Obiols Eduard Bueno
Party CiU PSC–PSOE AP–PDP–UL
Leader since 17 November 1974 12 July 1983 10 November 1983
Leader's seat Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona
Last election 43 seats, 27.8% 33 seats, 22.4% 0 seats, 2.4%[a]
Seats won 72 41 11
Seat change 29 8 11
Popular vote 1,346,729 866,281 221,601
Percentage 46.8% 30.1% 7.7%
Swing 19.0 pp 7.7 pp 5.3 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Antoni Gutiérrez Heribert Barrera
Party PSUC ERC
Leader since 1982 1980
Leader's seat Barcelona Barcelona
Last election 25 seats, 18.8% 14 seats, 8.9%
Seats won 6 5
Seat change 19 9
Popular vote 160,581 126,943
Percentage 5.6% 4.4%
Swing 13.2 pp 4.5 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of Catalonia
President before election

Jordi Pujol
CDC (CiU)

Elected President

Jordi Pujol
CDC (CiU)

The 1984 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 29 April 1984, to elect the 2nd Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of Catalonia was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.[1] Transitory Provision Fourth of the Statute established a specific electoral procedure for elections to the Parliament of Catalonia, of application for as long as a regional electoral law was not approved, 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 Catalonia and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 135 members of the Parliament of Catalonia 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 Barcelona, Gerona, Lérida and Tarragona, with each being allocated a fixed number of seats:[1][2]

Seats Constituencies
85 Barcelona
18 Tarragona
17 Gerona
15 Lérida

The use of the D'Hondt method might result in a higher effective threshold, depending on the district magnitude.[3]

Election date

The term of the Parliament of Catalonia expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The President of the Government was required to call an election fifteen days prior to the date of expiry of parliament, with election day taking place within sixty days after the call. The previous election was held on 20 March 1980, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 20 March 1984. The election was required to be called no later than 5 March 1984, with it taking place on the sixtieth day from the call, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Friday, 4 May 1984.[1]

The Parliament of Catalonia could not be dissolved before the date of expiry of parliament except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot. In such a case, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called.[4]

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.[5]

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy Parties and
alliances 		Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Gov. Ref.
Votes (%) Seats
CiU
List
 Jordi Pujol Catalan nationalism
Centrism 		27.83% 43 checkY
PSC–PSOE
List
 Raimon Obiols Social democracy 22.43% 33 ☒N
PSUC
List
 Antoni Gutiérrez Communism
Catalanism 		18.77% 25 ☒N
ERC
List
 Heribert Barrera Catalan nationalism
Left-wing nationalism
Social democracy 		8.90% 14 checkY
AP–PDP–UL
List
 Eduard Bueno Conservatism
Christian democracy 		2.37%[a] 0 ☒N

Opinion polls

The tables below lists 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; 68 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Catalonia.

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

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.

Preferred President

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Government of Catalonia.

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 29 April 1984 Parliament of Catalonia election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
Convergence and Union (CiU) 1,346,729 46.80 +18.97 72 +29
Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE) 866,281 30.11 +7.68 41 +8
People's Coalition (AP–PDP–UL)1 221,601 7.70 +5.33 11 +11
Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) 160,581 5.58 –13.19 6 –19
Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) 126,943 4.41 –4.49 5 –9
Party of the Communists of Catalonia (PCC)2 68,836 2.39 +2.09 0 ±0
Agreement of the Catalan Left (EEC)3 35,937 1.25 –0.41 0 ±0
Spanish Vertex Ecological Development Revindication (VERDE) 8,714 0.30 New 0 ±0
Social Democratic Party of Catalonia (PSDC) 6,768 0.24 New 0 ±0
Workers' Socialist Party (PST) 5,381 0.19 New 0 ±0
Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI) 3,533 0.12 New 0 ±0
Revolutionary Workers' Party of Spain (PORE) 2,694 0.09 New 0 ±0
Communist Workers' Party of Catalonia (PCOC) 2,593 0.09 –0.39 0 ±0
Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) 1,861 0.06 New 0 ±0
Communist Party of Spain (Marxist–Leninist) (PCE (m–l)) 1,834 0.06 New 0 ±0
Spanish Democratic Party (PDE) 1,110 0.04 New 0 ±0
Party of Lleida (PLL) 856 0.03 New 0 ±0
Unity of Aran–Aranese Nationalist Party (UA–PNA) 787 0.03 New 0 ±0
Communist Movement of Catalonia (MCC)4 164 0.01 –1.21 0 ±0
Centrists of Catalonia (CC–UCD) n/a n/a –10.61 0 –18
Socialist Party of Andalusia–Andalusian Party (PSA–PA) n/a n/a –2.66 0 –2
Blank ballots 14,313 0.49 –0.17
Total 2,877,516 135 ±0
Valid votes 2,877,516 99.48 –0.02
Invalid votes 14,970 0.52 +0.02
Votes cast / turnout 2,892,486 64.36 +3.02
Abstentions 1,601,854 35.64 –3.02
Registered voters 4,494,340
Sources[6][7]
Footnotes:
Popular vote
CiU
 
 46.80%
PSC–PSOE
 
 30.11%
AP–PDP–UL
 
 7.70%
PSUC
 
 5.58%
ERC
 
 4.41%
PCC
 
 2.39%
EEC
 
 1.25%
Others
 
 1.34%
Blank ballots
 
 0.49%
Seats
CiU
 
 53.33%
PSC–PSOE
 
 30.37%
AP–PDP–UL
 
 8.15%
PSUC
 
 4.44%
ERC
 
 3.70%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency CiU PSC CP PSUC ERC
% S % S % S % S % S
Barcelona 44.3 41 32.3 29 7.6 7 6.1 5 4.1 3
Girona 59.6 11 21.5 4 5.6 1 3.2 − 6.1 1
Lleida 57.7 10 19.9 3 8.8 1 2.8 − 5.7 1
Tarragona 48.1 10 26.7 5 10.2 2 5.3 1 4.6 −
Total 46.8 72 30.1 41 7.7 11 5.6 6 4.4 5
Sources[8][9][10][11][7]

Aftermath

Investiture
Jordi Pujol (CDC)
Ballot → 30 May 1984
Required majority → 68 out of 135 checkY
Yes
87 / 135
No
44 / 135
Abstentions
4 / 135
Absentees
0 / 135
Sources[7]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Results for SC in the 1980 election.
  2. ^ a b Undecided and/or abstentionists excluded.

References

Opinion poll sources
  1. ^ "Pujol va en cabeza, cerca de la mayoría". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 22 April 1984.
  2. ^ "El liderazgo de Jordi Pujol determina una decisiva ventaja de CiU sobre el PSC-PSOE". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 22 April 1984.
  3. ^ a b "Tres cuartas partes del censo ha adoptado ya una opción política". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 22 April 1984.
  4. ^ a b c "Sondejos". Generalitat de Catalunya (in Catalan). Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Convergència i Unió y Esquerra Republicana suman escaños suficientes para acercarse a la mayoría absoluta". El País (in Spanish). 22 April 1984.
  6. ^ a b "Ficha técnica". El País (in Spanish). 22 April 1984.
  7. ^ "Comienza la guerra de encuestas ante las elecciones catalanas". ABC (in Spanish). 3 April 1984.
  8. ^ "Convergencia se acerca a la mayoría absoluta, pero necesitará apoyos para poder gobernar". ABC (in Spanish). 22 April 1984.
  9. ^ "La desaparición de UCD ha redistribuido el voto en Cataluña". ABC (in Spanish). 22 April 1984.
  10. ^ a b "Gran parte del electorado ya ha decidido el sentido de su voto". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 1 April 1984.
  11. ^ a b c "Predominio femenino en CiU y AP, masculino en ERC y PSUC y situación equilibrada en el PSC". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 1 April 1984.
  12. ^ a b c "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas Cataluña 1984 (Estudio nº 1.412. Abril 1984)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 25 April 1984.
  13. ^ a b c "Preelectoral Cataluña 1984 (VI) (Estudio nº 1.408. Abril 1984)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 15 April 1984.
  14. ^ a b "El electorado da su confianza a CiU". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 22 April 1984.
  15. ^ a b c "Estudio nº 1.407 (Panel 2ª vuelta. Abril 1984)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 10 April 1984.
  16. ^ a b c "Preelectoral Cataluña 1984 (V) (Estudio nº 1.405. Marzo-abril 1984)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 1 April 1984.
  17. ^ a b c "Preelectoral Cataluña 1984 (IV) (Estudio nº 1404. Marzo 1984)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 1 March 1984.
  18. ^ a b c "Preelectoral Cataluña 1984 (III) (Estudio nº 1.389. Enero 1984)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 1 January 1984.
  19. ^ a b c "Estudio 1.377 (Diciembre 1983)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 1 November 1983.
  20. ^ a b c "Preelectoral Cataluña 1984 (I) (Estudio 1366)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 1 September 1983. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  21. ^ "Un 36% de los electores votaría a Jordi Pujol para presidente, frente al 22% de Obiols". El País (in Spanish). 22 April 1984.
Other
  1. ^ a b c "Ley Orgánica 4/1979, de 18 de diciembre, de Estatuto de Autonomía de Cataluña". Organic Law No. 4 of 18 December 1979 (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Ley 3/1982, de 23 de marzo, del Parlamento, del Presidente y del Consejo Ejecutivo de la Generalidad". Law No. 3 of 23 March 1982 (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  3. ^ Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Ley 3/1982, de 23 de marzo, del Parlamento, del Presidente y del Consejo Ejecutivo de la Generalidad". Law No. 3 of 23 March 1982 (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Real Decreto-ley 20/1977, de 18 de marzo, sobre Normas Electorales". Royal Decree-Law No. 20 of 18 March 1977 (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Electoral results. Parliament of Catalonia election 1984". resultats.dadeselectorals.gencat.cat (in Catalan). Government of Catalonia. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  7. ^ a b c "Eleccions al Parlament de Catalunya (1980 - 2021)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Election Results. Parliament of Catalonia Election 1984. Barcelona". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Election Results. Parliament of Catalonia Election 1984. Girona". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  10. ^ "Election Results. Parliament of Catalonia Election 1984. Lleida". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  11. ^ "Election Results. Parliament of Catalonia Election 1984. Tarragona". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
Categories