1995 Canarian regional election

← 1991 28 May 1995 1999 →
All 60 seats in the Parliament of the Canary Islands 31 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	1,248,575 9.8%
Turnout	801,607 (64.2%) 2.6 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Manuel Hermoso José Miguel Bravo de Laguna Augusto Brito Party CC PP PSOE Leader since 1991 1991 11 February 1995 Leader's seat Tenerife Gran Canaria Tenerife Last election 17 seats, 34.1%[a] 6 seats, 12.8% 23 seats, 33.0% Seats won 21 18 16 Seat change 4 12 7 Popular vote 261,424 247,609 183,969 Percentage 32.8% 31.1% 23.1% Swing 1.3 pp 18.3 pp 9.9 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Onelio Ramos Juan Padrón Morales Party PCN AHI Leader since 1995 1983 Leader's seat Gran Canaria El Hierro Last election 6 seats, 2.6%[b] 1 seat, 0.2% Seats won 4 1 Seat change 2 0 Popular vote 23,914 2,105 Percentage 3.0% 0.3% Swing 0.4 pp 0.1 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of the Canary Islands
President before election Manuel Hermoso CC Elected President Manuel Hermoso CC

The 1995 Canarian regional election was held on Sunday, 28 May 1995, to elect the 4th Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. All 60 seats in the Parliament 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 Parliament of the Canary Islands was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Canarian Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Government.^[1] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Canary Islands and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 60 members of the Parliament of the Canary Islands were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of 20 percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Alternatively, parties could also enter the seat distribution as long as they reached three percent regionally. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the islands of El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma, Lanzarote and Tenerife. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of seats: 3 for El Hierro, 7 for Fuerteventura, 15 for Gran Canaria, 4 for La Gomera, 8 for La Palma, 8 for Lanzarote and 15 for Tenerife.^[1]

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.^[2][3][4]

Election date

The term of the Parliament of the Canary Islands expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Parliament were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 26 May 1991, setting the election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 28 May 1995.^[1][2][3][4]

The Parliament of the Canary Islands 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, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.^[1]

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; 31 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of the Canary Islands.

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout					ICAN	AM				PCN	Lead
1995 regional election	28 May 1995	—	64.2	23.1 16	[c]	0.7 0	31.1 18	[c]	[c]	0.3 1	32.8 21	5.1 0	3.0 4	1.7
Eco Consulting/RTVE[p 1]	28 May 1995	?	?	22.0 17/19	[c]	–	31.9 19/21	[c]	[c]	–	30.1 16/18	5.3 3	–	1.8
Demoscopia/El País[p 2][p 3][p 4]	10–15 May 1995	1,452	?	16.8 13/14	[c]	3.3 0	33.9 19/20	[c]	[c]	0.5 2	31.0 19	9.8 4	–	2.9
CIS[p 5][p 6]	24 Apr–10 May 1995	999	69.4	18.4	[c]	–	31.4	[c]	[c]	–	38.8	6.0	–	7.4
1994 EP election	12 Jun 1994	—	49.9	24.8	[c]	0.7	43.9	[c]	[c]	–	18.8	8.3	–	19.1
1993 general election	6 Jun 1993	—	68.9	29.9	[c]	1.2	33.9	[c]	[c]	–	25.6	5.0	–	4.0
1991 regional election	26 May 1991	—	61.6	33.0 23	22.7 16	14.4 7	12.8 6	12.2 5	0.7 2	0.2 1	–	–	–	10.3

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 28 May 1995 Parliament of the Canary Islands election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Canarian Coalition (CC)1	261,424	32.80	–1.33	21	+4
	People's Party (PP)	247,609	31.07	+18.24	18	+12
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	183,969	23.08	–9.95	16	–7
	Canarian United Left (IUC)	40,614	5.10	New	0	±0
	Nationalist Canarian Platform (PCN)2	23,914	3.00	+0.43	4	–2
	Coalition for Gran Canaria (CGC)	10,964	1.38	New	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre–Centrist Union (CDS–UC)	5,340	0.67	–13.74	0	–7
	National Congress of the Canaries (CNC)	2,964	0.37	New	0	±0
	Popular Front of the Canary Islands–Awañac (FREPIC–Awañac)	2,436	0.31	–0.28	0	±0
	Independent Herrenian Group (AHI)	2,105	0.26	+0.05	1	±0
	Tenerife Assembly (ATF)	1,600	0.20	New	0	±0
	Humanist Platform (PH)3	1,561	0.20	+0.04	0	±0
	Green Left of the Canary Islands (Izegzawen)	1,357	0.17	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Canarian People (PCPC)	1,251	0.16	New	0	±0
	Party of The People (LG)	625	0.08	–0.13	0	±0
	Nationalist Canarian Initiative (ICAN)4	248	0.03	–0.03	0	±0
Blank ballots		9,078	1.14	+0.37
Total		797,059			60	±0
Valid votes		797,059	99.43	+0.16
Invalid votes		4,548	0.57	–0.16
Votes cast / turnout		801,607	64.20	+2.57
Abstentions		446,968	35.80	–2.57
Registered voters		1,248,575
Sources[5][6][7]
Footnotes: 1 Canarian Coalition results are compared to the combined totals of Canarian Independent Groups in Gran Canaria, La Palma and Tenerife, Canarian Initiative, Canarian Nationalist Party and Majorera Assembly in the 1991 election, not including Canarian Initiative results in El Hierro. 2 Nationalist Canarian Platform results are compared to Canarian Independent Groups totals in Fuerteventura and La Palma. 3 Humanist Platform results are compared to The Greens Ecologist–Humanist List totals in the 1991 election. 4 Nationalist Canarian Initiative results are compared to Canarian Initiative totals in El Hierro in the 1991 election. Canarian Coalition and its member parties, except for Nationalist Canarian Initiative, declined to run in El Hierro in order to respect Independent Herrenian Group's list there.

Distribution by constituency