The 2011 Navarrese regional election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8thParliament of the Chartered Community of Navarre. All 50 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. The Navarrese People's Union had formed the government of the region since the 1996. Between 1991 and 2008 UPN had an agreement with the People's Party, functioning as PP sister party in the region in exchange for the PP itself not contesting elections in Navarre. The pact was broken in October 2008 following a dispute over a budgetary vote in the Congress of Deputies. As a result, this was the first regional election since 1987 in which both parties ran separately. Another novelty for this election was that incumbent President Miguel Sanz had announced his intention not to run for a fifth term in office, being replaced as UPN candidate by Mayor of PamplonaYolanda Barcina. UPN remained the first political party of Navarre, albeit with a diminished popular vote due to the PP split. The PSN-PSOE obtained the worst result of its history up until that point, but recovered the 2nd place it had lost to Nafarroa Bai in 2007, which dropped to 3rd place as a result of Bildu's entry into Parliament.
Overview
Electoral system
The Parliament of Navarre was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the Chartered Community of Navarre, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Reintegration and Enhancement of the Foral Regime of Navarre Law, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Foral Community. Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in Navarre and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Navarrese abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote. The 50 members of the Parliament of Navarre were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 3 percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. 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 Navarre. 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
After legal amendments in 2010, fixed-term mandates were abolished, instead allowing the term of the Parliament of Navarre to expire after an early dissolution. 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 Gazette of Navarre, with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election was held on 27 May 2007, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 27 May 2011. The election Decree was required to be published no later than 3 May 2011, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 26 June 2011. The President of the Foral Community had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Navarre 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 under this procedure. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a three-month period from the election date, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.
Parliamentary status
The Parliament of Navarre was officially dissolved on 29 March 2011, after the publication of the dissolution decree in the Official Gazette of Navarre. The table below shows the status of the different parliamentary groups in the Parliament at the time of dissolution.
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 given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 26 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Navarre.
Results
Aftermath
Government formation
After legal amendments in 2010, investiture processes to elect the President of Navarre required for an absolute majority—more than half the votes cast—to be obtained in the first ballot. If unsuccessful, a new ballot would be held 24 hours later requiring only of a simple majority—more affirmative than negative votes—to succeed. If such majorities were not achieved, successive candidate proposals would be processed under the same procedure. In the event of the investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a three-month period from the election date, the Parliament would be automatically dissolved and a snap election called.
