1991 Valencian regional election
A regional election was held in the Valencian Community on Sunday, 26 May 1991, to elect the 3rd Corts of the autonomous community. All 89 seats in the Corts were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.
For the third and final time to date, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party won a regional election in the Valencian Community, regaining the overall majority of seats it had lost in the [1987 Valencian Community|Valencian regional election|1987 election]. This was the last time the PSOE was able to access the Valencian government on its own, and the last until the 2015 election in which it went on to form the regional government of the Valencian Community.
As in other Spanish communities, the Democratic and Social Centre saw a substantial drop in its vote share, causing it to fall below the 5% threshold and lose all its 10 seats. The party's poor results across Spain led to the resignation of party leader and former Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez and to the eventual demise of the CDS as a relevant actor in Spanish politics.
The main right of centre parties, both the newly founded People's Party and the regionalist Valencian Union, came out reinforced from the election, mainly at the cost of the declining CDS. However, they were left unable to command an overall majority of seats, unlike what happened in the city of Valencia in the same year's election, in which a post-election agreement between both parties managed to oust the PSOE from the city's government and elect 1987 AP regional candidate Rita Barberá as city mayor.
United Left maintained the results obtained by the IU-UPV alliance in the 1987 election. Valencian People's Unity had broken its alliance with IU in 1988 and was left out of the Courts as a result, being unable to surpass the 5% regional threshold to win 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 regional president.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 five 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, with each being allocated an initial minimum of 20 seats and the remaining 29 being distributed in proportion to their populations.
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. Legal amendments earlier in 1991 established that elections to the Corts were to be fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 10 June 1987, setting the election date for the Corts on Sunday, 26 May 1991.The Corts Valencianes could not be dissolved before the date of expiry of parliament.