2011 Extremaduran regional election
A regional election was held in Extremadura on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th Assembly of the autonomous community. All 65 seats in the Assembly were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.
For the first time since 1983, the People's Party was able to win a regional election, obtaining its best historical result, with 46.1% of the share and 32 seats. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, which had formed the government of the Extremaduran region since 1983, achieving an absolute majority of seats at every election except in 1995, was ousted from power in the worst result obtained by the party until that time.
However, as the PP stood one seat short of an overall majority, the possibility arose of PSOE pact with United Left, which had re-entered the Assembly after a four-year absence, in order to maintain the regional government. However, IU declined to support outgoing Socialist Guillermo Fernández Vara after a 24-year PSOE rule over the region, opting to abstain in the investiture voting and allowing the most-voted candidate to be elected. As a result of the PP having more seats than the PSOE, party candidate José Antonio Monago became the first not-Socialist democratically elected President of the region.
Overview
Under the 2011 Statute of Autonomy, the Assembly of Extremadura was the unicameral legislature of the homonymous autonomous community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.Electoral system
Voting for the Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Extremadura and in full enjoyment of their political rights, provided that they were not sentenced—by a final court ruling—to deprivation of the right to vote, nor being legally incapacitated. Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Spaniards abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote.The Assembly of Extremadura was entitled to a maximum of 65 seats, with the electoral law setting its size at that number. All members were elected in two multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Badajoz and Cáceres, with each being allocated an initial minimum of 20 seats and the remaining 25 being distributed in proportion to their populations—using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional voting system, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes being applied in each constituency. Alternatively, parties failing to reach the threshold in one of the constituencies were also entitled to enter the seat distribution as long as they ran candidates in both districts and reached five percent regionally.
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Assembly constituency was entitled the following seats:
| Seats | Constituencies |
| 36 | Badajoz |
| 29 | Cáceres |
The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacated seats; instead, any vacancies that occurred after the proclamation of candidates and into the legislative term were to be covered by the successive candidates in the list and, when required, by the designated substitutes.
Election date
The term of the Assembly of Extremadura expired four years after the date of its previous election. Amendments earlier in 2011 abolished fixed-term elections, instead allowing the term of the Assembly to expire after an early dissolution. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the scheduled date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Journal of Extremadura, 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 in the DOE no later than 3 May 2011, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible date for election day on Sunday, 26 June 2011.The regional president had the prerogative to dissolve the Assembly of Extremadura and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since the previous one. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Assembly was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.
The election to the Assembly of Extremadura was officially called on 29 March 2011 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the DOE, setting election day for 22 May.
Outgoing parliament
The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of the election call.Parties and candidates
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least two percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. Additionally, a balanced composition of men and women was required in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition.Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:
Opinion polls
The tables below list 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 the percentages in a smaller font; 33 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Assembly of Extremadura.Voting preferences
The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.Victory preferences
The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Other/ None | Lead | |||||
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Other/ None | Lead | |||||
| CIS | 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 | 1,200 | 41.2 | 35.4 | 3.6 | 1.3 | 3.9 | 14.7 | 5.8 |
| GESPA/PP | 10–14 Jan 2011 | 1,200 | 34.4 | 32.2 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 30.1 | 2.2 |
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.| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Other/ None | Lead | |||||
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Other/ None | Lead | |||||
| CIS | 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 | 1,200 | 52.4 | 24.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 22.9 | 27.9 |
| GESPA/PP | 10–14 Jan 2011 | 1,200 | 46.8 | 25.7 | 0.2 | – | – | 27.3 | 21.1 |
Preferred President
The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Regional Government of Extremadura.;All candidates
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Other/ None/ Not care | Lead | |||||
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Other/ None/ Not care | Lead | |||||
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Vara | Monago | Escobar | García-Borruel | Other/ None/ Not care | Lead | |
| CIS | 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 | 1,200 | 44.6 | 30.1 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 20.1 | 14.5 |
| Ikerfel/Vocento | 4–10 Apr 2011 | 1,200 | 48.5 | 32.9 | 2.9 | – | – | 15.7 | 15.6 |
| GESPA/PP | 10–14 Jan 2011 | 1,200 | 35.3 | 28.2 | 3.9 | – | 5.9 | 23.2 | 7.1 |
;Vara vs. Monago