2019 Asturian regional election

The 2019 Asturian regional election was held on Sunday, 26 May 2019, to elect the 11th General Junta of the Principality of Asturias. All 45 seats in the General Junta were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in eleven other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 2019 European Parliament election.

2019 Asturian regional election

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All 45 seats in the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias 23 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	973,737 1.4%
Turnout	536,734 (55.1%) 0.7 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Adrián Barbón Teresa Mallada Juan Vázquez Party PSOE PP Cs Leader since 17 September 2017 11 January 2019 2 March 2019 Leader's seat Central Central Central Last election 14 seats, 26.5% 11 seats, 21.6% 3 seats, 7.1% Seats won 20 10 5 Seat change 6 1 2 Popular vote 187,462 93,147 74,271 Percentage 35.3% 17.5% 14.0% Swing 8.8 pp 4.1 pp 6.9 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Lorena Gil Ángela Vallina Carmen Moriyón Party Podemos Asturies IU–IAS FAC Leader since 27 November 2018 10 March 2019 29 September 2018 Leader's seat Central Central Central Last election 9 seats, 19.1% 5 seats, 11.9% 3 seats, 8.2% Seats won 4 2 2 Seat change 5 3 1 Popular vote 58,674 35,174 34,687 Percentage 11.0% 6.6% 6.5% Swing 8.1 pp 5.3 pp 1.7 pp   Seventh party   Leader Ignacio Blanco Party Vox Leader since 13 April 2015 Leader's seat Central Last election 0 seats, 0.6% Seats won 2 Seat change 2 Popular vote 34,210 Percentage 6.4% Swing 5.8 pp
Constituency results map for the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias
President before election Javier Fernández PSOE Elected President Adrián Barbón PSOE

Overview

Electoral system

The General Junta of the Principality of Asturias was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Asturias, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Asturian Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.^[1] Voting for the General Junta was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Asturias and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Additionally, Asturians abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado).^[2]

The 45 members of the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias 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, which were established as follows:

• Central District, comprising the municipalities of Aller, Avilés, Bimenes, Carreño, Caso, Castrillón, Corvera de Asturias, Gijón, Gozón, Illas, Las Regueras, Langreo, Laviana, Lena, Llanera, Mieres, Morcín, Noreña, Oviedo, Proaza, Quirós, Ribera de Arriba, Riosa, San Martín del Rey Aurelio, Santo Adriano, Sariego, Siero, Sobrescobio and Soto del Barco.
• Eastern District, comprising the municipalities of Amieva, Cabrales, Cabranes, Cangas de Onís, Caravia, Colunga, Llanes, Nava, Onís, Parres, Peñamellera Alta, Peñamellera Baja, Piloña, Ponga, Ribadedeva, Ribadesella and Villaviciosa.
• Western District, comprising the municipalities of Allande, Belmonte de Miranda, Boal, Candamo, Cangas del Narcea, Castropol, Coaña, Cudillero, Degaña, El Franco, Grado, Grandas de Salime, Ibias, Illano, Muros de Nalón, Navia, Pesoz, Pravia, Salas, San Martín de Oscos, Santa Eulalia de Oscos, San Tirso de Abres, Somiedo, Tapia de Casariego, Taramundi, Teverga, Tineo, Valdés, Vegadeo, Villanueva de Oscos, Villayón and Yernes y Tameza.

Each constituency was allocated an initial minimum of two seats, with the remaining 39 being distributed in proportion to their populations.^[3]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each General Junta constituency was entitled the following seats:^[4]

Seats	Constituencies
34	Central District
6	Western District
5	Eastern District

In smaller constituencies, the use of the electoral method resulted in an effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies.^[5]

Election date

The term of the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the General Junta were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 24 May 2015, setting the election date for the General Junta on Sunday, 26 May 2019.^[1][3][6]

The president had the prerogative to dissolve the General Junta 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 two-month period from the first ballot, the General Junta was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called. Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances would not alter the period to the next ordinary election, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.^[1]

The election to the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias was officially triggered on 2 April 2019 after the publication of the election decree in the Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias (BOPA).^[4]

Parliamentary composition

Further information: 10th General Junta of the Principality of Asturias

The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the General Junta at the time of the election call.^[7]

Parliamentary composition in April 2019^[8]

Groups		Parties		Legislators
				Seats	Total
	Socialist Parliamentary Group		PSOE	14	14
	People's Parliamentary Group		PP	11	11
	We Can Asturias Parliamentary Group		Podemos	9	9
	United Left Parliamentary Group		IU/IX	5	5
	Asturias Forum Parliamentary Group		FAC	3	3
	Citizens Parliamentary Group		Cs	3	3

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 ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.^[3][6]

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.
						Vote %	Seats
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Adrián Barbón	Social democracy	26.5%	14		[9]
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Teresa Mallada	Conservatism Christian democracy	21.6%	11		[10]
	Podemos Asturies	List We Can Asturias (Podemos Asturies)		Lorena Gil	Left-wing populism Direct democracy Democratic socialism	19.1%	9		[11]
	IU–IAS	List United Left of Asturias (IU/IX) – Communist Party of Asturias (PCAsturias) – The Dawn. Marxist Organization OM (La Aurora (om)) – Republican Left (IR) – Feminist Party of Spain (PFE) Asturian Left (IAS)		Ángela Vallina	Socialism Communism	11.9%	5		[12] [13]
	FAC	List Forum of Citizens (FAC)		Carmen Moriyón	Regionalism Conservatism	8.2%	3		[14]
	Cs	List Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs)		Juan Vázquez	Liberalism	7.1%	3		[15]
	Vox	List Vox (Vox)		Ignacio Blanco	Right-wing populism Ultranationalism National conservatism	0.6%	0		[16] [17]

Campaign

Party slogans

Party or alliance		Slogan (Spanish)	Slogan (Asturian)	English translation	Ref.
	PSOE	« La mejor Asturias »	« La meyor Asturies »	"The best Asturias"	[18]
	PP	« Ilusión por Asturias » « Centrados en tu futuro »	« Ilusión por Asturies » « Centraos nel to futuru »	"Illusion for Asturias" "Focused on your future"	[19][20]
	Podemos	« Asturias en tus manos »	« Asturies nes tos manes »	"Asturias in your hands"	[21]
	IU–IAS	« Asturias por la izquierda »	« Asturies pela izquierda »	"Asturias by the left"	[22]
	Cs	« La Asturias de las oportunidades » « Sí, tú eres la oportunidad de Asturias »	« L'Asturies de les oportunidaes » « Sí, tu yes la oportunidá d'Asturies »	"The Asturias of opportunities" "Yes, you are the opportunity of Asturias"	[23]
	FAC	« Con Carmen Moriyón, Asturias cambia y avanza »	« Con Carmen Moriyón, Asturies camuda y avanza »	"With Carmen Moriyón, Asturias changes and advances"	[24]
	Vox	« Tu voz en Asturias »	« La to voz n'Asturies »	"Your voice in Asturias"	[25]

Election debates

2019 Asturian regional election debates

Date	Organisers	Moderator(s)	P  Present[a]
			PSOE	PP	Podemos	IU–IAS	FAC	Cs	Vox	Audience	Ref.
20 May	TPA	Nacho Monserrat	P Barbón	P Mallada	P Gil	P Vallina	P Moriyón	P Vázquez	P Blanco	6.9% (24,000)	[26] [27]

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; 23 seats were required for an absolute majority in the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias.

Color key:

  Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout										Lead
2019 regional election	26 May 2019	—	55.1	35.3 20	17.5 10	11.0 4	6.6 2	6.5 2	14.0 5	0.6 0	6.4 2	–	17.8
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 1]	22–23 May 2019	?	?	31.4 17	15.5 7	14.7 6	7.5 3	5.7 2	16.7 8	–	7.1 2	–	14.7
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 2]	21–22 May 2019	?	?	31.5 18	15.6 7	14.1 5	7.4 3	5.9 2	16.7 8	–	7.0 2	–	14.8
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 3]	20–21 May 2019	?	?	31.6 18	15.7 7	14.1 6	7.3 2	6.0 2	16.3 7	–	7.4 3	–	15.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 4]	19–20 May 2019	?	?	31.7 18	15.8 7	14.0 6	7.2 3	6.0 2	16.4 7	–	7.1 2	–	15.3
NC Report/La Razón[p 5][p 6][p 7]	19 May 2019	?	?	32.1 16	18.5 8	? 7	? 4	? 2	? 5	–	? 3	–	13.6
DYM/La Nueva España[p 8][p 9]	19 May 2019	?	?	35.0 18	16.0 7/8	13.0 6	7.0 2/3	4.0 0/1	15.0 6/7	–	9.0 3/4	–	19.0
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 10]	16–19 May 2019	?	?	31.8 18	16.0 7	13.0 5	7.2 2	6.2 2	16.0 8	–	7.4 3	–	15.8
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 11]	13–16 May 2019	?	?	31.9 18	16.1 7	12.5 5	7.2 2	6.8 2	15.7 8	–	7.6 3	–	15.8
InvesMark/El Comercio[p 12]	8–15 May 2019	1,100	?	31.2 16/17	13.4 6/7	15.1 7	7.4 2/3	5.2 1/2	17.6 8	–	7.3 2	–	13.6
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 13]	10–13 May 2019	?	?	30.9 17	15.5 7	12.4 5	7.4 3	6.7 2	16.4 8	–	8.3 3	–	14.5
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 14]	7–10 May 2019	?	?	30.6 18	14.8 7	12.0 4	7.7 3	6.7 2	16.2 8	–	9.2 3	–	14.4
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 15]	4–7 May 2019	?	?	29.9 17	14.4 7	12.1 4	7.6 3	7.1 2	16.6 8	–	9.5 4	–	13.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 16]	29 Apr–4 May 2019	?	?	29.6 17	14.8 7	12.0 5	8.0 3	7.0 2	16.4 8	–	8.8 3	–	13.2
April 2019 general election[p 17]	28 Apr 2019	—	65.0	33.1 17	17.9 8	[b]	[b]	[c]	16.7 8	1.1 0	11.5 4	17.1 8	15.2
CIS[p 18]	21 Mar–23 Apr 2019	584	?	30.8 15/18	20.4 10/11	17.0 7/9	11.0 4/5	3.7 0/1	10.7 4/5	–	4.6 1	–	10.4
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 19]	31 Mar–7 Apr 2019	?	?	27.2 16	18.2 10	11.9 5	7.9 3	4.0 1	14.4 6	–	10.8 4	–	9.0
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 20]	24–31 Mar 2019	?	?	27.3 17	17.7 10	11.6 4	8.0 3	4.2 1	14.9 6	–	10.9 4	–	9.6
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 21]	17–24 Mar 2019	?	?	28.2 17	17.9 10	11.2 4	7.7 3	4.1 1	14.6 6	–	10.7 4	–	10.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 22]	10–17 Mar 2019	?	?	26.9 16	17.9 10	11.3 4	7.9 3	4.2 1	13.8 6	–	12.8 5	–	9.0
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 23]	3–10 Mar 2019	?	?	26.5 15	17.5 10	11.5 5	8.0 3	4.3 1	14.4 6	–	12.7 5	–	9.0
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 24]	22 Feb–3 Mar 2019	?	?	26.3 15	17.6 10	11.8 6	7.9 3	4.1 1	14.5 5	–	12.7 5	–	8.7
Asturbarómetro/La Nueva España [p 25][p 26]	3 Jan 2019	401	?	24.1 14	18.2 10	12.5 5	13.4 5	3.2 1	13.6 5	–	12.6 5	–	5.9
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 27]	16–21 Dec 2018	450	?	23.8 13	18.8 10	13.7 6	7.9 3	3.8 1	17.7 8	0.6 0	9.2 4	–	5.0
SyM Consulting[p 28][p 29]	10–12 Mar 2018	1,078	63.2	27.6 13/14	20.8 10	16.1 7/8	14.6 7	5.9 2	10.1 4/5	–	–	–	6.8
Asturbarómetro/El Comercio[p 30][p 31]	4 Feb 2018	?	?	26.6 15	22.4 12	14.5 6	12.1 5	4.2 1	15.3 6	–	–	–	4.2
NC Report/AsturiasDiario[p 32]	12–20 May 2017	1,200	49.1	24.1 12	22.0 11	19.6 10	11.0 5	7.2 3	9.6 4	–	–	–	2.1
2016 general election	26 Jun 2016	—	61.1	24.9	35.3	[b]	[b]	[c]	12.6	1.1	0.2	23.9	10.4
2015 general election	20 Dec 2015	—	63.8	23.3	30.1	21.3	8.4	[c]	13.6	0.7	0.3	–	6.8
2015 regional election	24 May 2015	—	55.8	26.5 14	21.6 11	19.1 9	11.9 5	8.2 3	7.1 3	0.7 0	0.6 0	–	4.9

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 26 May 2019 General Junta of the Principality of Asturias election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	187,462	35.26	+8.78	20	+6
	People's Party (PP)	93,147	17.52	–4.07	10	–1
	Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs)	74,271	13.97	+6.85	5	+2
	We Can Asturias (Podemos Asturies)	58,674	11.04	–8.02	4	–5
	United Left–Asturian Left: Asturias by the Left (IU–IAS)	35,174	6.62	–5.32	2	–3
	Forum of Citizens (FAC)	34,687	6.52	–1.67	2	–1
	Vox (Vox)	34,210	6.43	+5.84	2	+2
	Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)	3,426	0.64	–0.09	0	±0
	Greens–Equo (V–Q)	2,128	0.40	+0.03	0	±0
	Andecha Astur (Andecha)	1,584	0.30	+0.12	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE)	1,083	0.20	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		5,858	1.10	–0.79
Total		531,704			45	±0
Valid votes		531,704	99.06	+0.48
Invalid votes		5,030	0.94	–0.48
Votes cast / turnout		536,734	55.12	–0.67
Abstentions		437,003	44.88	+0.67
Registered voters		973,737
Sources[7][28]

Popular vote PSOE   35.26% PP   17.52% Cs   13.97% Podemos Ast.   11.04% IU–IAS   6.62% FAC   6.52% Vox   6.43% Others   1.55% Blank ballots   1.10%

Seats PSOE   44.44% PP   22.22% Cs   11.11% Podemos Ast.   8.89% IU–IAS   4.44% FAC   4.44% Vox   4.44%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PSOE		PP		Cs		Podemos		IU–IAS		FAC		Vox
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
Central	33.9	13	16.1	6	14.9	5	11.8	4	7.2	2	6.5	2	6.8	2
Eastern	40.5	3	22.2	2	10.5	−	7.8	−	3.3	−	8.9	−	5.1	−
Western	41.5	4	24.7	2	9.5	−	7.6	−	4.9	−	5.2	−	4.4	−
Total	35.3	20	17.5	10	14.0	5	11.0	4	6.6	2	6.5	2	6.4	2
Sources[7][28]

Aftermath

Further information: First government of Adrián Barbón

Just after the election, Asturias Forum candidate Carmen Moriyón renounced to take her seat in the General Junta, but continued as president of the party.^[29]

On 24 June 2019, the day of the constitution of the 11th General Junta, Juan Vázquez resigned as regional Cs spokesman due to divergences with the national leadership of the party.^[30]

Investiture
Ballot →		12 July 2019		15 July 2019
Required majority →		23 out of 45		Simple
	Adrián Barbón (PSOE) • PSOE (20) • IU–IAS (2)	22 / 45	N	22 / 45	Y
	Abstentions • PP (10) • Cs (5) • Podemos (4) • FAC (2) • Vox (2)	23 / 45		23 / 45
	Absentees	0 / 45		0 / 45
Sources[7][31][32]

Notes

1. Denotes a main invitee attending the event.
2. Within Unidas Podemos.
3. Within PP.