2003 Valencia City Council election

The 2003 Valencia City Council election, also the 2003 Valencia municipal election, was held on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 7th City Council of the municipality of Valencia. All 33 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

2003 Valencia City Council election

← 1999 25 May 2003 2007 →

All 33 seats in the City Council of Valencia
17 seats needed for a majority
Registered631,225 Red arrow down1.9%
Turnout432,366 (68.5%)
Green arrow up5.8 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Rita Barberá Rafael Rubio Antonio Montalbán
Party PP PSPV–PSOE Entesa
Leader since 1991 25 November 2000 19 December 1998
Last election 20 seats, 53.2% 11 seats, 29.0% 2 seats, 6.4%
Seats won 19 12 2
Seat change Red arrow down1 Green arrow up1 Blue arrow right0
Popular vote 220,548 132,903 31,519
Percentage 51.2% 30.8% 7.3%
Swing Red arrow down2.0 pp Green arrow up1.8 pp Green arrow up0.9 pp

Mayor before election

Rita Barberá
PP

Elected mayor

Rita Barberá
PP

Electoral system

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The City Council of Valencia (Valencian: Ajuntament de València, Spanish: Ayuntamiento de Valencia) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Valencia, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly.[1] Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years.[2] Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the municipality of Valencia and in full enjoyment of their political rights, as well as resident non-national European citizens and those whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty.

Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each local council.[1][2] Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:

Population Councillors
<250 5
251–1,000 7
1,001–2,000 9
2,001–5,000 11
5,001–10,000 13
10,001–20,000 17
20,001–50,000 21
50,001–100,000 25
>100,001 +1 per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction
+1 if total is an even number

The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the appointee would be determined by lot.[1]

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 a determined amount of the electors registered in the municipality for which they were seeking election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. For the case of Valencia, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 signatures were required.[2]

Results

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Summary of the 25 May 2003 City Council of Valencia election results
 
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
People's Party (PP) 220,548 51.15 –2.10 19 –1
Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPV–PSOE) 132,903 30.82 +1.87 12 +1
United LeftValencian Left: Agreement (Entesa) 31,519 7.31 +0.94 2 ±0
Valencian Union (UV) 15,593 3.62 –1.12 0 ±0
Valencian Nationalist Bloc–Green Left (Bloc–EV) 11,201 2.60 –0.61 0 ±0
Cannabis Party for Legalisation and Normalisation (PCLyN) 4,177 0.97 New 0 ±0
The Greens of the Valencian Country (EV–LV) 3,369 0.78 New 0 ±0
Spain 2000 (E–2000) 819 0.19 New 0 ±0
Family and Life Party (PFyV) 732 0.17 New 0 ±0
Republican Left of the Valencian Country–Municipal Agreement (ERPV–AM) 692 0.16 New 0 ±0
Alternative Citizen Initiative (ICAL) 532 0.12 New 0 ±0
Regional Party of the Valencian Community (PRCV) 509 0.12 New 0 ±0
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 461 0.11 –0.03 0 ±0
Federal Republican Party (PRF) 441 0.10 –0.02 0 ±0
Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI) 354 0.08 New 0 ±0
Humanist Party (PH) 300 0.07 –0.02 0 ±0
Blank ballots 7,007 1.63 –0.22
Total 431,157 33 ±0
Valid votes 431,157 99.72 +0.08
Invalid votes 1,209 0.28 –0.08
Votes cast / turnout 432,366 68.50 +5.78
Abstentions 198,859 31.50 –5.78
Registered voters 631,225
Sources[3][4][5][6]
Popular vote
PP
51.15%
PSPV–PSOE
30.82%
Entesa
7.31%
UV
3.62%
Bloc–EV
2.60%
Others
2.87%
Blank ballots
1.63%
Seats
PP
57.58%
PSPV–PSOE
36.36%
Entesa
6.06%

References

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  1. ^ a b c Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local (Law 7) (in Spanish). 2 April 1985. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5) (in Spanish). 19 June 1985. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Local election results, 25 May 2003" (PDF). Central Electoral Commission (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Municipal Elections. Valencia" (PDF). www.valencia.es (in Spanish). City Council of Valencia. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Electoral Results Consultation. Municipal. May 2003. Valencia Municipality". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Eleccions municipals a València (1979 - 2015)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 30 September 2017.