Historical Background
The
electoral system in Spain
has a long history. It began early in the 19th century, in extraordinary
circumstances arising from the invasion of the country by the Napoleonic army.
The power vacuum created opened the way for a call for a national assembly (las
Cortes) by a Central Council (Junta) - the leaders of the resistance - in the
Andalusian city-port of Cadiz.
The deputies, who came from all regions of Metropolitan Spain and abroad, were
elected by popular vote (according to the "Instructions for the election
of deputies" of 1810, which was attached to the notice of meeting and was
the embryo of electoral law). This assembly, at its first meeting, declared
itself a sovereign and constitutive body and became the first modern parliament
in Spanish history. It ended with the enactment of the Constitution of 1812.
The text of the Constitution clearly drew its inspiration from liberal thinking
(the term "liberal", applied to politics, has its origin
internationally in the name that was given to the group of progressive deputies
in the Cadiz
parliament) and for Spanish people has always been the symbol of political
freedom. The drafting of this first Constitution in the Spanish language, which
incorporated many ideas from the French revolution and models from the
Constitution of the United
States, also found inspiration in the old
democratic traditions of the Spanish municipalities. In the constitutional text
of 1812, the latter regained their former status of elective institutions (the
municipalities in the historical and political history of Spain have always played a key role
in the defence of freedom).
The
"Cortes de Cadiz" (the Cadiz Parliament) have been regarded as the
starting-point for democratic ideas and the right to vote, not only in Spain
but also in the whole of the Hispanic world. This was because, together with
the deputies from Metropolitan Spain, those from the then Spanish provinces of America (one of the three groups of
representatives who met in Cadiz
called itself the party of the "Americans"), participated in drafting
the text. Some of the latter would later be leaders of movements for
independence in Latin America. The
Constitution of Cadiz would thus inspire not only subsequent Spanish
constitutions, but would also serve as the basis for the first constitutions of
the new independent Latin American states. (We would say in passing that in
almost all Latin American countries the process of independence began in the
struggles for the democratization of power in the town councils.) It is
interesting that, for this reason, many of the first electoral laws in the 19th
century in Spanish-speaking countries on both sides of the Atlantic
had as their common point of reference the same constitutional text.
Following
from this essential introduction, the electoral laws that were to govern the
right to vote began formally in Spain from 1837, with universal suffrage being
established in 1869, and were consolidated by the law of 1907. However, Spain's
stormy history throughout the 19th century and part of the 20th century meant
resounding retreats and advances in the process towards the exercise of
democratic liberties and hence towards the functioning of the electoral system.
The Second Republic,
proclaimed in 1931 after the results of the municipal elections that forced the
king to abdicate, also introduced women's suffrage. Spanish women, who voted
from the General Elections of 1931 onwards, did so long before this happened in
other countries of Western Europe (before France for example). The triumph of
the Popular Front in the elections of 1936, the results of which were doubted
by none, within a few months unleashed an anti-democratic reaction and the
outbreak of the civil war from 1936-39. It ended in victory for General Franco
made possible by the internecine conflicts of the republican forces and by the
strong external military support from fascist regimes.
It is a
known fact that the establishment of a dictatorship imposed for nearly 40 years
an interruption in the exercise of democratic rights. Nevertheless, these
nearly four decades were not sufficient, as the Spanish political transition
later came to prove, to wipe either the past or the accumulated experience of a
century of electoral legislation, from historic memory: between 1810 and 1936
twelve electoral laws had been passed and many other regulations governing the
holding of 55 parliamentary elections in Spain over this long period.
The fact
was, even before the death of Franco and within Spain, that in intellectual circles
and among members of the democratic opposition parties who were beginning to
come out of political hiding, the subject of the most appropriate electoral
system for the country was already being discussed and studied. Immediately
after the death of Franco in November 1975, this question leapt into the media
and an extensive debate was begun on the advantages and disadvantages of both
the electoral system operated during the Second Republic
and of the different systems used in other countries.
Development
Within The Political Transition
Following
the death of the aged dictator, an almost general consensus agreed on the
necessity of reaching a pact between the political forces, including the reformist
wing of the old regime. A peaceful transition had to be made by means of just,
transparent, and reliable elections through an electoral system which would
give suitable opportunities to the whole of the wide political spectrum,
including the nationalist parties, to compete for representation in the future
parliament.
One year
after Franco's death, in December 1976, the Spanish people were asked to
approve by referendum the law for the Political Reform of the state. Avoiding
any break with old institutions, this signified a first recognition of the
principle of popular sovereignty, enabling citizens to declare themselves
freely and to choose either a political system based on democracy, or a
continuation of the dictatorship. In the first alternative, by voting
"Yes", legitimacy and a free mandate would be given by the vote to
the calling of a democratic constitutive parliament, which would have to be
elected six months later. It would be based on an electoral system that would
have to be approved should the result of the referendum be "Yes" to
democracy. The results were overwhelming for the "Yes" vote, as only
two-percent of the Spanish electorate voted "No" to democracy.
Approved by
referendum, the political reform set up a bi-cameral parliament, comprising a
Congress of 350 deputies (based on a ratio of 1 deputy per 100,000 inhabitants)
and a Senate of 297 senators (this number having altered subsequently). The
debate on the establishment of an electoral system to form these chambers
revolved around the two principal aspects which are the foundation of all
electoral systems: on what territorial basis should the constituencies be
established; and which electoral formula was it appropriate to adopt in the
historic/political context of the country?
The strong
influence of history upon the various Spanish regions meant that the electoral
system adopted as from 1977 had to balance the purely "population"
component (i.e. had to assign to each territorial demarcation a number of
deputies for election in accord with the number of inhabitants with the right
to vote) with a formula which would allow the population of each territory to
have a minimum representation in accord with the variable of territorial size.
We should point out that Spain
is a country characterized by great demographic imbalances over its land area.
Hence, the electoral system adopted in regard to assignment of seats per
constituency was based on a "two-tier" mixed system of proportional
representation, combining elections at the provincial level with national party
lists.
The
territorial demarcation of each constituency was linked to the division of Spain
into provinces (there are 50 provinces), to which were added two constituencies
covering two Spanish cities situated outside the peninsula. The distribution of
the 350 Congressional seats was made in such a way that each constituency would
have two seats permanently assigned to it on a territorial basis, with the rest
of the seats being distributed by assignment to each constituency in accord
with the variable of "population". This is the variable which makes
it possible that in some cases, from one election to another, the number of
deputies which each constituency may elect can vary slightly, the Constitution
subsequently determined the number of seats able to be held in the Congress of
Deputies at between 300 and 400. In practice, however, the initial 350
parliamentary seats have been maintained to date, divided between the 52
constituencies according to the system described.
To compensate
for the effects of assigning seats to the constituencies on the basis of this
"territorial/population" system (which favoured some candidacies more
than others assign), the electoral system sought a corrective element in the
formula for turning votes into seats. The simple majority systems such as FPTP
or TRS, which would have accentuated the disproportional effects of the
"two-tier" mixed system, were ruled out, and the system of closed
party-list PRs was chosen, with the d'Hondt formula used to allocate seats.
Multiple ballot papers containing closed blocked lists and Hondt's Law on
proportionality was instituted for the adjudication of seats per province,
which could in this case favour other candidacies. At the same time, the
exclusion barrier against a candidacy entering into the distribution of seats
was established at a minimum of three percent of the vote in each constituency.
The system
for the Senate, which is a chamber of territorial representation, currently
composed of 264 senators (this can vary by one more or one less), is organized
very differently, since only 208 seats are elected by direct election. These
are assigned by the distribution of four seats to each of the provincial
constituencies, independently of their population, the elector being able to
vote for three of the candidates who appear on a single ballot paper (on which
each political grouping presents three candidates for election and has three
boxes). Under this system of "open list" PR for example, it is possible
to choose to vote for a single candidate or for three candidates of three
different parties. The remainders of the senators (56 in the current
legislature) are elected by indirect vote by the parliaments of the 17
autonomous regions ("Communities").
With regard
to active voting rights (to be able to elect) and passive voting rights (to be
eligible), the Spanish electoral system gave both practically without
restriction to all citizens of full age (18 years), excluding only those
convicted by final sentence of the courts or, in the case of candidates for
election, those who actively exercise certain public functions (judges, the
military, high positions in the administration, etc.) Furthermore, candidates
would not be obliged to make any kind of financial deposit to compete in the
elections. It was considered preferable to eliminate any kind of discrimination
in the submission of candidacies for financial reasons, even at the risk of
some possible abuses, although they would have to be presented by a legally
registered party (to register a political party is extremely easy) or by a
group of electors. Finally, regarding participation in an election, the elector
was left entirely free to decide whether to exercise his right to vote or not -
the imposition of compulsory voting in the context of transition from a
dictatorship to a democracy would have been an ideological contradiction.
According
to the planned time-scale, three months after the constitutional referendum,
the first electoral rules (as described above) were provisionally approved, and
three months later the general elections to appoint the constitutive parliament
took place. The integrative capacity of the electoral system described -
fundamental for a political transition to be truly viable - despite imperfections
such as are found in any electoral system, was proven by the fact that the
right, the centre, the socialists, the communists, and the Basque and Catalan
nationalists obtained a parliamentary representation sufficiently aligned to
their expectations. This parliamentary plurality, obtained without excessive
fragmentation and which reflected the great ideological currents within the
country, was fundamental to a real consensus on the Constitution text. Its
complex preparation required more than a year and there is no doubt that from
the standpoint of comparative law, it can be considered from many aspects to be
one of the most advanced in the world.
Among the
provisions of the Constitution (Article 8), perhaps one of the most important
and far-reaching was that of granting Parliament exclusive power to draw up the
electoral rules, and also that of establishing that electoral law should have
the status of constitutional law. Any amendment, however minuscule, should be
submitted to the scrutiny of the Constitutional Commission of Parliament and
follow the formal procedures reserved for constitutional laws.
After
approval by referendum in 1978 of the new Spanish Constitution, the
constitutive Parliament, which had fulfilled its function of drawing up the
basic law of the State, was immediately dissolved. New General Elections were
called which would pave the way for the first ordinary legislature, and also
the first municipal elections of the democracy, so bringing to an end the
initial phase of the Spanish political transition.
Legal
And Functional Focus Of The Electoral System
The Spanish
electoral system, as essentially an instrument for guaranteeing an egalitarian
and democratic vote and translating votes in terms of political representation,
has been a truly effective model, so much so that it has continued to remain
virtually consolidated and unaltered for twenty years after its principal
outlines were approved by consensus in the initial phase of transition. (It has
made possible majorities and relatively stable governments, as well as the
changeover in 1982 and in 1996.) The first Constitutional Electoral Law passed
in 1985 ratified the bases of the system devised in 1977 and expanded the
development of the regulations applied during the period of political
transition.
It is quite
true that a certain debate has been opened on the opportunity of introducing a
few modifications into the electoral system and adopting the system of open
lists instead of closed lists, with timid proposals being heard favouring the
establishment of single-member constituencies and candidacies. However, it
seems very unlikely that in the complex context of Spanish politics/elections,
the advantages of other systems will compensate for the difficulties that would
arise, especially regarding single-member constituencies, of which all
political circles are aware.
This being
said, the validity of the Spanish electoral system lies both in its being
politically functional (within the framework of Spanish society) and in the
legitimacy that it has gradually acquired throughout the numerous electoral
processes organized in the thirty-year life span of the system. No political
force of any persuasion has ever brought a global accusation of electoral
fraud, and the irregularities complained of have always been very parochial.
All candidates accept the provisional electoral results announced by the Home
Office on the night of the ballot as reliable, by the media and by the
electorate.
The reason
for this was the deep-rooted conviction held by those who drafted Spanish
electoral legislation, that any electoral system, which theoretically might be
considered the best in the world, could in practice be useless. If the
procedures for its application left any margin for manipulation in such
essential areas as the compilation of electoral lists, the registration of
candidacies, the counting of votes and many others, both technical and
administrative, which directly affected the democratic validity of the
electoral process.
To avoid
risks of this kind, both in the Constitution and in the first draft of the
Electoral Law (L.O.R.E.G.), Electoral Law was considered to be a branch of
Constitutional Law. A legalistic approach was established, imposing maximum
guarantees and restraining subjective interpretations facilitated by silence or
ambiguities in the rules and preventing the executive power from dictating
"ad hoc" rules which might lead to possible manipulations in any
phase of the process of establishing the right to vote.
In Spain
therefore, by virtue of this philosophy, the Government or the administration
in its wider sense has no legal power to regulate or introduce provisions
affecting the electoral regulations. The executive is merely able to approve a
decree calling an election or technical decrees to be applied to the law. Ever
since the Constitution was drafted, the executive and the administration have
only played an instrumental role, and are merely organizers of the electoral
process. This premise is now embedded in Spanish electoral culture, and
although the electoral system has not changed fundamentally, the aspect that is
developing through parliamentary debate is that of the actual functioning of
electoral regulations in relation to the organization of the electoral process,
its control, and technical modernization.
It is to be
noted also that the concept of Spanish Electoral Law, since its adoption as
constitutional/organic law, is as a unit and, as stated in its preamble,
responds to "the need to treat in a unified and global manner" all
aspects of the electoral process. There are no lack of examples in western
Europe of models of the "puzzle" type of legislation, where the Law
or Electoral Code is a general regulating framework which needs to be
accompanied or completed either by other laws or by a body of laws, or else by
decree, regulations, circulars, etc. emanating from the executive. (Instead of
facilitating transparency these finish by creating a legal labyrinth). However,
the Spanish parliament at that time ruled out the use of any outdated model of
fragmented electoral legislation as a reference and decided to incorporate all
provisions into the same text, so that it would be functional and coherent, and
clearly and concisely written. In this sense, the Electoral Law constitutes a
veritable manual of procedure, covering in ordered fashion not only the
constitutional principles guiding the electoral system, but also the precise
provisions and their time schedules which must regulate the control, financing,
management, and administration of any electoral process, taking into account
also their different classification (parliamentary, local etc. elections).
Description
of the Functional Elements of the System
Operations of Supervision and Control of the Electoral
Process:
The body
that is charged with these functions has been created with the name of
Electoral Council, which in some Latin American countries is called
"electoral power." The Electoral Council has its own hierarchy and is
based on territory: Central Electoral Council; Provincial and Area Councils;
and Electoral Councils of the Autonomous Communities (in Spain there is a system of
practically federal decentralization, with 17 autonomous regions). The
composition of this Body is mixed one part of its members being appointed by
the Council of Judicial Power and the other by Parliament.
The Central
Electoral Council is permanent; it has 13 members of whom eight are judges of
the Supreme Court appointed by lot and the other five members, appointed by
Parliament, hold University Chairs in the fields of Law, Political Sciences, or
Sociology. The President is elected from among the judges and the Secretary
(without vote) is the General Secretary of the Congress of Deputies. The
Central Electoral Council is renewed 90 days after the constitution of a new
Parliament following the elections. Its office is within the Parliamentary
buildings. Electoral Councils, within their respective territorial ambit, have
absolute power over all matters relating to elections and to the organization
of the process, although for reasons of efficiency they do not take on the
specific tasks of physically organizing the elections, but devote their
services entirely to the validation of the operations and to the control and supervision
of their legality.
Operations
of preparation and revision of the Electoral Census: Spanish citizens acquire
the capacity to vote and their eligibility to do so on attaining 18 years of
age, and are automatically included on the electoral lists. Spaniards
ordinarily resident abroad are also included on special electoral lists.
Foreigners of member countries of the European Union and of Norway, ordinarily resident in Spain, are also entered on the
electoral lists, are able to vote and are eligible in municipal elections.
Those who have attained 17 years of age are included on an attached list, so
that they can vote if they have reached 18 years on polling day. No elector's
card is issued since identity is checked at the electoral tables; this is by
identity card or passport. Electors (currently some 30 million) receive a card
at their home address, which is not valid for voting, but shows that they are
registered on the Census, and the electoral table to which they belong. The
management of the Electoral Census is in the hands of the Electoral Census
Office, an organization which is under the direct supervision of the Electoral
Councils and financially dependent on the National Statistics Council (attached
to the Ministry of Finance). The basic information for the census is supplied
by the City Councils (there are just over 8,000 municipalities which must
compulsorily declare increases and decreases in population, changes of address,
and changes in cartography), and by Consulates and Civil Registers in the case
of deaths.
An
important step in the modernization of the management of the Electoral Census
has been taken recently with the reform of the Electoral Law of 1995; instead
of the previous yearly updating of the electoral lists, a monthly updating has
been imposed. The considerable investment in the relevant computerization
placed upon the executive by the actual reform of the Law means that in the
short term the margin of error is minimal. Currently, every election takes as
its basis the electoral census of the month before it was called, and the lists
for each electoral month are exhibited publicly at the polling stations
one-week after the call is made. Electors can object immediately in cases of
error or non-registration.
Operations
of organizations relating to the electoral process: The Home Office is
responsible for the logistics and financial management of expenses incurred in
the organization of elections. It must also, of course, attend to security for
the peaceful running of the electoral campaign and the free exercise of the
right to vote. The various police and Civil Guard corps receive training in
their academies on these matters and on polling day carry a pocket card which
reminds them of the relevant provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral
Law. Regarding logistics and financial management, a Deputy Manager is charged
with organizing the elections and planning the electoral time schedule in
accordance with the provisions of the various articles of the Electoral Law
which, as has been said, are very precise and determine all time periods,
including the hours of opening and closing of the polling stations.
In the
areas of electoral management within its remit, the Home Office has a dependent
relationship vis-a-vis the Central Electoral Council, and always consults the
latter on any problem or query that may arise in the various phases of the
electoral process. The instructions of the Electoral Council - even if
sometimes the election technical workers have different opinions when their
practical application poses problems - are heeded without delay.
At
territorial level, on the instructions of the Home Office, the State
administrative services in each province take charge of the specific tasks of
storage and distribution of electoral material, as well as of the printing of
ballot papers and envelopes. The Home Office also contracts with publicity
agents on audiovisual campaigns which are broadcast during the process to
inform or remind electors of certain matters (display of lists, procedure for
voting by post, identity papers required to vote, etc.).
A very
important function of the Home Office is that of providing the public with the
provisional results of the vote-count, to which enormous human resources are
devoted. Once the counting of votes is over, thousands of electoral agents
representing the administration take a copy of the results at each one of
approximately 50,000 electoral tables distributed throughout the country, and
send them by telephone to regional computerized centers, which process the
information and send it to the central computer. In Spain the speed of transmission of
the provisional results is greatly assisted by the fact that all the electoral
colleges have a telephone on the premises or close by. Considerable funds are
also devoted to this operation (a figure of some US$5,000,000 could be
indicated.)
The result
of all this great effort on the night of the election has been to make ever
shorter the time taken to inform the country of the detailed results of the
elections, so that four hours after the close of the voting operations at the
50,000 electoral tables, the detailed count is computerized and made known
practically one hundred percent. The competing political groupings and the
communication media have direct lines connected to the central computer at the
Home Office, giving them access in real time and from the beginning, to the
development of the vote count. From 1996 the counting process has been made
known worldwide on the Internet. Currently, the feasibility of introducing the
electronic vote is being studied, although it is not yet very clear if the
investment in this new technology - some testing has already been done - is
worthwhile, as it would only reduce by some three hours the speed record that Spain
has achieved with the present system of processing the provisional vote count.
Another uncertain aspect is that of the maintenance and inspection of the
thousands of electronic voting devices which would have to be monitored before
a new election. The "web" vote is also being studied.
Operations of control of electors and
candidates in the electoral process:
In Spain the
presence of international observers was not formally requested by any political
party during the first elections of the transition thirty years ago. This was
because, on the one hand, the now legalized principal political parties already
had an infrastructure and organization sufficient to guarantee, with militants
and sympathizers, the development of the campaign. They could also ensure
proper conduct of the vote by the presence of their legally accredited
delegates in almost all of the voting stations in the respective
constituencies. On the other hand, the Spanish electoral system introduced from
the outset the principle that the sovereignty of the people should translate
into active control of the sovereign act of voting by the electors themselves,
they being the ones who should preside over and organize the process of voting
and vote-counting. The Electoral Law, as subsequently developed, has continued
to define these two aspects in greater detail.
Regarding
the ability to control candidates in the electoral process, Spanish legislation
offers nothing new. The candidacies are submitted to the Electoral Councils in
each constituency, which use objective criteria in assessing their validity; it
is compulsory also for each political grouping competing in the elections to
appoint a Representative to the Central Electoral Council within a maximum of
nine days after the election is called, to act as legal spokesperson for the
candidacies. This does not mean that these Representatives participate in the
deliberations of that organization.
In regard
to control of the vote by the electorate itself, it may in fact be new for some
people that it is compulsory for the three members of the electoral tables (one
President and two Members) to be electors registered on the electoral tables'
list. The procedure for their appointment endeavours to avoid any manipulation,
as a public drawing of lots is held at a plenary meeting held in each Town Hall
between 25 and 29 days after the elections are called. At this meeting three
titular members are appointed and six alternate members, who must all be
present at the table on polling day in case the titular members are absent. The
Presidents are those with the highest educational level. Electors appointed by
lot have a legal obligation to take up these duties and the appointments are
notified to them by official letter from the Electoral Council, delivered to
their home address. Together with this notification they receive an
Instructions Manual supervised by the Central Electoral Council. These manuals,
like the rest of the electoral documents, are published by the Home Office in
bilingual editions for those constituencies, which have Catalan, Basque, or
Galician as their official language, as well as in Castilian, which is the
official language for the whole State. In Spain the Spanish language does not
exist officially in the Constitution, which only refers to what is historically
called the Castilian language; it is known abroad as the Spanish language,
since in Article Three of the Constitution, the other languages cited are
considered Spanish languages.
The
appointment of the members of the tables by lot from among the electorate and
the guarantees given for them to exercise their mandate in sovereign fashion,
which is generally done with a great sense of responsibility, have also been a
key factor in ensuring that fraud is actually very difficult at the voting
stage, the counting stage, (a public count on the same premises as the vote),
and the subsequent delivery by the President and another member of the table,
of the original and a copy in a sealed envelope to the nearest Judge. The representatives
of the candidacies (who each have a copy of the electoral list of the table and
must sign the Minutes of proceedings, of which they receive a copy) also play a
part. On public display at the voting station is a notice with the results,
whilst a further copy in a sealed envelope is handed by the waiting third
member of the table to the Postal worker who collects it at each voting station
for onward transmission to the Area or Provincial Electoral Council which will
carry out the final count.
In view of
the key function of electoral tables, the Electoral Law has introduced specific
requirements regarding the number of electors at the tables, and has
established sections or areas comprising a minimum of 500 electors and a
maximum of 2,000 who are subdivided into tables (in practice the maximum limit
of electors per table is set at 1,000 electors). Also a territorial criterion
is imposed, that in each municipality, however few inhabitants it may have, at
least one table is established even though the electors may be fewer than 500.
The electoral list of each table is in alphabetical order of surnames. The
Electoral Law also determines that the duration of voting is 11 hours (ample
time as voting formalities are carried out very quickly) and voting stations
may not close between 9.00 hours and 20.00 hours, even if all the electors on
the list have voted.
Operations
of financial management of the electoral process: this is an important area of
management throughout the phases of the electoral process. According to the
Spanish Electoral Law, the State must subsidize not only the actual
organizational and logistical expenses incurred by any election but also, in
compliance with the Constitutional Law on the Funding of Political Parties, it
must subsidize the electoral expenses of the political groupings which compete
in elections to the Central, Local, or European Parliaments. The expense of
elections to the regional autonomous Parliaments must be borne by each
Autonomous Community along the same principles. The Home Office department in
charge of running the elections is responsible both for the preparation of the
budget and for the administration of public electoral funds according to the
precise provisions of the Electoral Law. In fact, the Home Office acts as the
administrative body empowered to contract for the external materials and
services needed to organize the elections; it also acts simply as the
intermediary between the Treasury and the active participants competing in the
elections.
The
Electoral Law provides - within the financial limit approved by Parliament -
that after the 29 days for publication of the decree calling an election, the
parties or political groupings which have previously obtained representation,
may have an advance of funds equivalent to 30 percent of the total subsidies
which they obtained in the previous election. The total subsidy that they
receive at the end of the new electoral process, provided they gain
representation, will depend on the number of votes. The money is paid by the
State after expiry of the period allowed for contentious claims and after
submitting (100 days after the ballot) detailed documents covering all
electoral income and expenses on accounts opened for this purpose by the
candidacies, which can be inspected throughout the electoral process by the
Electoral Councils and the National Audit Office. The Electoral Law prohibits
private or company donations to the electoral campaign of a political party or
grouping of electors other than in a very small individual amount
(approximately US $7,000). Should they not obtain representation or obtain
fewer votes than those used for the initial computation, candidatures must
return the subsidies advanced either wholly or in part.
The
expenses subsidized by the State that are connected with the electoral activity
of the candidatures are general: voting papers and envelopes; advertising and
publicity expenses to gain votes; hire of premises and offices for the
campaign; financial indemnities paid to non-permanent staff of the parties,
taken on during the campaign; transport and travel expenses of the candidates,
leaders and support staff of the campaign; and correspondence or mailing
expenses. In addition, bank interest on financial loans legally made to the
campaign organization up to the date on which the State pays the total subsidy
relating to each candidacy according to its electoral results.
We would
clarify that there is a possible modification of electoral legislation
currently under discussion regarding the subsidizing of political parties and
electoral campaigns, due to problems of corruption. Spain,
like many other countries in Western Europe,
has suffered from this in recent years. It is generated above all by the secret
and illegal financing of some electoral campaigns, where the costs are too high
and where the legal limits of maximum expenses established for public funds are
not normally observed. The debate is tending towards greater possibility of
financing by private persons or companies, by substantially raising the maximum
level of such contributions currently contemplated in the Law. However, should
the electoral legislation be modified, private financial contributions would
always be subject, by parliamentary consensus, to compulsory publication and control.
The
Transition from Territorial
State
It would
not be possible to conclude a description of the Spanish political regime and
of its electoral system without briefly mentioning something just as important
historically as the transition from authoritarian state par excellence to an
exemplary democratic one. We refer to the transition that was made in parallel
with that previously described, from super-centralized State to strongly
decentralized State - a transition which at the political and sociological
level has undoubtedly been more difficult and complex than that from
dictatorship to democracy. Perhaps it was the toughest problem that the 1978
Constitution had to tackle.
In
practice, for many Spanish people whom we could call ultra-conservative, just
as for many who have a progressive political ideology, it has been, and still
is, difficult to accept the recognition accorded to nationalists, linguistic
diversity, and the creation of self-government in the various Spanish regions
which have been invested with ever wider powers. Furthermore, the arrival of
democracy facilitated an explosion of strong nationalist claims, which have
since been largely assimilated into the political system through the electoral
mechanisms underpinning the decentralization process. Notably, the system even
allows HB, the political candidacy linked with the terrorist group ETA, to
stand lawfully in all elections (legislative, municipal, Basque
Country/Autonomous, and European). Everyone has always accepted the results, although
for some years they have shown a strong decline in the HB vote.
Within the
framework of all these tensions, the Spanish pattern of decentralization was
original, in that it took account of the existence of different demands for
autonomy vis-a-vis central power. These were very strong in Catalonia and in the Basque country,
moderate in other areas, and practically nil in quite a number of regions, and
it was able to devise a long-term strategy for the steady harmonization of the
self-governing capacities of each territory.
On these
principles the division of Spain
was organized into 17 Autonomous Communities, each having a Parliament elected
by universal suffrage. These parliaments were instituted successively, the
transition from the State model beginning with the autonomous elections of the
Basque Country and of Catalonia
held at the beginning of 1980. The parliaments of Galicia and Andalucia were elected
subsequently, in 1981 and 1982 respectively. These four regions are the ones
called "historic nationalities". The remaining 13 autonomous
parliaments were established as from the autonomous elections held
simultaneously with the local elections of 1983.
In the
State decentralizing process, one of the basic features of the general
harmonization was precisely the adoption of a similar electoral system
throughout the land: the election of the autonomous parliaments (although their
deputies vary in number) is governed by the same rules for distribution of
seats as for the election of deputies to the central Parliament (las Cortes).
Each Autonomous Community has its own Electoral Law, which should align with
the General Electoral Law in its basic procedures.
Based on
these autonomous parliamentary assemblies elected by universal suffrage, a
phenomenon of moderately developing regionalism has been generated in many
places where this consciousness did not exist. However, there is also a
phenomenon of integration of nationalisms within a robust and organized
framework, which allows the central and autonomous powers to negotiate on bases
of legitimacy, which both obtain at the ballot box. It is these negotiations
which have allowed a high degree of decentralization (much greater than that
within many states formally termed "federal") which today is accepted
by the majority.
