2000 Azorean regional election

Summary

The Azores Regional Election, 2000 (Portuguese: Eleições Regionais dos Açores, 2000) was an election held on 15 October 2000 for the legislative assembly and government of the Portuguese autonomous region of the Azores, in which the Socialist Party, under the leadership of Carlos César received 49% of the votes, and got an absolute majority, in comparison to their direct rivals, the Social Democratic Party with 32%. Voter turnout was the lowest til then with just 53.3% of the electorate casting their ballot on election day.

2000 Azorean regional election

← 1996 15 October 2000 2004 →

52 seats to the Legislative Assembly of Azores
27 seats needed for a majority
Turnout53.3% Decrease 5.9 pp
  First party Second party
 
Carlos César (Agência Lusa - 'Maioria absoluta, Governo PS desgastado'), cropped.png
PSD
Leader Carlos César Alberto Costa
Party PS PSD
Leader's seat São Miguel São Miguel
Last election 24 seats, 45.8% 24 seats, 41.0%
Seats won 30 18
Seat change Increase 6 Decrease 6
Popular vote 49,438 32,642
Percentage 49.2% 32.5%
Swing Increase 3.4 pp Decrease 8.5 pp

Map of Azores showing constituencies won

President before election

Carlos César
PS

President-designate

Carlos César
PS

Background edit

In the Azores, there were 52 seats in the Regional Parliament in dispute, the same of the previous election, in 1996. The seats were distributed by the 9 islands of the archipelago proportionally to the population of each island; however, each island is entitled to at least two members of parliament.

Issues edit

Political parties edit

The political parties, movements and alliances during these elections mirrored many of the parties that appeared in the national legislative and/or European elections of that year, but specifically included the following:

Results edit

For a second term, the Socialist Party won the regional election in Azores, increasing its share of the vote from 30% to 49%, and re-electing Carlos César to the presidency of the Regional Government. Many of the Social Democrat's mandates were lost, while César and his teram obtained an absolute majority with 30 of the assembly's 52 seats.

The Social Democrats, who had dominated the politics of the islands since the Carnation Revolution lost almost 10% of the vote, and six MPs. The People's Party (CDS), despite raising their share of the vote (by more than 2%), lost one of their representatives, due to the application of the Hondt election model in the nine islands. The People's Monarchist Party, which had not participated in the previous election, ran in coalition with the Democratic Party of the Atlantic, but were unsuccessful in obtaining any representation. The Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU), led by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) raised their popular vote by 1%, achieving another deputy (on the island of Faial).

After aligning itself with many of the smaller left-of-centre parties, the People's Democratic Union (UDP), elements of the party merged with the Left Bloc, but did not achieve any representation.

Summary of votes and seats edit

Summary of the 15 October 2000 Legislative Assembly of the Azores election results
2
30
18
2
Parties Votes % ±pp swing MPs MPs %/
votes %
1996 2000 ± % ±
Socialist 49,438 49.20  3.4 24 30  6 57.69  11.5 1.17
Social Democratic 32,642 32.48  8.5 24 18  6 34.62  11.5 1.07
People's 9,605 9.56  2.2 3 2  1 3.85  1.9 0.40
Democratic Unity Coalition 4,856 4.83  1.4 1 2  1 3.85  1.9 0.80
Left Bloc 1,387 1.38 0 0.00 0.0
PPM / PDA 799 0.80 0 0.00 0.0
Total valid 98,727 98.25  0.6 52 52  0 100.00  0.0
Blank ballots 895 0.89  0.3
Invalid ballots 862 0.86  0.3
Total 100,484 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 188,543 53.30  5.9
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições
Vote share
PS
49.20%
PSD
32.48%
CDS-PP
9.56%
CDU
4.83%
BE
1.83%
PPM/PDA
0.80%
Blank/Invalid
1.75%
Parliamentary seats
PS
57.69%
PSD
34.62%
CDS-PP
3.85%
CDU
3.85%

Distribution by constituency edit

Results of the 2000 election of the Legislative Assembly
of Azores
by constituency
Constituency % S % S % S % S Total
S
PS PSD CDS-PP CDU
Corvo 32.5 1 31.8 1 31.1 - 2
Faial 35.4 2 30.2 1 3.8 - 27.8 1 4
Flores 26.9 1 26.8 1 21.8 - 21.9 1 3
Graciosa 51.4 2 42.0 1 3.2 - 1.1 - 3
Pico 45.4 2 44.2 2 5.7 - 1.9 - 4
Santa Maria 65.7 2 24.5 1 5.0 - 1.4 - 3
São Jorge 34.0 2 45.4 2 15.5 - 1.3 - 4
São Miguel 53.3 12 30.1 6 8.7 1 3.2 - 19
Terceira 49.5 6 32.2 3 12.8 1 2.3 - 10
Total 49.2 30 32.4 18 9.6 2 4.8 2 52
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Maps edit

References edit

  1. ^ Carlos Pamplona de Oliveira, ed. (20 May 2009). "Acórdão N.º255/09" (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: Tribunal Constitucional. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2009.

External links edit

  • Comissão Nacional de Eleições
  • Legislative Assembly of Azores - Official website

See also edit