2024 Galician regional election

The 2024 Galician regional election was held on Sunday, 18 February 2024, to elect the 12th Parliament of the Autonomous Community of Galicia. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

Electoral system
The Parliament of Galicia is the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Galicia, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Galician Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president. Voting for the Parliament is on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprises all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Galicia and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Amendments to the electoral law in 2022 abolished the "begged" or expat vote system (Voto rogado), under which Spaniards abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote. The expat vote system was attributed responsibility for a major decrease in the turnout of Spaniards abroad during the years it had been in force.

The 75 members of the Parliament of Galicia are elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which includes blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats are allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra, with each being allocated an initial minimum of 10 seats and the remaining 35 being distributed in proportion to their populations.

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Parliament constituency is entitled the following seats:

The use of the D'Hondt method may result in a higher effective threshold, depending on the district magnitude.

Election date
The term of the Parliament of Galicia expires four years after the date of its previous election, unless it is dissolved earlier. The election decree shall be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Journal of Galicia (DOG), with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. The previous election was held on 12 July 2020, which meant that the legislature's term would expire on 12 July 2024. The election decree had to be published in the DOG no later than 18 June 2024, with the election taking place up to the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Saturday, 16 August 2024.

The president has the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament and call a snap election, provided that it does not occur before one year has 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 Parliament is to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.

Following Alberto Núñez Feijóo's resignation as president of Galicia to become PP national leader, it was speculated that his successor, Alfonso Rueda, could seek to call a snap election for some time throughout 2023 or even to make it coincide with the scheduled general election in December 2023. Following Pedro Sánchez's surprise announcement of a snap general election on 29 May 2023, Rueda ruled out a simultaneous regional election "because Galicia cannot be infected by instability". It was later commented that a good result for Feijóo in the general election could prompt Rueda to trigger a snap election for late 2023, but the close result on 23 July prevented this from materializing. Following Sánchez's investiture in November 2023, rumours again emerged that Rueda was planning to hold a snap election for early 2024. Asked on 27 November on whether the Galician election would be held simultaneously with the Basque regional election as had been the case in the four previous occasions, Rueda proclaimed that "Galicia has its own way"; later, the president of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) Andoni Ortuzar said in an interview that the Galician election seemed "like it is going to go at full speed", with the Galician government allegedly not wishing a simultaneous election call. On 30 November, Rueda acknowledged that he would seek a Galician-only election "without a doubt (...) if that is in the interest of Galicia", and that election preparations were already underway. 18 February has been commented by the media as the most likely date for a snap election to be held. Finally on 21 December, Rueda announced a snap election to be held on 18 February 2024. While Basque lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu was informed of this decision, he distanced himself from Rueda arguing that "the Basque Country is not Galicia", thus paving the way for both elections to be held separately for the first time since 2005.

The Parliament of Galicia was officially dissolved on 26 December 2023 after the publication of the dissolution decree in the DOG, setting the election date for 18 February 2024 and scheduling for the chamber to reconvene on 18 March.

Parliamentary composition
The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the Parliament at the time of dissolution.

Parties and candidates
The electoral law allows 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 are required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors need to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they seek election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Timetable
The key dates are listed below (all times are CET):


 * 25 December: The election decree is issued with the countersign of the President after deliberation in the Council of Government.
 * 26 December: Formal dissolution of the Parliament of Galicia and beginning of a suspension period of events for the inauguration of public works, services or projects.
 * 29 December: Initial constitution of provincial and zone electoral commissions.
 * 5 January: Deadline for parties and federations intending to enter into a coalition to inform the relevant electoral commission.
 * 15 January: Deadline for parties, federations, coalitions, and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates to the relevant electoral commission.
 * 17 January: Submitted lists of candidates are provisionally published in the Official Journal of Galicia (DOG).
 * 20 January: Deadline for citizens entered in the Register of Absent Electors Residing Abroad (CERA) and for citizens temporarily absent from Spain to apply for voting.
 * 21 January: Deadline for parties, federations, coalitions, and groupings of electors to rectify irregularities in their lists.
 * 22 January: Official proclamation of valid submitted lists of candidates.
 * 23 January: Proclaimed lists are published in the DOG.
 * 2 February: Official start of electoral campaigning.
 * 8 February: Deadline to apply for postal voting.
 * 13 February: Official start of legal ban on electoral opinion polling publication, dissemination or reproduction and deadline for CERA citizens to vote by mail.
 * 14 February: Deadline for postal and temporarily absent voters to issue their votes.
 * 16 February: Last day of official electoral campaigning and deadline for CERA citizens to vote in a ballot box in the relevant consular office or division.
 * 17 February: Official 24-hour ban on political campaigning prior to the general election (reflection day).
 * 18 February: Polling day (polling stations open at 9 am and close at 8 pm or once voters present in a queue at/outside the polling station at 8 pm have cast their vote). Provisional counting of votes starts immediately.
 * 26 February: General counting of votes, including the counting of CERA votes.
 * 29 February: Deadline for the general counting of votes to be carried out by the relevant electoral commission.
 * 9 March: Deadline for elected members to be proclaimed by the relevant electoral commission.
 * 19 March: Deadline for the parliament to be re-assembled (the election decree determines this date).
 * 18 April: Final deadline for definitive results to be published in the DOG.

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 (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 38 seats are required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Galicia.


 * Color key:

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.

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.

Preferred President
The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Regional Government of Galicia.

Predicted President
The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood for each leader to become president of the Regional Government of Galicia.

Voter turnout
The table below shows registered vote turnout on election day without including voters from the Census of Absent-Residents (CERA).

Aftermath
Under Article 15 of the Statute, investiture processes to elect the president of the Regional Government of Galicia required of an absolute majority—more than half the votes cast—to be obtained in the first ballot. If unsuccessful, a new ballot would be held 24 hours later requiring only of a simple majority—more affirmative than negative votes—to succeed. If the proposed candidate was not elected, successive proposals were to be transacted under the same procedure.