2012 Asturian regional election

2012 Asturian regional election

← 2011 25 March 2012 2015 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 45 seats in the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias 23 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	989,993 0.3%
Turnout	506,368 (51.1%) 10.6 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Javier Fernández Francisco Álvarez-Cascos Mercedes Fernández Party PSOE FAC PP Leader since 23 October 2010 18 January 2011 14 February 2012 Leader's seat Central Central Central Last election 15 seats, 29.9% 16 seats, 29.7% 10 seats, 20.0% Seats won 17 12 10 Seat change 2 4 0 Popular vote 161,159 124,518 108,091 Percentage 32.1% 24.8% 21.5% Swing 2.2 pp 4.9 pp 1.5 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Jesús Iglesias Ignacio Prendes Party IU UPyD Leader since 2007 2 November 2010 Leader's seat Central Central Last election 4 seats, 10.3% 0 seats, 2.4% Seats won 5 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 69,118 18,801 Percentage 13.8% 3.7% Swing 3.5 pp 1.3 pp
Constituency results map for the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias
President before election Francisco Álvarez-Cascos FAC Elected President Javier Fernández PSOE

The 2012 Asturian regional election was held on Sunday, 25 March 2012, to elect the 9th General Junta of the Principality of Asturias. All 45 seats in the General Junta were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with a regional election in Andalusia.

This was a snap election held as a result of the incumbent government under Francisco Álvarez-Cascos failing to pass the 2012 budget in the General Junta after just six months in power.^[1][2] The Asturian Socialist Federation (FSA–PSOE) under Javier Fernández, which had scored first in votes but second in seats in the previous election, went on to win a decisive victory whereas Álvarez Cascos' Asturias Forum (FAC) lost its seat plurality of seats it had won in the previous election and fell from 16 to 12 seats. The People's Party (PP) was unable to improve on its 2011 results despite a change of leadership and remained stagnant at 10 seats, while United Left (IU/IX) grew from 4 to 5 seats. Voter turnout was the lowest since 1983, as just 51.1% of the electorate cast a ballot.

The election resulted in a draw between the centre-left (PSOE–IU) and centre-right (FAC–PP) blocs after the counting of the vote of those living abroad deprived FAC from a seat in the Western District, awarding it to PSOE. Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD), which managed to get into parliament after failure in 2011 to do so, became determinant for either bloc to attain an absolute majority, with ensuing negotiations resulting in a Socialist minority government led by Javier Fernández.