| Election Name: | 2003 Ceuta Assembly election |
| Country: | Ceuta |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1999 Ceuta Assembly election |
| Previous Year: | 1999 |
| Next Election: | 2007 Ceuta Assembly election |
| Next Year: | 2007 |
| Seats For Election: | All 25 seats in the Assembly of Ceuta |
| Majority Seats: | 13 |
| Opinion Polls: | 2003 Ceuta Assembly election#Opinion polls |
| Registered: | 56,656 |
| Turnout: | 33,555 (59.2%) 2.2 pp |
| Election Date: | 25 May 2003 |
| Leader1: | Juan Jesús Vivas |
| Party1: | People's Party (Spain) |
| Leader Since1: | October 1999 |
| Last Election1: | 8 seats, 28.0% |
| Seats1: | 19 |
| Seat Change1: | 11 |
| Popular Vote1: | 20,897 |
| Percentage1: | 62.6% |
| Swing1: | 34.6 pp |
| Leader2: | Mohamed Alí |
| Party2: | UDCE |
| Leader Since2: | 2001 |
| Last Election2: | Did not contest |
| Seats2: | 3 |
| Seat Change2: | 3 |
| Popular Vote2: | 3,589 |
| Percentage2: | 10.7% |
| Swing2: | New party |
| Leader3: | Antonia Palomo[1] |
| Party3: | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party |
| Leader Since3: | 2000 |
| Last Election3: | 2 seats, 8.7% |
| Seats3: | 2 |
| Seat Change3: | 0 |
| Popular Vote3: | 2,905 |
| Percentage3: | 7.4% |
| Swing3: | 1.3 pp |
| Party4: | PDSC |
| Last Election4: | 3 seats, 10.0% |
| Seats4: | 1 |
| Seat Change4: | 2 |
| Popular Vote4: | 1,722 |
| Percentage4: | 5.2% |
| Swing4: | 4.9 pp |
| Mayor-President | |
| Before Election: | Juan Jesús Vivas |
| Before Party: | People's Party (Spain) |
| After Election: | Juan Jesús Vivas |
| After Party: | People's Party (Spain) |
The 2003 Ceuta Assembly election was held on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 3rd Assembly of the Autonomous City of Ceuta. All 25 seats in the Assembly were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.
The Assembly of Ceuta was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the autonomous city of Ceuta. Voting for the Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered and residing in the municipality of Ceuta 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.[2] [3] [4]
The 25 members of the Assembly of Ceuta were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5 percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution.[2] [3] [4]
The Mayor-President was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of members, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In case of a tie, a toss-up would determine the appointee.[4]
The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure the signature of a determined amount of the electors registered in Ceuta. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election being called.[2] [3]
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | |||
| People's Party (PP) | 20,897 | 62.55 | +34.56 | 19 | +11 | ||
| Ceutan Democratic Union (UDCE) | 3,589 | 10.74 | New | 3 | +3 | ||
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 2,905 | 8.70 | +1.26 | 2 | ±0 | ||
| Democratic and Social Party of Ceuta (PDSC) | 1,722 | 5.15 | –4.87 | 1 | –2 | ||
| Socialist Party of the People of Ceuta (PSPC) | 1,402 | 4.20 | –0.20 | 0 | ±0 | ||
| Liberal Independent Party of Ceuta (PIL)1 | 922 | 2.76 | –35.39 | 0 | –12 | ||
| Ceutan Federation (FC) | 696 | 2.08 | New | 0 | ±0 | ||
| Ceutan People's Union (UPCE) | 573 | 1.72 | New | 0 | ±0 | ||
| United Left–Ceuta (IU) | 322 | 0.96 | –3.00 | 0 | ±0 | ||
| The Phalanx (FE) | 129 | 0.39 | New | 0 | ±0 | ||
| Blank ballots | 251 | 0.75 | –0.45 | ||||
| Total | 33,408 | 25 | ±0 | ||||
| Valid votes | 33,408 | 99.56 | +0.05 | ||||
| Invalid votes | 147 | 0.44 | –0.05 | ||||
| Votes cast / turnout | 33,555 | 59.23 | –2.12 | ||||
| Abstentions | 23,101 | 40.77 | +2.12 | ||||
| Registered voters | 56,656 | ||||||
| Sources[5] [6] [7] | |||||||