Resumen de Immigrants’ potential voting strength and effects. Local elections in Spain 2007
It is assumed in this paper that, all things being equal, the fewer the immigrants are – or the less geographically concentrated they are (as compared to the natives) – and the sooner they enjoy electoral rights, the greater the likelihood that their preferences will not be distinctive from those of the host (and plural) society. Being the former eligible to vote, could they transform the Spanish party system and representative institutions into multiculturalist ones or have they to exercise their rights according to the traditional Spanish cleavages in order to transform their ballots into town hall seats? This paper deals with both empirical questions by analysing the communitarian vote and the integration vote. There is an empirical void in the research of these questions in Europe. This study-case aims to fill it with an analisis of the last Spanish local or municipal elections, held on 27 May 2007.
