The Congreso is not shared out from one big national pot, but from dozens of small ones. Article 163 of the LOREG states that each province allocates its seats separately, that only lists with at least 3% of the valid votes in that province may compete, and that each list's votes are divided by 1, 2, 3... so that seats go to the highest quotients. That is the whole of the rule that will apply on 29 November, 54 days from now, and it fits in a single sentence. Its consequences, on the other hand, take up rather more room.
A detail that often goes unnoticed: valid votes are the votes cast for lists plus blank votes. Under the law, blank votes count towards calculating that 3%, but they win no seats. In other words, they raise the bar slightly for everyone without ever taking a seat in the chamber.
Valladolid, quotient by quotient
Using the official 2023 results from the Ministerio del Interior, Valladolid shared out five seats among 316,309 valid votes, of which 2,419 were blank. The threshold thus stood at 9,489 votes. The four main lists cleared it comfortably: the PP gained 129,170 votes, the PSOE 103,596, Vox 47,948 and Sumar 28,049.
The next step is pure schoolroom arithmetic: each total is divided by 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, as many divisors as there are seats at stake. The table sets out every quotient, according to Su Momento's calculation from the official data.
| List | ÷1 | ÷2 | ÷3 | ÷4 | ÷5 | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PP | 129,170 | 64,585 | 43,057 | 32,293 | 25,834 | 2 |
| PSOE | 103,596 | 51,798 | 34,532 | 25,899 | 20,719 | 2 |
| Vox | 47,948 | 23,974 | 15,983 | 11,987 | 9,590 | 1 |
| Sumar | 28,049 | 14,025 | 9,350 | 7,012 | 5,610 | 0 |
Source: Ministerio del Interior, resultados de 2023; cálculo de Su Momento
Ranked from highest to lowest, the first seat goes to the PP with 129,170, the second to the PSOE with 103,596, the third to the PP again with 64,585 and the fourth to the PSOE with 51,798. The fifth and final seat went to Vox, with a quotient of 47,948. Next in line was the PP's, at 43,057, which fell just short, while Sumar's best quotient, its full 28,049 votes, never entered the race for that last seat.
The example teaches something important: clearing 3% is a ticket into the allocation, not a guaranteed seat. In a five-seat province, the barrier that really decides matters is the value of the last quotient to get in, and that bar is set by all the lists together, not by the law.
When there are only two seats
According to the constituency map, only one province elects two deputies: Soria. In 2023, on the official results, the allocation was one seat for the PP and one for the PSOE. With two seats, the most-voted list only takes both if its total divided by two still exceeds the full vote of the runner-up, a requirement that turns the legal 3% into an almost decorative detail.
Soria is not an isolated oddity, but the extreme end of a map in which small provinces abound. There are two one-seat constituencies, eight with three, ten with four, eight with five, six with six, five with seven and five with eight. Above that there remain only one with 10, one with 11, two with 12, one with 16, one with 32 and one with 38. In the large ones, D'Hondt looks a good deal like proportionality; in the small ones, it looks more like a final with few places.
From provincial mosaic to national total
Once all the provinces are added up, the national result is not an exact mirror of the vote. On the official 2023 data, the PP won 33.1% of the votes and 137 seats, 39.1% of the Chamber; the PSOE, 31.7% of the votes and 121 seats, 34.6%. Vox gathered 12.4% of the votes and 33 seats, 9.4%, and Sumar 12.3% and 31 seats, 8.9%.
| Party | Votes % | Seats | Seats % |
|---|---|---|---|
| PP | 33.1 | 137 | 39.1 |
| PSOE | 31.7 | 121 | 34.6 |
| Vox | 12.4 | 33 | 9.4 |
| Sumar | 12.3 | 31 | 8.9 |
| ERC | 1.9 | 7 | 2 |
| Junts | 1.6 | 7 | 2 |
| EH Bildu | 1.4 | 6 | 1.7 |
| PNV | 1.1 | 5 | 1.4 |
Source: Ministerio del Interior, resultados de 2023
Lists that concentrate their vote in a few provinces show the other side of the mechanism. In 2023, ERC went from 1.9% of the votes to 7 seats, 2% of the Chamber; Junts, from 1.6% to 7 seats, also 2%; EH Bildu, from 1.4% to 6 seats, 1.7%; and the PNV, from 1.1% to 5 seats, 1.4%. The explanation lies in the rule itself: what is shared out is each province's vote, not the national sum, and the 3% is measured there, not across Spain as a whole.
Anyone wishing to check how much a handful of votes can shift the last quotient has the simulator to hand, and those who would rather go over the procedure on polling day can turn to the guide on how to vote. D'Hondt holds no secrets, only divisions. It is just that they are done separately in each province, and the total emerges afterwards, as the sum of many small sums.