1999 Castilian-Manchegan regional election

The 1999 Castilian-Manchegan regional election was held on Sunday, 13 June 1999, to elect the 5th Cortes of the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. All 47 seats in the Cortes were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1999 European Parliament election.

1999 Castilian-Manchegan regional election

13 June 1999
All 47 seats in the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha 24 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	1,413,503 4.5%
Turnout	1,058,010 (74.9%) 3.9 pp
Leader José Bono Agustín Conde Party PSOE–p PP Leader since 25 March 1983 18 September 1996 Leader's seat Toledo Toledo Last election 24 seats, 45.7% 22 seats, 44.3% Seats won 26 21 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 561,332 424,531 Percentage 53.4% 40.4% Swing 7.7 pp 3.9 pp
Constituency results map for the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha
President before election José Bono PSOE Elected President José Bono PSOE

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) recovered after its 1995 result and increased its absolute majority in the regional Cortes. The People's Party (PP), on the other hand, saw its share decrease 4 points to 40% and lost 1 seat from the previous election, not being able to maintain a part of its 1995 vote that it had received as a punishment to Felipe González's Socialist government.

United Left (IU) lost half of its votes as a result of the PSOE rise and lost its only seat in the Cortes, being expelled from the regional parliament as a result.

Overview

Electoral system

The Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha were the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Castilian-Manchegan Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Junta of Communities.[1] Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in Castilla–La Mancha and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 47 members of the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 3 percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. Additionally, the use of the D'Hondt method might result in an effective threshold over three percent, depending on the district magnitude.[2] Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of seats: 10 for Albacete, 11 for Ciudad Real, 8 for Cuenca, 7 for Guadalajara and 11 for Toledo.[1][3]

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 at least 1 percent of the electors registered in the constituency for which they sought election. Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. 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.[3][4][5]

Election date

The term of the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha expired four years after the date of their previous election. Elections to the Cortes were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. Legal amendments introduced in 1998 allowed for these to be held together with European Parliament elections, provided that they were scheduled for within a four month-timespan. The previous election was held on 28 May 1995, setting the election date for the Cortes concurrently with a European Parliament election on Sunday, 13 June 1999.[1][3][4][5]

After legal amendments in 1997, the President of the Junta of Communities was granted the prerogative to dissolve the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election was due and some time requirements were met: namely, that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or within the legislature's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution. Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances would not alter the period to the next ordinary election, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, the candidate from the party with the highest number of seats was to be deemed automatically elected.[1]

Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates 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 given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 24 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				Lead
1999 regional election	13 Jun 1999	N/A	74.9	53.4 26	40.4 21	3.4 0	13.0
Eco Consulting/ABC[p 1]	24 May–2 Jun 1999	?	?	44.4 22/23	45.5 23/24	7.4 1	1.1
Demoscopia/El País[p 2]	26 May–1 Jun 1999	?	74	51.3 25/26	43.6 21/22	4.8 0	7.7
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 3][p 4]	25–29 May 1999	1,000	?	48.9 24/26	44.0 21/23	4.6 0	4.9
CIS[p 5][p 6][p 7]	3–21 May 1999	1,879	76.4	46.8 24	44.4 22	6.3 1	2.4
1996 general election	3 Mar 1996	N/A	83.1	42.6 21	47.2 23	8.4 3	4.6
1995 regional election	28 May 1995	N/A	78.8	45.7 24	44.3 22	7.6 1	1.4

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 13 June 1999 Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party–Progressives (PSOE–p)	561,332	53.42	+7.72	26	+2
	People's Party (PP)	424,531	40.40	–3.90	21	–1
	United Left–Left of Castilla–La Mancha (IU–ICAM)	35,881	3.41	–4.19	0	–1
	Centrist Union–Democratic and Social Centre (UC–CDS)	2,809	0.27	–0.07	0	±0
	Regionalist Party of Castilla–La Mancha (PRCM)	1,919	0.18	–0.11	0	±0
	Commoners' Land–Castilian Nationalist Party (TC–PNC)	1,737	0.17	+0.04	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	1,442	0.14	+0.09	0	±0
	Spanish Democratic Party (PADE)	1,071	0.10	New	0	±0
	The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV)	1,034	0.10	–0.04	0	±0
	Manchegan Regionalist Party (PRM)	993	0.09	New	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	967	0.09	New	0	±0
	Independent Regional Unity (URI)	635	0.06	+0.03	0	±0
	Party of Self-employed of Spain and Spanish Independent Groups (PAE–I)	598	0.06	New	0	±0
	Regionalist Party of Guadalajara (PRGU)	512	0.05	±0.00	0	±0
	Union of Talavera and Region (UTyC)	474	0.05	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		14,929	1.42	+0.37
Total		1,050,864			47	±0
Valid votes		1,050,864	99.32	+0.04
Invalid votes		7,146	0.68	–0.04
Votes cast / turnout		1,058,010	74.85	–3.98
Abstentions		286,387	25.15	+3.98
Registered voters		1,413,503
Sources[6][7][8]

Popular vote PSOE–p   53.42% PP   40.40% IU–ICAM   3.41% Others   1.35% Blank ballots   1.42%

Seats PSOE–p   55.32% PP   44.68%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PSOE–p		PP
	%	S	%	S
Albacete	55.8	6	37.1	4
Ciudad Real	54.5	6	40.0	5
Cuenca	50.1	4	44.5	4
Guadalajara	47.4	4	44.6	3
Toledo	54.1	6	39.9	5
Total	53.4	26	40.4	21
Sources[6][7][8]

Aftermath

Investiture José Bono (PSOE)
Ballot →		14 July 1999
Required majority →		24 out of 47
	Yes • PSOE (26)	26 / 47
	No • PP (21)	21 / 47
	Abstentions	0 / 47
	Absentees	0 / 47
Sources[8]

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "PSOE y PP se juegan la mayoría por un escaño en tierra de Bono". ABC (in Spanish). 7 June 1999.
2. "Bono mejora su mayoría absoluta". El País (in Spanish). 7 June 1999.
3. "Castilla-La Mancha: no hay quien frene a Bono". El Mundo (in Spanish). 2 June 1999.
4. "ELECCIONES 13-J /BALANCE DE LAS ENCUESTAS". El Mundo (in Spanish). 6 June 1999.
5. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas y municipales, 1999. Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla-La Mancha (Estudio nº 2331. Mayo 1999)". CIS (in Spanish). 4 June 1999.
6. "Estudio CIS nº 2331. Ficha técnica" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 4 June 1999.
7. "Bono e Ibarra repiten y el PSOE recuperará Asturias". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 5 June 1999.

Other

1. "Statute of Autonomy of Castilla–La Mancha of 1982". Organic Law No. 9 of 10 August 1982. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
2. Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
3. "Castilla–La Mancha Electoral Law of 1986". Law No. 5 of 23 December 1986. Official Journal of Castilla–La Mancha (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
4. "General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
5. "Representation of the people Institutional Act". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es. Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
6. "Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha election results, 13 June 1999" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Castilla–La Mancha. 2 July 1999. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
7. "V Legislature. Regional election, 13 June 1999". www.cortesclm.es (in Spanish). Cortes of Castilla–La Mancha. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
8. "Elecciones a las Cortes de Castilla - La Mancha (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 September 2017.