1999 Madrilenian regional election

The 1999 Madrilenian regional election was held on Sunday, 13 June 1999, to elect the 5th Assembly of the Community of Madrid. All 102 seats in the Assembly 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 Madrilenian regional election
13 June 1999
All 102 seats in the Assembly of Madrid
52 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered4,281,075 3.7%
Turnout2,606,325 (60.9%)
9.5 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Cristina Almeida Ángel Pérez
Party PP PSOE–p IU
Leader since 8 February 1987 15 May 1998 24 February 1993
Last election 54 seats, 51.0% 32 seats, 29.7% 17 seats, 16.0%
Seats won 55 39 8
Seat change 1 7 9
Popular vote 1,324,596 944,819 199,488
Percentage 51.1% 36.4% 7.7%
Swing 0.1 pp 6.7 pp 8.3 pp
President before election

Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón
PP

 Elected President

Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón
PP

While the People's Party (PP) of Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón was widely expected to win a second term and expand its absolute majority in the Assembly of Madrid—with opinion polls predicting a comfortable victory with as many as 59 seats—its gains ended up being minimal. The extremely low turnout, one of the lowest in a regional election, benefitted the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) instead, which saw a strong performance as a result at the expense of the United Left (IU), which lost half of its votes and seats.[1]

Overview

Electoral system

The Assembly of Madrid was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Madrid, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Madrilenian Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Community.[2] Voting for the Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in the Community of Madrid and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

All members of the Assembly of Madrid 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 regionally. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. The Assembly was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 25,000.[2][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 0.5 percent of the electors registered in the Community of Madrid. 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 Assembly of Madrid expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Assembly 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 Regional Assembly concurrently with a European Parliament election on Sunday, 13 June 1999.[2][3][4][5]

The President of the Community had the prerogative to dissolve the Assembly of Madrid 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. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Assembly was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called. 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.[2]

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. 52 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Assembly of Madrid.

Results

Overall
← Summary of the 13 June 1999 Assembly of Madrid election results →
Parties and coalitions Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
People's Party (PP) 1,324,59651.07+0.09 55+1
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party–Progressives (PSOE–p) 944,81936.43+6.71 39+7
United Left (IU) 199,4887.69–8.34 8–9
The Greens (LV) 17,7930.69New 0±0
The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV) 15,5970.60–0.13 0±0
Centrist Union–Democratic and Social Centre (UC–CDS) 8,3790.32New 0±0
The Phalanx (FE) 3,8100.15New 0±0
Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) 3,1090.12+0.05 0±0
Spanish Democratic Party (PADE) 2,6860.10New 0±0
Union Community of Madrid (UCMA) 2,5320.10New 0±0
Humanist Party (PH) 2,4920.10+0.04 0±0
Independent Spanish Phalanx (FEI) 2,3490.09+0.05 0±0
Madrilenian Independent Regional Party (PRIM) 2,0420.08–0.03 0±0
Citizen Unity (UC) 1,7780.07±0.00 0±0
Commoners' Land–Castilian Nationalist Party (TC–PNC) 1,5530.06New 0±0
Red–Green Party (PRV) 1,4320.06New 0±0
Party of El Bierzo (PB) 1,4150.05New 0±0
Natural Law Party (PLN) 1,3930.05New 0±0
Federal Progressives (PF) 9880.04New 0±0
Independent Regional Unity (URI) 9030.03–0.03 0±0
Blank ballots 54,3412.10+0.76
Total 2,593,495 102–1
Valid votes 2,593,49599.51–0.11
Invalid votes 12,8300.49+0.11
Votes cast / turnout 2,606,32560.88–9.51
Abstentions 1,674,75039.12+9.51
Registered voters 4,281,075
Sources[6][7][8]
Popular vote
PP
 
 51.07%
PSOE–p
 
 36.43%
IU
 
 7.69%
Others
 
 2.71%
Blank ballots
 
 2.10%
Seats
PP
 
 53.92%
PSOE–p
 
 38.24%
IU
 
 7.84%

Elected legislators

The following table lists the elected legislators sorted by order of election.[9]

Aftermath

Investiture processes to elect the President of the Community of Madrid required for an absolute majority—more than half the votes cast—to be obtained in the first ballot. If unsuccessful, a new ballot would be held 48 hours later requiring only of a simple majority—more affirmative than negative votes—to succeed. If such majorities were not achieved, successive candidate proposals would be processed under the same procedure. In the event of the investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Assembly would be automatically dissolved and a snap election called.[2]

Investiture
Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón (PP)
Ballot → 7 July 1999
Required majority → 52 out of 102 Y
55 / 102
46 / 102
Abstentions
0 / 102
1 / 102
Sources[8]

Notes
  1. Undecided and/or abstentionists excluded.

References
Opinion poll sources
  1. "Madrid: Gallardón arrasa". El Mundo (in Spanish). 6 June 1999. Archived from the original on 25 June 2001.
  2. "ELECCIONES 13-J /BALANCE DE LAS ENCUESTAS". El Mundo (in Spanish). 6 June 1999.
  3. "Gallardón amplía su mayoría absoluta". ABC (in Spanish). 7 June 1999.
  4. "Ruiz-Gallardón arrasa y Almeida sube a costa de IU". El País (in Spanish). 7 June 1999.
  5. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas y municipales, 1999. Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (Estudio nº 2335. Mayo 1999)". CIS (in Spanish). 4 June 1999.
  6. "Estudio CIS nº 2335. 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.
  8. "El PP mantiene su mayoría en la región, según un sondeo de Tele 5". El País (in Spanish). 4 May 1999.
  9. "El PP mantiene la mayoría absoluta en la capital y la Comunidad, según una encuesta". El País (in Spanish). 1 May 1999.
  10. "Mayoría absoluta del PP en la Comunidad y el Ayuntamiento". ABC (in Spanish). 1 March 1999.
  11. "La izquierda está a un escaño del PP en la región, según un sondeo". El País (in Spanish). 20 February 1999.
  12. "La izquierda se acerca al PP en intención de voto, según una encuesta". El País (in Spanish). 19 May 1998.
  13. "El PP mantiene su mayoría y el PSOE sube cuatro escaños, según una encuesta". El País (in Spanish). 1 October 1997.
  14. "Ruiz-Gallardón, el político mejor valorado, según una encuesta". ABC (in Spanish). 27 November 1996.
  15. "Una encuesta revela el ascenso del PP, la ligera subida de IU y la caída del PSOE en la región". ABC (in Spanish). 13 October 1995.
Other
  1. "El PP mantiene su mayoría absoluta en la capital y la Comunidad de Madrid pese al ascenso del PSOE". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 14 June 1999. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  2. "Statute of Autonomy of the Community of Madrid of 1983". Organic Law No. 3 of 25 February 1983. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  3. "Community of Madrid Electoral Law of 1986". Law No. 11 of 16 November 1986. Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 February 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. "Summary and electoral results of the V Legislature". asambleamadrid.es (in Spanish). Assembly of Madrid. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  7. "Assembly of Madrid election results, 13 June 1999" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Madrid. 1 July 1999. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  8. "Elecciones a la Asamblea de Madrid (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  9. Junta Electoral Provincial de Madrid: "Elecciones a la Asamblea de Madrid 1999" (PDF). Boletín Oficial de la Comunidad de Madrid (154): 21–22. 1 July 1999. ISSN 1989-4791.
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