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

← 1995 13 June 1999 2003 (May) →
All 102 seats in the Assembly of Madrid 52 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	4,281,075 3.7%
Turnout	2,606,325 (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 regional president.^[2] Voting for the Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, 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 an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally. The Assembly was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 25,000.^[2][3]

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]

The president 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.^[5] 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]

Parties and candidates

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least 0.5 percent of the electorate in the Community of Madrid, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.^[3][4]

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Previous result		Gov.	Ref.
						Votes (%)	Seats
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón	Conservatism Christian democracy	50.98%	54	Y
	PSOE–p	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) Democratic Party of the New Left (PDNI)		Cristina Almeida	Social democracy	29.72%	32	N
	IU	List United Left (IU)		Ángel Pérez	Socialism Communism	16.03%	17	N

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 poll. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 52 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Assembly of Madrid.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				Lead
1999 regional election	13 Jun 1999	—	60.9	51.1 55	36.4 39	7.7 8	14.7
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 1][p 2]	27 May–2 Jun 1999	800	?	53.3 56/57	31.8 33/34	11.7 12	21.5
Eco Consulting/ABC[p 3]	24 May–2 Jun 1999	?	?	51.8 56/57	27.2 29/30	16.2 16/17	24.6
Demoscopia/El País[p 4]	26 May–1 Jun 1999	?	67	55.4 57	32.5 34	11.1 11	22.9
CIS[p 5][p 6][p 7]	3–19 May 1999	1,200	69.0	56.2 58/59	27.4 29/30	13.2 13/14	28.8
Tele 5[p 8]	4 May 1999	?	?	? 56	? 34	? 12	?
Demoscopia/CEIM[p 9]	12–26 Apr 1999	?	?	52.3 55	? 34	? 14	?
Demoscopia/CEIM[p 10]	1 Mar 1999	?	?	? 55	? 35	? 13	?
Demoscopia/PDNI[p 11]	21 Jan–1 Feb 1999	?	?	49.3 53	37.6 41	10.2 11	11.7
Demoscopia/CEIM[p 12]	16–27 Apr 1998	1,800	?	47.0	33.0	15.8	14.0
Demoscopia/CEIM[a][p 13]	16–24 Sep 1997	1,800	?	49.9 55	34.3 36	13.2 13	15.6
Sigma Dos/Cámara de Comercio[p 14]	27 Nov 1996	?	?	49.2 52/54	30.6 31/33	17.3 17	18.6
1996 general election	3 Mar 1996	—	79.6	49.3 (53)	31.4 (33)	16.4 (17)	17.9
Sigma Dos/Cámara de Comercio[p 15]	26 Sep–1 Oct 1995	1,500	?	52.1 54/56	28.0 30/31	16.5 17/18	24.1
1995 regional election	28 May 1995	—	70.4	51.0 54	29.7 32	16.0 17	21.3

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 13 June 1999 Assembly of Madrid election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	1,324,596	51.07	+0.09	55	+1
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party–Progressives (PSOE–p)	944,819	36.43	+6.71	39	+7
	United Left (IU)	199,488	7.69	–8.34	8	–9
	The Greens (LV)	17,793	0.69	New	0	±0
	The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV)	15,597	0.60	–0.13	0	±0
	Centrist Union–Democratic and Social Centre (UC–CDS)	8,379	0.32	New	0	±0
	The Phalanx (FE)	3,810	0.15	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	3,109	0.12	+0.05	0	±0
	Spanish Democratic Party (PADE)	2,686	0.10	New	0	±0
	Union Community of Madrid (UCMA)	2,532	0.10	New	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	2,492	0.10	+0.04	0	±0
	Independent Spanish Phalanx (FEI)	2,349	0.09	+0.05	0	±0
	Madrilenian Independent Regional Party (PRIM)	2,042	0.08	–0.03	0	±0
	Citizen Unity (UC)	1,778	0.07	±0.00	0	±0
	Commoners' Land–Castilian Nationalist Party (TC–PNC)	1,553	0.06	New	0	±0
	Red–Green Party (PRV)	1,432	0.06	New	0	±0
	Party of El Bierzo (PB)	1,415	0.05	New	0	±0
	Natural Law Party (PLN)	1,393	0.05	New	0	±0
	Federal Progressives (PF)	988	0.04	New	0	±0
	Independent Regional Unity (URI)	903	0.03	–0.03	0	±0
Blank ballots		54,341	2.10	+0.76
Total		2,593,495			102	–1
Valid votes		2,593,495	99.51	–0.11
Invalid votes		12,830	0.49	+0.11
Votes cast / turnout		2,606,325	60.88	–9.51
Abstentions		1,674,750	39.12	+9.51
Registered voters		4,281,075
Sources[6][7]

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.^[8]

Elected legislators
#	Name	List
1	Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Jiménez		PP
2	María Cristina Almeida Castro		PSOE
3	Pío García-Escudero Márquez		PP
4	Jaime Lissavetzky Díez		PSOE
5	Rosa María Posada Chapado		PP
6	Antonio Germán Beteta Barreda (es)		PP
7	Francisco Cabaco López		PSOE
8	Luis Eduardo Cortés Muñoz (es)		PP
9	Helena Almazán Vicario		PSOE
10	Carlos María Mayor Oreja (es)		PP
11	Ángel Pérez Martínez		IU
12	Jesús Pedroche Nieto (es)		PP
13	Pedro Feliciano Sabando Suárez (es)		PSOE
14	María del Pilar Martínez López		PP
15	Carmen Martínez Ten (es)		PSOE
16	Silvia Enseñat de Carlos		PP
17	Pedro Díez Olazábal (es)		PSOE
18	Manuel Cobo Vega (es)		PP
19	Juan Van-Halen Acedo		PP
20	Jorge Gómez Moreno		PSOE
21	Julio César Sánchez Fierro		PP
22	Pilar García Peña		PSOE
23	María del Carmen Álvarez Arenas Cisneros		PP
24	José Guillermo Marín Calvo (Fernando Marín)		IU
25	Paloma García Romero (d)		PP
26	Enrique Echegoyen Vera		PSOE
27	Luis Manuel Partida Brunete		PP
28	Marcos Sanz Agüero (es)		PSOE
29	Pedro Luis Calvo Poch (es)		PP
30	Eduardo Tamayo Barrena (es)		PSOE
31	María Cristina Cifuentes Cuencas		PP
32	José Ignacio Echevarría Echániz		PP
33	Ana Arroyo Veneroso		PSOE
34	José López López		PP
35	Francisca Oller Sánchez		PSOE
36	Julio Setién Martínez		IU
37	José Martín Crespo Díaz		PP
38	Francisco Javier Rodríguez Rodríguez (es)		PP
39	Julián Revenga Sánchez (es)		PSOE
40	Luis Peral Guerra		PP
41	Adolfo Piñedo Simal (es)		PSOE
42	Jesús Fermosel Díaz (es)		PP
43	Elena Vázquez Menéndez (es)		PSOE
44	María Paloma Adrados Gautier (es)		PP
45	Carlos López Collado		PP
46	Alicia Acebes Carabaño		PSOE
47	José María Federico Corral		PP
48	María Luisa Sánchez Peral		IU
49	Antonio Chazarra Montiel		PSOE
50	Manuel Troitiño Pelaz		PP
51	Miguel Ángel Villanueva González (es)		PP
52	Francisco Garrido Hernández		PSOE
53	Miguel Ángel Pérez Huysmans		PP
54	Sagrario González Aceituno		PSOE
55	Colomán Trabado Pérez		PP
56	Modesto Nolla Estrada (d)		PSOE
57	Emilio Eusebio Sainz de Murieta Rodeyro		PP
58	Roberto Sanz Pinacho		PP
59	José Manuel Franco Pardo		PSOE
60	Luis María Huete Morillo (es)		PP
61	Caridad García Álvarez		IU
62	Alejandro Lucas Fernández-Martín		PSOE
63	María Gador Ongil Cores (es)		PP
64	Pedro Muñoz Abrines		PP
65	María Luz Martín Barrios		PSOE
66	Mario Utrilla Palombi (d)		PP
67	Óscar Iglesias Fernández		PSOE
68	Álvaro Moraga Valiente		PP
69	Carmen García Rojas		PSOE
70	Benjamín Martín Vasco		PP
71	María de la Paz González García		PP
72	María Luisa Álvarez Durante		PSOE
73	María Dolores Ruano Sánchez		IU
74	Antonio Hernández Guardia		PP
75	Dolores Rodríguez Gabucio		PSOE
76	Elena González Moñux		PP
77	Luis del Olmo Flórez (d)		PP
78	Encarnación Moya Nieto		PSOE
79	Pilar Busó Borús (d)		PP
80	Antonio Fernández Gordillo		PSOE
81	José Manuel Berzal Andrade (d)		PP
82	Antonio Carmona Sancipriano (es)		PSOE
83	Esteban Parro del Prado (es)		PP
84	Victorino José Iriberri Haro		PP
85	Adolfo Navarro Muñoz		PSOE
86	Juan Ramón Sanz Arranz		IU
87	Francisco Vindel Lacalle		PP
88	Óscar Monterrubio Rodríguez		PSOE
89	José Cabrera Orellana		PP
90	Fernando Utande Martínez		PP
91	Eduardo Sánchez Gatell		PSOE
92	Blanca Nieves de la Cierva de Hoces		PP
93	Francisco Contreras Lorenzo		PSOE
94	Pablo Morillo Casals		PP
95	Álvaro Plaza Carpio		PSOE
96	María del Carmen Martín Irañeta		PP
97	José Luis Narros Manzanero		PP
98	Franco González Blázquez (es)		IU
99	Miguel Buenestado Expósito		PSOE
100	María del Pilar Liébana Montijano		PP
101	María Teresa Nevado Bueno		PSOE
102	Sonsoles Trinidad Aboín Aboín (d)		PP

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
	Yes • PP (55)	55 / 102
	No • PSOE (38) • IU (8)	46 / 102
	Abstentions	0 / 102
	Absentees • PSOE (1)	1 / 102
Sources[6]

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. Ley Orgánica 3/1983, de 25 de febrero, de Estatuto de Autonomía de la Comunidad de Madrid (Organic Law 3) (in Spanish). 25 February 1983. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
3. Ley 11/1986, de 16 de diciembre, Electoral de la Comunidad de Madrid (Law 11) (in Spanish). 16 November 1986. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
4. Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5) (in Spanish). 19 June 1985. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
5. Ley 5/1990, de 17 de mayo, reguladora de la facultad de disolución de la Asamblea de Madrid por el Presidente de la Comunidad (Law 5) (in Spanish). 17 May 1990. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
6. "Elecciones a la Asamblea de Madrid (1983-2021)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2021.
7. "Elecciones a la Asamblea de Madrid 1999" (PDF) (in Spanish). Boletín Oficial de la Comunidad de Madrid. 1 July 1999. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
8. 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.