Catalan regional election, 1999

Catalan regional election, 1999

17 October 1999
All 135 seats in the Parliament of Catalonia 68 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	5,293,657 4.2%
Turnout	3,133,926 (59.2%) 4.4 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jordi Pujol Pasqual Maragall Alberto Fernández Díaz Party CiU PSC–CpC PP Leader since 17 November 1974 6 March 1999[1] 28 September 1996 Leader's seat Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona Last election 60 seats, 40.9% 35 seats, 26.1% 17 seats, 13.1% Seats won 56 52 12 Seat change 4 17 5 Popular vote 1,178,420 1,183,299 297,265 Percentage 37.7% 37.9% 9.5% Swing 3.2 pp 11.8 pp 3.6 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira Rafael Ribó Party ERC IC–V Leader since 25 November 1996 23 February 1987 Leader's seat Barcelona Barcelona Last election 13 seats, 9.5% 10 seats, 8.5% Seats won 12 3 Seat change 1 7 Popular vote 271,173 78,441 Percentage 8.7% 2.5% Swing 0.8 pp 6.0 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of Catalonia
President before election Jordi Pujol CiU Elected President Jordi Pujol CiU

The 1999 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 17 October 1999, to elect the 6th Parliament of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of Catalonia was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, having legislative power in matters of regional competence as underlined by the Spanish Constitution and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to grant or revoke confidence from a President of the Generalitat.^[2] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, with all nationals over eighteen, registered in Catalonia and in full enjoyment of all political rights entitled to vote.

The 135 members of the Parliament of Catalonia were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 3 per 100 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, dependant on the district magnitude.^[3] Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of seats: 85 for Barcelona, 17 for Girona, 15 for Lleida and 18 for Tarragona.^[2][4]

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 at least the signature of 1 per 100 of the electors entered in electoral register of the constituency for which they were seeking 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 from the election call.^[5][6]

Election date

Article 31 of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 1979 established that the term of the Parliament expired four years from the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. Article 47 of the Parliament, President and Executive Council of the Generalitat Law of 1982 required for the President of the Generalitat to call an election fifteen days prior to the date of expiry of Parliament, with election day taking place within sixty days after the call. The previous election was held on 19 November 1995, which meant that the legislature's term would expire on 19 November 1999. The election was required to be called no later than 4 November 1999, with it taking place on the sixtieth day from the call, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament at Monday, 3 January 2000.^[2]

Article 46 of the Law granted the President the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since a previous one under this procedure. Additionally, under Article 54 the Parliament was to be dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process failed to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot.^[4][7]

Parties and leaders

Opinion polls

Vote

Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The lead column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two parties with the highest figures. When a specific poll does not show a data figure for a party, the party's cell corresponding to that poll is shown empty.

Seat projections

Opinion polls showing seat projections are displayed in the table below. The highest seat figures in each polling survey have their background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. 68 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Catalonia.

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 17 October 1999 Parliament of Catalonia election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−

Distribution by constituency

Post-election

Investiture voting

16 November 1999 Investiture voting for Jordi Pujol (CiU) Absolute majority: 68/135
Vote	Parties	Votes
Y Yes	CiU (56), PP (12)	68 / 135
No	PSC (52), ICV (3)	55 / 135
Abstentions	ERC (12)	12 / 135
Source: historiaelectoral.com

Notes

References

Elections and referendums in Catalonia
Regional elections	1932 1980 1984 1988 1992 1995 1999 2003 2006 2010 2012 2015 next
General elections	1977 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1996 2000 2004 2008 2011 2015 2016 next
European Parliament elections	1987 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 next
Referendums	1931 1979 2006 2014 2017