Madrilenian regional election, 1999

Madrilenian regional election, 1999

13 June 1999
All 102 seats in the Assembly of Madrid 52 seats needed for a majority
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 Leader's seat Madrid Madrid Madrid 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

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 12 other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1999 European Parliament election.

The election saw the People's Party (PP) renew the absolute majority in the Assembly for a second successive time, slightly increasing their vote share and gaining a seat. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), which ran with Cristina Almeida as candidate, increased its vote share after three consecutive elections losing ground. PSOE's recovery came at the expense of the United Left (IU), which lost half its votes and seats.

As a result of the election, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón was able to be re-elected for a second term in office.

Electoral system

The 102 members of the Assembly of Madrid were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5 per 100 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, according to the updated data of the population census.^[1][2] Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage, with all nationals over eighteen, registered in the Community of Madrid and in full enjoyment of all political rights entitled to vote.

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 0.5 per 100 of the electors entered in electoral register of 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 from the election call.^[1][3][4]

Elections were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. A 1999 statutory amendment granted the President of the Community of Madrid the prerogative to dissolve the Assembly 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—. Additionally, the chamber was to be automatically 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. 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][3]

Results

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

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

Aftermath

Investiture

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]

References