1999 Aragonese regional election

1999 Aragonese regional election

←  1995 13 June 1999 2003  →
All 67 seats in the Cortes of Aragon 34 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	1,017,735 2.4%
Turnout	657,464 (64.6%) 6.5 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Santiago Lanzuela Marcelino Iglesias José María Mur Party PP PSOE PAR Leader since 24 September 1993 15 February 1995 1995 Leader's seat Zaragoza Zaragoza Zaragoza Last election 27 seats, 37.5% 19 seats, 25.7% 14 seats, 20.4% Seats won 28 23 10 Seat change 1 4 4 Popular vote 249,458 201,117 86,519 Percentage 38.2% 30.8% 13.3% Swing 0.7 pp 5.1 pp 7.1 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Chesús Bernal Jesús Lacasa Party CHA IU Leader since 29 June 1986 1998 Leader's seat Zaragoza Zaragoza Last election 2 seats, 4.8% 5 seats, 9.2% Seats won 5 1 Seat change 3 4 Popular vote 72,101 25,040 Percentage 11.0% 3.9% Swing 6.2 pp 5.3 pp
Constituency results map for the Cortes of Aragon
President before election Santiago Lanzuela PP Elected President Marcelino Iglesias PSOE

The 1999 Aragonese regional election was held on Sunday, 13 June 1999, to elect the 5th Cortes of the autonomous community of Aragon. All 67 seats in the Cortes 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 increases in both vote share and seats for the People's Party (PP), which had formed the Government of Aragon since 1995, and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). The Aragonese Party (PAR) continued its long-term decline from its peak at the 1987 election while on the left, Chunta Aragonesista (CHA) gained most of United Left (IU) former support, which lost 4 of its 5 seats.

Despite winning the election and gaining one seat from 1995, the PP went into opposition as incumbent President of Aragon Santiago Lanzuela was unable to gather the support from his former coalition partner the PAR. Instead, the PAR supported Socialist Marcelino Iglesias as new regional President, entering into a coalition administration with the PSOE. ^[1]

Overview

Electoral system

The Cortes of Aragon were the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Aragon, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Aragonese Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president. ^[2]

Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Aragon and in full enjoyment of their political rights. The 67 members of the Cortes of Aragon were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Huesca, Teruel and Zaragoza, with each being allocated an initial minimum of 13 seats and the remaining 28 being distributed in proportion to their populations (provided that the seat-to-population ratio in the most populated province did not exceed 2.75 times that of the least populated one). ^{[2] [3]}

The use of the D'Hondt method might result in a higher effective threshold, depending on the district magnitude. ^[4]

Election date

The term of the Cortes of Aragon 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. ^{[2] [3] [5]}

After legal amendments in 1996, the president was granted the prerogative to dissolve the Cortes of Aragon 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 under this procedure. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Cortes were 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] [6]}

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 one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. ^{[3] [5]}

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)		Santiago Lanzuela	Conservatism Christian democracy	37.50%	27	Y
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Marcelino Iglesias	Social democracy	25.72%	19	N
	PAR	List Aragonese Party (PAR)		José María Mur	Regionalism Centrism	20.43%	14	Y
	IU	List United Left of Aragon (IU)		Jesús Lacasa	Socialism Communism	9.20%	5	N
	CHA	List Aragonese Union (CHA)		Chesús Bernal	Aragonese nationalism Eco-socialism	4.85%	2	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; 34 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Aragon.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout						Lead
1999 regional election	13 Jun 1999	—	64.6	38.2 28	30.8 23	13.3 10	3.9 1	11.0 5	7.4
Eco Consulting/ABC [p 1]	24 May–2 Jun 1999	?	?	36.7 26/27	26.0 19/20	19.5 13/14	7.3 3/4	8.0 4	10.7
Demoscopia/El País [p 2]	26 May–1 Jun 1999	?	70	38.0 28	29.2 21	18.0 11	6.0 3	8.0 4	8.8
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 3] [p 4]	20–26 May 1999	800	?	40.4 27/30	30.4 20/23	13.7 9/10	8.1 5	5.1 2	10.0
CIS [p 5] [p 6] [p 7]	3–20 May 1999	1,334	70.8	38.3 27/28	24.1 17/19	19.7 12/14	7.8 3/4	8.2 4	14.2
1996 general election	3 Mar 1996	—	77.5	47.9 (34)	34.6 (26)	[lower-alpha 1]	9.1 (5)	6.4 (2)	13.3
1995 regional election	28 May 1995	—	71.1	37.5 27	25.7 19	20.4 14	9.2 5	4.8 2	11.8

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 13 June 1999 Cortes of Aragon election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	249,458	38.21	+0.71	28	+1
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	201,117	30.81	+5.09	23	+4
	Aragonese Party (PAR)	86,519	13.25	–7.18	10	–4
	Aragonese Union (CHA)	72,101	11.04	+6.19	5	+3
	United Left of Aragon (IU)	25,040	3.86	–5.36	1	–4
	SOS Nature (SOS)	3,621	0.55	+0.42	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	982	0.15	New	0	±0
	Upper Aragonese Territory Regenerationist Group (ARTA)	373	0.06	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		13,599	2.08	+0.50
Total		652,810			67	±0
Valid votes		652,810	99.29	–0.11
Invalid votes		4,654	0.71	+0.11
Votes cast / turnout		657,464	64.60	–6.52
Abstentions		360,271	35.40	+6.52
Registered voters		1,017,735
Sources [7] [8]

Popular vote PP   38.21% PSOE   30.81% PAR   13.25% CHA   11.04% IU   3.84% Others   0.76% Blank ballots   2.08%

Seats PP   41.79% PSOE   34.33% PAR   14.93% CHA   7.46% IU   1.49%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PP		PSOE		PAR		CHA		IU
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
Huesca	33.8	7	34.2	7	16.1	3	9.0	1	3.4	−
Teruel	40.2	7	31.6	5	17.7	3	4.3	−	4.1	−
Zaragoza	39.0	14	29.8	11	11.7	4	12.8	4	3.9	1
Total	38.2	28	30.8	23	13.3	10	11.0	5	3.9	1
Sources [7] [8]

Aftermath

Investiture Marcelino Iglesias (PSOE)
Ballot →		29 July 1999
Required majority →		34 out of 67 Y
	Yes • PSOE (23) • PAR (10) • IU (1)	34 / 67
	No • PP (28)	28 / 67
	Abstentions • CHA (5)	5 / 67
	Absentees	0 / 67
Sources [8]

Notes

1. Within PP.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "El PP volverá a necesitar a los regionalistas del PA para gobernar". ABC (in Spanish). 7 June 1999.
2. "Los populares necesitarán pactar de nuevo". El País (in Spanish). 7 June 1999.
3. "Aragón: PP y PAR, obligados a entenderse". El Mundo (in Spanish). 1 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 Aragón (Estudio nº 2326. Mayo 1999)". CIS (in Spanish). 4 June 1999.
6. "Estudio CIS nº 2326. 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. "Votes from PAR and IU give Socialist Iglesias the presidency of Aragon". El País (in Spanish). 1999-07-30.
2. "Ley Orgánica 8/1982, de 10 de agosto, de Estatuto de Autonomía de Aragón". Organic Law No. 8 of 10 August 1982. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 September 2017.
3. "Ley 2/1987, de 16 de febrero, Electoral de la Comunidad Autónoma de Aragón". Law No. 2 of 12 February 1987. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 September 2017.
4. 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.
5. "Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
6. "Ley Orgánica 5/1996, de 30 de diciembre, de Reforma de la Ley Orgánica 8/1982, de 10 de agosto, de Estatuto de Autonomía de Aragón, modificada por la Ley Orgánica 6/1994, de 24 de marzo, de reforma de dicho Estatuto". Organic Law No. 5 of 30 December 1996. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 September 2017.
7. "Cortes of Aragon election results, 13 June 1999" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Aragon. 2 July 1999. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
8. "Elecciones a las Cortes de Aragón (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 September 2017.