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All 65 seats in the Assembly of Extremadura 33 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 885,753 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 650,527 (73.4%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Constituency results map for the Assembly of Extremadura | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A regional election was held in Extremadura on Sunday, 13 June 1999, to elect the 5th Assembly of the autonomous community. All 65 seats in the Assembly were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1999 European Parliament election.
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) won the election, obtaining 34 seats and 48.5% of the vote. This meant that the party recovered the absolute majority it had lost in the previous election. The opposition People's Party added 1 additional seat to their 27-seat count, but remained almost static in vote terms, gaining 0.5 percentage points albeit losing 1,000 votes from 1995. United Left (IU) lost half of its seats, while the Extremaduran Coalition (CREx-PREx) was left out of the Assembly after breaking up with United Extremadura (EU), which also failed to gain any seats.
The election resulted in Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra being elected President for a fifth term in office.
Under the 1983 Statute of Autonomy, the Assembly of Extremadura was the unicameral legislature of the homonymous autonomous community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president. [1]
Voting for the Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Extremadura and in full enjoyment of their political rights, provided that they were not sentenced—by a final court ruling—to deprivation of the right to vote. [2] [3] [4]
The Assembly of Extremadura was entitled to a maximum of 65 seats, with the electoral law setting its size at that number. All members were elected in two multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Badajoz and Cáceres, with each being allocated an initial minimum of 20 seats and the remaining 25 being distributed in proportion to their populations—using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional voting system, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes (which included blank ballots) being applied in each constituency. Alternatively, parties failing to reach the threshold in one of the constituencies were also entitled to enter the seat distribution as long as they ran candidates in both districts and reached five percent regionally. [2] [5]
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Assembly constituency was entitled the following seats: [6]
| Seats | Constituencies |
|---|---|
| 36 | Badajoz (+1) |
| 29 | Cáceres (–1) |
The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacated seats; instead, any vacancies that occurred after the proclamation of candidates and into the legislative term were to be covered by the successive candidates in the list and, when required, by the designated substitutes. [7] [8]
The term of the Assembly of Extremadura expired four years after the date of its previous election, with election day being fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years, but a legal amendment introduced in 1998 allowed for regional elections held in May 1995 to be held concurrently with European Parliament elections, provided that they were scheduled for within a four month-timespan. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official Journal of Extremadura (DOE). [2] [9] [10] The previous election was held on 28 May 1995, setting the date for election day concurrently with that year's European Parliament election on Sunday, 13 June 1999.
Amendments earlier in 1999 granted the regional president the prerogative to dissolve the Assembly of Extremadura 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 parliament's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution. [9] [11] 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. [12] 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. [11]
The election to the Assembly of Extremadura was officially called on 20 April 1999 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the DOE, setting election day for 13 June. [6]
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance 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 two percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. [13] [14]
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:
| Candidacy | Parties and alliances | Candidate | Ideology | Previous result | Gov. | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vote % | Seats | ||||||||
| PSOE–p | List
| | Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra | Social democracy | 43.9% | 31 | [15] [16] [17] | ||
| PP | List
| | Juan Ignacio Barrero | Conservatism Christian democracy | 39.5% | 27 | [18] [19] [20] | ||
| IU–CE | List
| | Manuel Cañada | Socialism Communism | 10.5% | 6 | [21] | ||
The tables below list opinion polling results 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.
The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 33 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Assembly of Extremadura.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | | | | CEx | | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 regional election | 13 Jun 1999 | — | 73.4 | 48.5 34 | 40.0 28 | 6.1 3 | 1.2 0 | 1.7 0 | 8.5 |
| Eco Consulting/ABC [p 1] | 24 May–2 Jun 1999 | ? | ? | 42.3 30/31 | 39.3 28/29 | 11.2 5/6 | 3.1 0 | 1.8 0 | 3.0 |
| Demoscopia/El País [p 2] | 26 May–1 Jun 1999 | ? | 74 | 47.6 32 | 41.7 28 | 8.5 5 | – | 1.8 0 | 5.9 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 3] [p 4] | 20–26 May 1999 | 800 | ? | 45.4 30/32 | 41.6 27/30 | 8.0 5 | 2.8 0/1 | [a] | 3.8 |
| CIS [p 5] [p 6] [p 7] | 3–20 May 1999 | 898 | 76.0 | 45.8 32/33 | 40.5 27/28 | 9.3 5 | – | 2.5 0 | 5.3 |
| 1996 general election | 3 Mar 1996 | — | 82.3 | 48.4 (33) | 40.3 (27) | 8.9 (5) | 1.0 (0) | [a] | 8.1 |
| 1995 regional election | 28 May 1995 | — | 78.3 | 43.9 31 | 39.5 27 | 10.5 6 | 3.8 1 | [a] | 4.4 |
The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | | | | CEx | | Lead | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 regional election | 13 Jun 1999 | — | 36.4 | 30.2 | 4.6 | 0.9 | 1.3 | — | 24.4 | 6.2 |
| CIS [p 5] | 3–20 May 1999 | 898 | 36.0 | 24.2 | 6.2 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 26.9 | 3.7 | 11.8 |
| 1996 general election | 3 Mar 1996 | — | 39.9 | 33.4 | 7.4 | 0.9 | [a] | — | 17.0 | 6.5 |
| 1995 regional election | 28 May 1995 | — | 34.0 | 30.6 | 8.2 | 3.0 | [a] | — | 21.1 | 3.4 |
The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | | | | CEx | | Other/ None | Lead | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIS [p 5] | 3–20 May 1999 | 898 | 41.6 | 29.0 | 6.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 20.6 | 12.6 |
The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | | | | Other/ None | Lead | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIS [p 5] | 3–20 May 1999 | 898 | 43.7 | 20.4 | 0.5 | – | 35.4 | 23.3 |
The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Regional Government of Extremadura.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | | | | | Other/ None/ Not care | Lead | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ibarra PSOE | Barrero PP | M. Cañada IU | P. Cañada EU | ||||||
| CIS [p 5] | 3–20 May 1999 | 898 | 44.5 | 23.9 | 4.8 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 24.3 | 20.6 |
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | ||
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party–Progressives (PSOE–p) | 313,417 | 48.48 | +4.54 | 34 | +3 | |
| People's Party (PP) | 258,657 | 40.01 | +0.55 | 28 | +1 | |
| United Left–Commitment to Extremadura (IU–CE) | 39,132 | 6.05 | −4.49 | 3 | −3 | |
| United Extremadura (EU) | 10,783 | 1.67 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Extremaduran Coalition (CREx–PREx) | 7,437 | 1.15 | −2.67 | 0 | −1 | |
| Independent Socialists of Extremadura (SIEx) | 6,238 | 0.96 | −0.21 | 0 | ±0 | |
| The Greens of Extremadura (LV) | 3,410 | 0.53 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Blank ballots | 7,408 | 1.15 | +0.27 | |||
| Total | 646,482 | 65 | ±0 | |||
| Valid votes | 646,482 | 99.38 | +0.04 | |||
| Invalid votes | 4,045 | 0.62 | −0.04 | |||
| Votes cast / turnout | 650,527 | 73.44 | −4.89 | |||
| Abstentions | 235,226 | 26.56 | +4.89 | |||
| Registered voters | 885,753 | |||||
| Sources [22] [23] | ||||||
| Constituency | PSOE–p | PP | IU–CE | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | S | % | S | % | S | |
| Badajoz | 49.7 | 19 | 39.2 | 15 | 7.1 | 2 |
| Cáceres | 46.7 | 15 | 41.2 | 13 | 4.4 | 1 |
| Total | 48.5 | 34 | 40.0 | 28 | 6.1 | 3 |
| Sources [22] [23] | ||||||
| Investiture Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra (PSOE) | ||
| Ballot → | 15 July 1999 | |
|---|---|---|
| Required majority → | 33 out of 65 | |
34 / 65 | ||
30 / 65 | ||
| Abstentions | 0 / 65 | |
Absentees
| 1 / 65 | |
| Sources [22] | ||