1999 Extremaduran regional election

1999 Extremaduran regional election

←  1995 13 June 1999 2003  →
All 65 seats in the Assembly of Extremadura 33 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	885,753 4.7%
Turnout	650,527 (73.4%) 4.9 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra Juan Ignacio Barrero Manuel Cañada Party PSOE–p PP IU–CE Leader since 20 December 1982 25 September 1993 1 October 1995 Leader's seat Badajoz Badajoz Badajoz Last election 31 seats, 43.9% 27 seats, 39.5% 6 seats, 10.5% Seats won 34 28 3 Seat change 3 1 3 Popular vote 313,417 258,657 39,132 Percentage 48.5% 40.0% 6.1% Swing 4.6 pp 0.5 pp 4.4 pp
Constituency results map for the Assembly of Extremadura
President before election Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra PSOE Elected President Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra PSOE

The 1999 Extremaduran regional election was held on Sunday, 13 June 1999, to elect the 5th Assembly of the autonomous community of Extremadura. All 65 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.

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.

Overview

Electoral system

The Assembly of Extremadura was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Extremadura, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Extremaduran Statute of Autonomy, 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. The 65 members of the Assembly of Extremadura 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 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. Seats were allocated to 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. ^{[1] [2]}

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 the signature of at least 2 percent of the electors registered in the constituency for which they sought 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 of the election being called. ^{[2] [3]}

Election date

The term of the Assembly of Extremadura 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 Assembly concurrently with a European Parliament election on Sunday, 13 June 1999. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

After legal amendments earlier in 1999, the president was granted 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 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 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. ^{[1] [4] [5]}

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; 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	[lower-alpha 1]	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	[lower-alpha 1]	8.1
1995 regional election	28 May 1995	—	78.3	43.9 31	39.5 27	10.5 6	3.8 1	[lower-alpha 1]	4.4

Results

Overall

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

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 [6] [7]

Popular vote PSOE–p   48.48% PP   40.01% IU–CE   6.05% EU   1.67% CREx–PREx   1.15% Others   1.49% Blank ballots   1.15%

Seats PSOE–p   52.31% PP   43.08% IU–CE   4.62%

Distribution by constituency

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 [6] [7]

Aftermath

Investiture Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra (PSOE)
Ballot →		15 July 1999
Required majority →		33 out of 65 Y
	Yes • PSOE–p (34)	34 / 65
	No • PP (27) • IU (3)	30 / 65
	Abstentions	0 / 65
	Absentees • PP (1)	1 / 65
Sources [7]

Notes

1. Within CEx.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "El feudo socialista extremeño depende de lU". ABC (in Spanish). 7 June 1999.
2. "Rodríguez Ibarra refuerza posiciones". El País (in Spanish). 7 June 1999.
3. "Extremadura: Barrero no puede con Ibarra". El Mundo (in Spanish). 31 May 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 Extremadura (Estudio nº 2333. Mayo 1999)". CIS (in Spanish). 4 June 1999.
6. "Estudio CIS nº 2333. 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. "Ley Orgánica 1/1983, de 25 de febrero, de Estatuto de Autonomía de Extremadura". Organic Law No. 1 of 25 February 1983 (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2017.
2. "Ley 2/1987, de 16 de marzo, de Elecciones a la Asamblea de Extremadura". Law No. 2 of 16 March 1987 (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2017.
3. "Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985 (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
4. "Ley Orgánica 5/1991, de 13 de marzo, de Reforma del Estatuto de Autonomía de Extremadura". Organic Law No. 5 of 13 March 1991 (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 April 2017.
5. "Ley Orgánica 12/1999, de 6 de mayo, de reforma de la Ley Orgánica 1/1983, de 25 de febrero, de Estatuto de Autonomía de Extremadura". Organic Law No. 12 of 6 May 1999 (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 April 2017.
6. "Assembly of Extremadura election results, 13 June 1999. Badajoz and Cáceres" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of Extremadura. 26 June 1999. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
7. "Eleccions a la Asamblea de Extremadura (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 September 2017.