1999 Valencian regional election
Election in the Spanish region of the Valencian Community
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A regional election was held in the Valencian Community on 13 June 1999 to elect the 5th Corts of the autonomous community. All 89 seats in the Corts were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain, as well as the 1999 European Parliament election.
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7.4%
8.2 pp | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 June 1999
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All 89 seats in the Corts Valencianes 45 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 3,361,989 7.4% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 2,279,805 (67.8%) 8.2 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The People's Party (PP), which had ruled the community from 1995 in a coalition government, won an absolute majority of seats; a majority which it would maintain for the next 20 years. Its coalition partner, the Valencian Union (UV), fell just below the 5% threshold, resulting in it losing all seats and being expelled from the Corts. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) remained static on its 1995 vote share, though it gained 3 additional seats thanks to United Left (IU) electoral collapse from 10 to 5 seats.
Overview
Under the 1982 Statute of Autonomy, the Corts Valencianes were the unicameral legislature of the Valencian Community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a regional president.[1] The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions.[2]
Date
The term of the Corts Valencianes expired four years after the date of their previous election, with election day being fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years, but a 1998 amendment 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 54 days before the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official Journal of the Valencian Government (DOGV).[3] The previous election was held on 28 May 1995, setting the date for election day concurrently with that year's European Parliament election on 13 June 1999.
The Corts could not be dissolved before the expiration date of parliament.[4]
The Corts Valencianes were officially dissolved on 20 April 1999 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the DOGV, setting election day for 13 June and scheduling for the chamber to reconvene on 9 July.[5]
Electoral system
Voting for the Corts was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Valencian Community and with full political rights, provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence, nor were legally incapacitated.[6]
The Corts Valencianes had a minimum of 75 and a maximum of 100 seats, with the electoral law fixing its size at 89. All were elected in three multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Alicante, Castellón and Valencia, each of which was assigned an initial minimum of 20 seats and the remaining 29 distributed in proportion to population (with the seat-to-population ratio in any given province not exceeding three times that of any other)—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a five percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) regionally.[7]
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Corts constituency was entitled the following seats:[8]
The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacant seats; instead, any vacancies arising after the proclamation of candidates and during the legislative term were filled by the next candidates on the party lists or, when required, by designated substitutes.[9]
Outgoing parliament
The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.[10]
| Groups | Parties | Legislators | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Total | ||||
| People's Parliamentary Group | PP | 42 | 42 | ||
| Socialist Parliamentary Group | PSOE | 30 | 30 | ||
| United Left–The Greens Parliamentary Group | EUPV | 7 | 7 | ||
| Valencian Union Nationalist Parliamentary Group | UV | 4 | 4 | ||
| Mixed Group | PDNI | 3[a] | 5 | ||
| IPCV | 1[b] | ||||
| INDEP | 2[c] | ||||
Parties and candidates
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 were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within 10 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.[15]
Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:
| Candidacy | Parties and alliances |
Leading candidate | Ideology | Previous result | Gov. | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vote % | Seats | ||||||||
| PP | List
|
|
Eduardo Zaplana | Conservatism Christian democracy |
42.8% | 42 |  |
[16] [17] | |
| PSOE–p | List |
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Antoni Asunción | Social democracy | 34.0% | 32 |  |
[18][19] [20][21] [22][23] [24] | |
| EUPV | List
|
.JPG) |
Joan Ribó | Socialism Communism |
11.5% | 10 | |
[25] [26] [27] | |
| UV | List
|
.jpg) |
Héctor Villalba | Blaverism Conservatism |
7.0% | 5 | |
[28] [29] [30] | |
| BNV–EV | List
|
 |
Pere Mayor | Valencian nationalism Eco-socialism Green politics |
2.7% [d] |
0 | |
[31] [32] | |
Opinion polls
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.
Voting intention estimates
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; 45 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Corts Valencianes.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 regional election | 13 Jun 1999 | N/a | 67.8 | 47.9 49 |
33.9 35 |
6.1 5 |
4.7 0 |
4.5 0 |
14.0 |
| Eco Consulting/ABC[p 1] | 24 May–2 Jun 1999 | ? | ? | 42.5 43/45 |
30.3 30/31 |
12.5 10/11 |
7.0 5 |
– | 12.2 |
| Demoscopia/El País[p 2] | 26 May–1 Jun 1999 | ? | 69 | 49.0 48/50 |
32.0 31/33 |
9.9 5/7 |
5.2 0/4 |
3.6 0 |
17.0 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 3][p 4] | 20–26 May 1999 | 1,200 | ? | 48.7 47/50 |
33.2 31/34 |
8.5 7 |
4.9 0/2 |
– | 15.5 |
| CIS[p 5][p 6][p 7] | 3–20 May 1999 | 2,100 | 75.1 | 48.1 46/49 |
31.9 31/33 |
9.5 7/8 |
5.1 0/4 |
3.2 0 |
16.2 |
| Tele 5[p 8] | 4 May 1999 | ? | ? | 49.0 46/48 |
34.0 32/34 |
7.0 5 |
3.0 0 |
5.0 2/4 |
15.0 |
| Demoscopia/El País[p 9][p 10] | 9 Oct 1998 | ? | 74 | 45.0 | 34.5 | 8.0 | 6.7 | – | 10.5 |
| 1996 general election | 3 Mar 1996 | N/a | 81.7 | 43.7 (42) |
38.3 (38) |
11.1 (9) |
3.5 (0) |
1.0 (0) |
5.4 |
| 1995 regional election | 28 May 1995 | N/a | 76.0 | 42.8 42 |
34.0 32 |
11.5 10 |
7.0 5 |
2.7 0 |
8.8 |
Voting preferences
The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 regional election[e] | 13 Jun 1999 | N/a | 32.1 | 22.7 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 3.0 | N/a | 32.0 | 9.4 |
| CIS[p 5] | 3–20 May 1999 | 2,100 | 39.0 | 21.2 | 5.5 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 21.9 | 5.3 | 17.8 |
| 1996 general election[e] | 3 Mar 1996 | N/a | 36.4 | 31.8 | 9.2 | 2.9 | 0.9 | N/a | 18.2 | 4.6 |
| 1995 regional election[e] | 28 May 1995 | N/a | 32.7 | 25.8 | 8.8 | 5.3 | 2.1 | N/a | 23.4 | 6.9 |
Victory preferences
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 | |
|
|
|
|
Other/ None |
|
Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIS[p 5] | 3–20 May 1999 | 2,100 | 43.7 | 26.3 | 6.3 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 18.4 | 17.4 |
Victory likelihood
The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.
Preferred President
The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Valencian Government.
Results
Overall
 | ||||||
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | ||
| People's Party (PP) | 1,085,011 | 47.88 | +5.05 | 49 | +7 | |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party–Progressives (PSOE–p) | 768,548 | 33.91 | −0.07 | 35 | +3 | |
| United Left of the Valencian Country (EUPV) | 137,212 | 6.05 | −5.48 | 5 | −5 | |
| Valencian Union (UV) | 106,119 | 4.68 | −2.33 | 0 | −5 | |
| Valencian Nationalist Bloc–The Greens (BNV–EV)1 | 102,700 | 4.53 | +1.82 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Valencian Community Alternative (ACV) | 6,146 | 0.27 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Liberal Centre (CL) | 4,813 | 0.21 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| The Ecologist–Pacifist Greens (LVEP) | 4,176 | 0.18 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Centrist Union–Democratic and Social Centre (UC–CDS) | 2,978 | 0.13 | −0.10 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) | 2,973 | 0.13 | +0.06 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Independent Initiative (II) | 2,524 | 0.11 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Humanist Party (PH) | 2,253 | 0.10 | +0.07 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Valencian Nationalist Left (ENV) | 2,070 | 0.09 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Federal Republican Left–Federal Republican Party (IRF–PRF) | 1,660 | 0.07 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Valencian Independent Organization (OIV) | 1,316 | 0.06 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Spanish Autonomous League (LAE) | 608 | 0.03 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Blank ballots | 35,168 | 1.55 | +0.50 | |||
| Total | 2,266,275 | 89 | ±0 | |||
| Valid votes | 2,266,275 | 99.41 | −0.03 | |||
| Invalid votes | 13,530 | 0.59 | +0.03 | |||
| Votes cast / turnout | 2,279,805 | 67.81 | −8.22 | |||
| Abstentions | 1,082,184 | 32.19 | +8.22 | |||
| Registered voters | 3,361,989 | |||||
| Sources[10][33][34] | ||||||
Footnotes:
| ||||||
Distribution by constituency
Aftermath
Government formation
| Investiture | |||||
| Candidate | Ballot → | 16 July 1999 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Required majority → | 45 out of 89 | ||||
| Eduardo Zaplana (PP) | Yes
|
49 / 89 |
 | ||
40 / 89 | |||||
| Abstentions | 0 / 89 | ||||
| Absentees | 0 / 89 | ||||
| Antoni Asunción (PSOE) |  Cancelled | ||||
| Joan Ribó (EUPV) | Cancelled | ||||
| Sources[10] | |||||