1999 Castilian-Leonese regional election

1999 Castilian-Leonese regional election
13 June 1999
All 83 seats in the Cortes of Castile and León
42 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered2,185,507 3.1%
Turnout1,476,858 (67.6%)
5.9 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Juan José Lucas Jaime González Antonio Herreros
Party PP PSOE IUCyL
Leader since 14 January 1991 18 October 1997 1991
Leader's seat Valladolid León Valladolid
Last election 50 seats, 52.2% 27 seats, 29.7% 5 seats, 9.6%
Seats won 48 30 1
Seat change 2 3 4
Popular vote 737,982 483,675 79,390
Percentage 50.4% 33.1% 5.4%
Swing 1.8 pp 3.4 pp 4.2 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Joaquín Otero Carlos Rad
Party UPL TC–PNC
Leader since 13 September 1997 1999
Leader's seat León Burgos
Last election 2 seats, 2.6% 0 seats, 0.6%
Seats won 3 1
Seat change 1 1
Popular vote 54,158 20,274
Percentage 3.7% 1.4%
Swing 1.1 pp 0.8 pp
Constituency results map for the Cortes of Castile and León
President before election

Juan José Lucas
PP

Elected President

Juan José Lucas
PP

A regional election was held in Castile and León on Sunday, 13 June 1999, to elect the 5th Cortes of the autonomous community. All 83 seats in the Cortes 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.

Overview

Under the 1999 Statute of Autonomy, the Cortes of Castile and León were 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]

Electoral system

Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Castile and León 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, nor being legally incapacitated.[2][3][4]

The Cortes of Castile and León were entitled to three seats per each multi-member constituency—corresponding to the provinces of Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora—plus one additional seat per each 45,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 22,500. All members were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional voting system, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes (which included blank ballots) being applied in each constituency.[2][5] The use of the electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies.[6]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Cortes constituency was entitled the following seats:[7]

Seats Constituencies
14 León(–1), Valladolid
11 Burgos, Salamanca
8 Zamora
7 Ávila, Palencia
6 Segovia
5 Soria

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.[8][9]

Election date

The term of the Cortes of Castile and León expired four years after the date of their previous ordinary 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 date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of Castile and León (BOCYL).[10][11][12] 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 Cortes of Castile and León at any given time and call a snap election,[13][14] 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.[15] 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, except if it happened in the final year before the expiry of the legislative term.[16] Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances would not alter the period to the next ordinary election, with elected legislators merely serving out what remained of their original four-year term.[15]

The election to the Cortes of Castile and León was officially called on 20 April 1999 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOCYL, setting election day for 13 June and scheduling for the chamber to reconvene on 5 July.[7]

Outgoing parliament

The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of the election call.[17][18]

Parliamentary composition in April 1999
Groups Parties Legislators
Seats Total
People's Parliamentary Group PP 50 50
Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 27 27
United Left–Left of Castile and León's Parliamentary Group IUCyL 4 4
Mixed Parliamentary Group UPL 1 3
INDEP 2[a]

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 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.[21][22]

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.
Vote % Seats
PP
List
 Juan José Lucas Conservatism
Christian democracy 		52.2% 50 [23]
[24]
PSOE
List
 Jaime González Social democracy 29.7% 27 [25]
[26]
[27]
IUCyL
List
 Antonio Herreros Socialism
Communism 		9.6% 5
UPL
List
 Joaquín Otero Leonesism
Regionalism
Autonomism 		2.6% 2
TC–PNC
List
 Carlos Rad Castilian nationalism
Progressivism 		0.6% 0

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; 42 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castile and León (43 in the 1995 election).

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Victory preferences

The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.

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 Regional Government of Castile and León.

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 13 June 1999 Cortes of Castile and León election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
People's Party (PP) 737,982 50.45 −1.75 48 −2
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 483,675 33.06 +3.35 30 +3
United Left of Castile and León (IUCyL) 79,390 5.43 −4.15 1 −4
Leonese People's Union (UPL) 54,158 3.70 +1.15 3 +1
Commoners' Land–Castilian Nationalist Party (TC–PNC) 20,274 1.39 +0.77 1 +1
Regionalist Unity of Castile and León (URCL) 11,195 0.77 +0.36 0 ±0
Centrist Union–Democratic and Social Centre (UC–CDS) 10,422 0.71 New 0 ±0
Independent Candidacy of Valladolid (CIV) 6,784 0.46 +0.32 0 ±0
Party of El Bierzo (PB) 3,851 0.26 −0.17 0 ±0
Spanish Democratic Party (PADE) 3,237 0.22 New 0 ±0
Salamanca–Zamora–León–PREPAL (PREPAL) 3,043 0.21 −0.03 0 ±0
Humanist Party (PH) 2,333 0.16 New 0 ±0
Independent Salamancan Union (USI) 1,851 0.13 New 0 ±0
Zamoran People's Union (UPZ) 1,556 0.11 New 0 ±0
The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV) 1,383 0.09 ±0.00 0 ±0
Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) 1,012 0.07 ±0.00 0 ±0
Confederation of the Greens (LV) 791 0.05 New 0 ±0
Party of Self-employed of Spain and Spanish Independent Groups (PAE–I) 565 0.04 New 0 ±0
Nationalist Party of Castile and León (PANCAL) 276 0.02 New 0 ±0
Blank ballots 39,036 2.67 +0.84
Total 1,462,814 83 −1
Valid votes 1,462,814 99.05 −0.06
Invalid votes 14,044 0.95 +0.06
Votes cast / turnout 1,476,858 67.58 −6.01
Abstentions 711,396 32.42 +6.01
Registered voters 2,185,507
Sources[17][28][29]
Popular vote
PP
 
 50.45%
PSOE
 
 33.06%
IUCyL
 
 5.43%
UPL
 
 3.70%
TC–PNC
 
 1.39%
Others
 
 3.30%
Blank ballots
 
 2.67%
Seats
PP
 
 57.83%
PSOE
 
 36.14%
UPL
 
 3.61%
IUCyL
 
 1.20%
TC–PNC
 
 1.20%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency PP PSOE IUCyL UPL TC–PNC
% S % S % S % S % S
Ávila 62.4 5 26.9 2 6.4 − 0.4 −
Burgos 48.7 6 31.6 4 6.8 − 7.4 1
León 42.5 6 31.0 5 4.0 − 18.4 3 0.1 −
Palencia 51.0 4 37.7 3 5.8 − 0.9 −
Salamanca 54.9 7 34.1 4 3.9 − 0.3 −
Segovia 53.7 4 32.1 2 5.8 − 0.6 −
Soria 56.7 3 32.1 2 5.8 − 0.8 −
Valladolid 48.7 8 36.1 5 7.5 1 0.8 −
Zamora 53.0 5 33.9 3 2.9 − 0.2 −
Total 50.4 48 33.1 30 5.4 1 3.7 3 1.4 1
Sources[17][28][29]

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture
Nomination of Juan José Lucas (PP)
Ballot → 13 July 1999
Required majority → 42 out of 83 Y
Yes
  • • PP (48)
48 / 83
No
35 / 83
Abstentions
0 / 83
Absentees
0 / 83
Sources[17]

2001 investiture

Investiture
Nomination of Juan Vicente Herrera (PP)
Ballot → 15 March 2001
Required majority → 42 out of 83 Y
Yes
  • • PP (48)
48 / 83
No
34 / 83
Abstentions
1 / 83
Absentees
0 / 83
Sources[17]

Notes

  1. ^ Conchi Farto, former UPL legislator;[19] and Elena Pérez, former IUCyL legislator.[20]
  2. ^ a b c Does not include non-resident citizens.

References

Opinion poll sources

  1. ^ "Lucas se garantiza su tercer mandato". ABC (in Spanish). 7 June 1999.
  2. ^ "Lucas refuerza el mayor feudo del PP". El País (in Spanish). 7 June 1999.
  3. ^ "Castilla y León: Lucas, presidente inamovible". El Mundo (in Spanish). 4 June 1999.
  4. ^ "ELECCIONES 13-J /BALANCE DE LAS ENCUESTAS". El Mundo (in Spanish). 6 June 1999.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas y municipales, 1999. Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla y León (Estudio nº 2332. Mayo 1999)". CIS (in Spanish). 4 June 1999.
  6. ^ "Estudio CIS nº 2332. Ficha técnica". 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. ^ Statute (1999), arts. 10 & 15.
  2. ^ a b Statute (1999), art. 11.
  3. ^ LECyL (1987), art. 2.
  4. ^ LOREG (1985), arts. 2–3.
  5. ^ LECyL (1987), arts. 18–20.
  6. ^ Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Dublin: Trinity College Dublin. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  7. ^ a b Decreto 66/1999, de 19 de abril, por el que se convocan elecciones a las Cortes de Castilla y León (PDF) (Decree 66/1999). Official Gazette of Castile and León (in Spanish). 19 April 1999. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  8. ^ LECyL (1987), arts. 21 & 26.
  9. ^ LOREG (1985), arts. 46 & 48.
  10. ^ Statute (1999), art. 12.
  11. ^ LECyL (1987), art. 16.
  12. ^ LOREG (1985), art. 42 & add. prov. 5.
  13. ^ Forjas, Francisco (16 March 1996). "El presidente de Castilla y León tendrá poder para disolver el Parlamento". El País (in Spanish). Valladolid. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  14. ^ Rodríguez Aizpeolea, Luis (25 January 1998). "Todos los presidentes autonómicos podrán disolver sus Cámaras tras las elecciones de junio del 99". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  15. ^ a b Statute (1999), art. 23.
  16. ^ Statute (1999), art. 17.
  17. ^ a b c d e Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones a Cortes de Castilla y León (desde 1983)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  18. ^ "El Parlamento. Legislaturas anteriores. IV Legislatura" (in Spanish). Cortes of Castile and León. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  19. ^ González, N. (10 January 2007). ""Son las bases las que me eligen y espero que se escuche su voz"". Diario de León (in Spanish). San Andrés. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  20. ^ "GP 6/4. Cambios habidos en la composición de los Grupos Parlamentarios Baja de Dña. Elena Pérez Martínez en el Grupo Parlamentario de Izquierda Unida - Izquierda de Castilla y León Alta de Dña. Elena Pérez Martínez en el Grupo Parlamentario Mixto" (PDF). Official Gazette of the Cortes of Castile and León (in Spanish) (167): 10135–10136. 16 October 1997. ISSN 2253-7414. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  21. ^ LECyL (1987), arts. 25–26.
  22. ^ LOREG (1985), art. 44.
  23. ^ Forjas, Francisco (24 August 1998). "Los populares de Castilla y León quieren a Lucas como candidato en la comunidad". El País (in Spanish). Valladolid. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  24. ^ Forjas, Francisco (16 January 1999). "Juan José Lucas aspira por tercera vez a la presidencia de Castilla y León". El País (in Spanish). Valladolid. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  25. ^ "Jesús Quijano no será candidato del PSOE a la Junta de Castilla y León". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 31 August 1997. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  26. ^ "PSOECyL. Historia" (in Spanish). Socialist Party of Castile and León. 22 September 2025. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  27. ^ "La mayoría de los candidatos ocupa ahora cargos públicos". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 29 June 1998. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  28. ^ a b "Procesos electorales a las Cortes de Castilla y León" (in Spanish). Regional Government of Castile and León. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  29. ^ a b "Resumen de los resultados de las elecciones a las Cortes de Castilla y León celebradas el día 13 de junio de 1999, según los datos que figuran en las actas de escrutinio general remitidas por cada una de las Juntas Electorales Provinciales" (PDF). Official Gazette of Castile and León (in Spanish) (151): 7988–7990. 6 August 1999. ISSN 1989-8959. Retrieved 18 January 2026.

Bibliography

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