1999 Madrid City Council election explained

Election Name:1999 Madrid City Council election
Country:City of Madrid
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1995 Madrid City Council election
Previous Year:1995
Next Election:2003 Madrid City Council election
Next Year:2003
Seats For Election:All 53 seats in the City Council of Madrid
Majority Seats:27
Opinion Polls:
  1. Opinion polls
Registered:2,488,296 1.6%
Turnout:1,494,090 (60.1%)
11.2 pp
Election Date:13 June 1999
Leader1:José María Álvarez del Manzano
Party1:People's Party of the Community of Madrid
Leader Since1:10 October 1986
Last Election1:30 seats, 52.7%
Seats1:28
Seat Change1:2
Popular Vote1:734,921
Percentage1:49.5%
Swing1:3.2 pp
Leader2:Fernando Morán
Party2:PSOEp
Colour2:EF1C27
Leader Since2:28 June 1998
Last Election2:16 seats, 27.8%
Seats2:20
Seat Change2:4
Popular Vote2:534,700
Percentage2:36.0%
Swing2:8.2 pp
Leader3:Inés Sabanés
Party3:IU
Colour3:732021
Leader Since3:23 June 1998
Last Election3:9 seats, 15.6%
Seats3:5
Seat Change3:4
Popular Vote3:128,731
Percentage3:8.7%
Swing3:6.9 pp
Mayor
Before Election:José María Álvarez del Manzano
Before Party:People's Party of the Community of Madrid
After Election:José María Álvarez del Manzano
After Party:People's Party of the Community of Madrid

The 1999 Madrid City Council election, also the 1999 Madrid municipal election, was held on Sunday, 13 June 1999, to elect the 6th City Council of the municipality of Madrid. All 53 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1999 European Parliament election.

The People's Party (PP) won an absolute majority of seats for a third consecutive time, but, for the first time since the 1987 election the party lost votes and seats. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) maintained its second place but reverted the decline it had been suffering since 1983. PSOE gains came at the expense of United Left (IU), which lost nearly half of its votes and seats.

As a result, José María Álvarez del Manzano was elected as Mayor of Madrid for a third term in office.

Electoral system

The City Council of Madrid (Spanish; Castilian: Ayuntamiento de Madrid) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Madrid, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly.[1] Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years.[2] Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the municipality of Madrid and in full enjoyment of their political rights, as well as resident non-national European citizens and those whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty.

Local councillors 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 local council.[1] [2] Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:

PopulationCouncillors
<2505
251–1,0007
1,001–2,0009
2,001–5,00011
5,001–10,00013
10,001–20,00017
20,001–50,00021
50,001–100,00025
>100,001+1 per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction
+1 if total is an even number

The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the appointee would be determined by lot.[1]

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 a determined amount of the electors registered in the municipality for which they were seeking election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. For the case of Madrid, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required.[2]

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; 27 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Madrid (28 until 1 January 2003).

Results

← Summary of the 13 June 1999 City Council of Madrid election results →
Parties and alliancesPopular voteSeats
Votes%±ppTotal+/−
People's Party (PP)734,921 49.48 –3.2328 –2
Spanish Socialist Workers' PartyProgressives (PSOE–p)534,700 36.00 +8.1620 +4
United Left (IU)128,731 8.67 –6.895 –4
The Greens (LV)10,462 0.70 New0 ±0
The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV)8,974 0.60 –0.130 ±0
Centrist Union–Democratic and Social Centre (UC–CDS)6,653 0.45 New0 ±0
Alliance for National Unity (AUN)3,500 0.24 New0 ±0
Union Community of Madrid (UCMA)2,658 0.18 New0 ±0
Humanist Party (PH)1,906 0.13 +0.050 ±0
Madrilenian Independent Regional Party (PRIM)1,695 0.11 –0.010 ±0
The Phalanx (FE)1,580 0.11 New0 ±0
Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)1,488 0.10 New0 ±0
Independent Spanish Phalanx (FEI)1,208 0.08 +0.050 ±0
Natural Law Party (PLN)1,188 0.08 New0 ±0
Commoners' Land–Castilian Nationalist Party (TC–PNC)1,099 0.07 New0 ±0
Republican Action (AR)860 0.06 New0 ±0
Spanish Democratic Party (PADE)790 0.05 New0 ±0
Blank ballots43,021 2.90 +1.15
Total1,485,434 53 –2
Valid votes1,485,434 99.42 –0.18
Invalid votes8,656 0.58 +0.18
Votes cast / turnout1,494,090 60.06 –11.15
Abstentions993,652 39.94 +11.15
Registered voters2,487,742
Sources[17] [18] [19] [20]

References

Opinion poll sources
Other

Notes and References

  1. Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local . Law . 7 . es . 2 April 1985 . 30 June 2020.
  2. Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General . Organic Law . 5 . es . 19 June 1985 . 30 January 2020.
  3. Web site: Manzano: suma su tercera mayoría y sigue . es . El Mundo . 6 June 1999.
  4. Web site: El PP aumenta sus votos en Madrid y repite mayoría absoluta en el Ayuntamiento . es . ABC . 5 June 1999.
  5. Web site: Manzano comienza a perder apoyo . es . El País . 6 June 1999.
  6. Web site: El éxito del éxito . es . El País . 6 June 1999.
  7. Web site: Ruiz-Gallardón aumenta su mayoría y el alcalde pierde dos ediles, según el CIS . es . El País . 5 June 1999.
  8. Web site: El PP conserva su poder municipal, autonómico y europeo, e IU se hunde . es . La Vanguardia . 5 June 1999.
  9. Web site: El PP mantiene su mayoría en la región, según un sondeo de Tele 5 . es . El País . 4 May 1999.
  10. Web site: El PP mantiene la mayoría absoluta en la capital y la Comunidad, según una encuesta . es . El País . 1 May 1999.
  11. Web site: Mayoría absoluta del PP en la Comunidad y el Ayuntamiento . es . ABC . 1 March 1999.
  12. Web site: La izquierda está a un escaño del PP en la región, según un sondeo . es . El País . 20 February 1999.
  13. Web site: Mayoría absoluta para Álvarez del Manzano, según un sondeo del PP . es . ABC . 30 January 1999.
  14. Web site: La izquierda se acerca al PP en intención de voto, según una encuesta . es . El País . 19 May 1998.
  15. Web site: Los madrileños valoran más a Barranco que al alcalde, según un sondeo . es . El País . 6 November 1997.
  16. Web site: Electoral Results Consultation. Congress. March 1996. Madrid Municipality . es . Ministry of the Interior . 12 November 2017.
  17. Web site: Local election results, 13 June 1999 . es . . 16 February 2018.
  18. Web site: 1991-2003 Municipal Elections. Madrid . es . www.madrid.es . City Council of Madrid . 5 December 2017.
  19. Web site: Electoral Results Consultation. Municipal. June 1999. Madrid Municipality . es . . 12 November 2017.
  20. Web site: Elecciones Municipales en Madrid (1979 - 2015) . es . Historia Electoral.com . 30 September 2017.