1884 Spanish general election

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1884 Spanish general election

← 1881 27 April 1884 (Congress)
8 May 1884 (Senate)
1886 →

All 433 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate
217 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
Registered808,243
Turnout587,458 (72.7%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Práxedes Mateo Sagasta José López Domínguez
Party Conservative Fusionist Leftist
Leader since 1874 1880 1884
Leader's seat Madrid Logroño Coín
Seats won 342 C / 140 S 43 C / 15 S 36 C / 8 S

Prime Minister before election

Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Conservative

Prime Minister after election

Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Conservative

The 1884 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 27 April (for the Congress of Deputies) and on Thursday, 8 May 1884 (for the Senate), to elect the 3rd Cortes of the Kingdom of Spain in the Restoration period. All 433 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.

Overview

Electoral system

The Spanish

censitary suffrage, which comprised national males over 25 years of age fulfilling one of the following criteria: being taxpayers with a minimum quota of 25 Pt per territorial contribution (paid at least one year in advance) or 50 Pt per industrial subsidy (paid at least two years in advance), having a particular position (royal academy numerary members; ecclesiastic individuals; active, unemployed or retired public employees; military personnel; widely recognized painters and sculptors; public teachers; etc.), or having at least a two-year residency in a municipality, provided that an educational or professional capacity could be proven.[3][4] In Cuba and Puerto Rico, the taxpayer quota requirement ascended to 125 Pt for both the territorial contribution and the industrial or trade subsidy.[5][6][7]

For the Congress of Deputies, 111 seats were elected using a

partial block voting system in 31 multi-member constituencies, with the remaining 321 being elected under a one-round first-past-the-post system in single-member districts. Candidates winning a plurality in each constituency were elected. In constituencies electing eight seats, electors could vote for up to six candidates; in those with seven seats, for up to five candidates; in those with six seats, for up to four; in those with four or five seats, for up to three candidates; and for one candidate in single-member districts. Additionally, up to ten deputies could be elected through cumulative voting in several single-member constituencies, provided that they obtained more than 10,000 votes overall. The Congress was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, with each multi-member constituency being allocated a fixed number of seats. The law also provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated throughout the legislature.[1][6][8][9]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:[6][10][11]

Seats Constituencies
8 Havana, Madrid
5 Barcelona, Palma, Santa Clara
4 Santiago de Cuba, Seville
3

For the Senate, 180 seats were

Captain Generals of the Army and the Navy Admiral; the Patriarch of the Indies and archbishops; and the presidents of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme War Council and the Supreme Council of the Navy, after two years of service—as well as senators for life (who were appointed by the Monarch).[1][12][13][14]

Election date

The term of each chamber of the Cortes—the Congress and one-half of the elective part of the Senate—expired five years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The previous Congress and Senate elections were held on 21 August and 2 September 1881, which meant that the legislature's terms would have expired on 21 August and 2 September 1886, respectively. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.[1][6][12] There was no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections for the Congress and the Senate, nor for the elective part of the Senate to be renewed in its entirety except in the case that a full dissolution was agreed by the monarch. Still, there was only one case of a separate election (for the Senate in 1877) and no half-Senate elections taking place under the 1876 Constitution.

The Cortes were officially dissolved on 31 March 1884, with the dissolution decree setting the election dates for 27 April (for the Congress) and 8 May 1884 (for the Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 20 May.[15]

Background

The

election rigging, which they achieved through the encasillado, using the links between the Ministry of Governance, the provincial civil governors and the local bosses (caciques) to ensure victory and exclude minor parties from the power sharing.[16][17]

Results

Congress of Deputies

Summary of the 27 April 1884 Congress of Deputies election results
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes %
Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) 342
Liberal Fusionist Party (PLF) 43
Dynastic Left (ID) 36
Independent Republicans (R.IND) 9
Possibilist Democratic Party (PDP) 3
Total 433
Votes cast / turnout 587,458 72.68
Abstentions 220,785 27.32
Registered voters 808,243
Sources[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]
Seats
PLC
78.98%
PLF
9.93%
ID
8.31%
R.IND
2.08%
PDP
0.69%

Senate

Summary of the 8 May 1884 Senate of Spain election results
Parties and alliances Seats
Liberal Conservative Party (Conservadores) 140
Liberal Fusionist Party (Fusionistas) 15
Dynastic Left (Izquierda Dinástica) 8
Possibilist Democratic Party (Posibilistas) 2
Moderate Party (Moderados) 1
Independents (Independientes) 4
Archbishops (Arzobispos) 10
Total elective seats 180
Sources[32][33][34][35]
Seats
Conservative
77.78%
Fusionist
8.33%
Dynastic Left
4.44%
Possibilist
1.11%
Moderate
0.56%
Independent
2.22%
Archbishops
5.56%

References

  1. ^ a b c d Constitución de la Monarquía Española (PDF) (Constitution) (in Spanish). 30 June 1876. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  2. ^ "El Senado en la historia constitucional española". Senate of Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  3. ^ García Muñoz 2002, pp. 105–106.
  4. ^ Carreras de Odriozola & Tafunell Sambola 2005, p. 1077.
  5. ^ Roldán de Montaud 1999, p. 249.
  6. ^ a b c d Ley electoral de los Diputados a Cortes (PDF) (Law) (in Spanish). 28 December 1878. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Decreto mandando se verifiquen en Puerto-Rico las elecciones ordinarias de Senadores y Diputados á Córtes" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish) (104). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 841–842. 14 April 1871.
  8. ^ Ley mandando que los distritos para las elecciones de Diputados á Córtes sean los que se expresan en la división adjunta (PDF) (Law) (in Spanish). 1 January 1871. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Decreto mandando se verifiquen en Puerto-Rico las elecciones ordinarias de Senadores y Diputados á Córtes" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish) (104). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 841–842. 14 April 1871.
  10. ^ "Real decreto dictando reglas para las elecciones de Diputados a Cortes en la Isla de Cuba" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish) (220). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 376. 8 August 1878.
  11. ^ Roldán de Montaud 1999, pp. 250.
  12. ^ a b Ley electoral de Senadores (PDF) (Law) (in Spanish). 8 February 1877. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  13. ^ Ley dictando reglas para la elección de Senadores en las islas de Cuba y Puerto Rico (PDF) (Law) (in Spanish). 9 January 1879. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  14. ^ "Real decreto determinando el número de Senadores que habrán de elegirse en cada una de las provincias con motivo de las próximas elecciones" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish) (184). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 23. 3 July 1881.
  15. ^ "Real decreto declarando disueltos el Congreso de los Diputados y la parte electiva del Senado" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish) (92). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 1. 1 April 1884.
  16. ^ Martorell Linares 1997, pp. 139–143.
  17. ^ Martínez Relanzón 2017, pp. 147–148.
  18. ^ López Domínguez 1976, pp. 390–408.
  19. ^ Armengol i Segú & Varela Ortega 2001, pp. 655–776.
  20. National Institute of Statistics
    (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Lucha electoral". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Época. 27 April 1884. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  22. ^ "Elecciones de diputados a Cortes". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia de España. 28 April 1884. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  23. ^ "Elecciones en provincias". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Día. 28 April 1884. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  24. ^ "El resultado de las elecciones". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Globo. 28 April 1884. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  25. ^ "Elecciones de diputados". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Día. 29 April 1884. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  26. ^ "Elecciones en provincias". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Liberal. 29 April 1884. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  27. ^ "Resultado de las elecciones". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Globo. 29 April 1884. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  28. ^ "Resultado de las elecciones". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Época. 29 April 1884. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  29. ^ "Elecciones en provincias". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Siglo Futuro. 29 April 1884. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  30. ^ "Las elecciones en Cuba y Puerto Rico". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Imparcial. 30 April 1884. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  31. ^ "Los diputados por Cuba y Puerto Rico". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Liberal. 30 April 1884. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  32. ^ "Ayer hemos publicado el resultado de las elecciones senatoriales". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Época. 9 May 1884. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  33. ^ "Los resultados hasta ahora conocidos de la elección de senadores dan la cifra de 21 a la oposición". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). Diario Ilustrado. 9 May 1884. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  34. ^ "Senadores y diputados". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Liberal. 9 May 1884. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  35. ^ "Correspondencias". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). Crónica de Cataluña. 11 May 1884. Retrieved 13 December 2020.

Bibliography

External links