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1878 Belgian general election

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1878 Belgian general election

← 1876 11 June 1878 (1878-06-11) 1880 →

66 of the 132 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
67 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Walthère Frère-Orban Jules Malou
Party Liberal Catholic
Leader since Candidate for PM Candidate for PM
Seats before 57 seats 67 seats
Seats won 48 18
Seats after 72 60
Seat change Increase 15 Decrease 7
Popular vote 21,283 20,700
Percentage 50.31% 48.94%

Government before election

Malou I
Catholic

Elected Government

Frère-Orban II
Liberal

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 11 June, 18 June and 15 July 1878.[1][2] The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 72 of the 132 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 36 of the 66 seats in the Senate.[2] Voter turnout was 62.5%, although only 56,640 people were eligible to vote.

Under the alternating system, elections for the Chamber of Representatives were only held in four out of the nine provinces: Hainaut, Limburg, Liège and East Flanders. Additionally, special elections were held in the arrondissements of Antwerp, Brussels and Kortrijk after these electoral districts got one extra seat due to population growth.

They were the first elections with strict guarantees for secret ballots following the law of 9 July 1877, which contributed to the success of the liberals.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Party Votes % Seats
Won Total +/–
Liberal Party 18,966 52.6 48 72 +15
Catholic Party 17,085 47.4 18 60 –7
Invalid/blank votes 2,697
Total 38,748 100 66 132 +8
Registered voters/turnout 57,640 62.5
Source: Mackie & Rose,[3] Sternberger et al.

Senate

Party Votes % Seats
Liberal Party 36
Catholic Party 30
Total 66
Source: Sternberger et al.

Constituencies

The distribution of seats among the electoral districts was as follows for the Chamber of Representatives, with the difference compared to the previous election due to population growth:[4]

Province Arrondissement Seats Change
Antwerp Antwerp 7 +1
Mechelen 3
Turnhout 3
Limburg Hasselt 2
Maaseik 1
Tongeren 2
East Flanders Aalst 3
Oudenaarde 3
Gent 8 +1
Eeklo 1
Dendermonde 3
Sint-Niklaas 3
West Flanders Bruges 3
Roeselare 2
Tielt 2
Kortrijk 4 +1
Ypres 3
Veurne 1
Diksmuide 1
Ostend 1
Brabant Leuven 5
Brussels 14 +1
Nivelles 4
Hainaut Tournai 4
Ath 2
Charleroi 7 +2
Thuin 3
Mons 5
Soignies 3
Liège Huy 2
Waremme 2 +1
Liège 8
Verviers 4 +1
Luxembourg Arlon 1
Marche 1
Bastogne 1
Neufchâteau 1
Virton 1
Namur Namur 4
Dinant 2
Philippeville 2
132 +8

References

  1. ^ Codebook Constituency-level Elections Archive, 2003
  2. ^ a b Sternberger, D, Vogel, B & Nohlen, D (1969) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band I: Europa - Erster Halbband, p105
  3. ^ Thomas T Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) The International Almanac of Electoral History, Macmillan, pp48–49
  4. ^ List of members of the Chamber of Representatives (1878)