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1874 Belgian general election

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1874 Belgian general election

← 1872 9 June 1874 (1874-06-09) 1876 →

61 of the 124 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
63 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt Walthère Frère-Orban
Party Catholic Liberal
Leader since Candidate for PM Candidate for PM
Seats before 71 seats 53 seats
Seats won 26 35
Seats after 68 56
Seat change Decrease 3 Increase 3
Popular vote 15,864 17,531
Percentage 47.50% 52.50%

Government before election

de Theux de Meylandt III
Catholic

Government after election

de Theux de Meylandt III
Catholic

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 9 June 1874.[1][2] The result was a victory for the Catholic Party, which won 68 of the 124 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 34 of the 62 seats in the Senate.[2] Voter turnout was 64.1%, although only 52,074 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.

Incumbent Head of Government Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt was re-elected in the arrondissement of Hasselt but died on 21 August 1874. A special election was held on 27 September 1874 to replace him, which Henri de Pitteurs-Hiegaerts won.

Additionally, a special election was held in the arrondissement of Tielt to replace Gustave de Mûelenaere, who died on 8 July 1874; this is of note as future Prime Minister Auguste Beernaert was elected to succeed him.

Results

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Chamber of Representatives

[edit]
PartyVotes%Seats
WonTotal+/–
Liberal Party17,53152.503556+3
Catholic Party15,86447.502668–3
Total33,395100.00611240
Total votes33,395
Registered voters/turnout52,07464.13
Source: Mackie & Rose,[3] Sternberger et al.

Senate

[edit]
PartySeats
Catholic Party34
Liberal Party28
Total62
Source: Sternberger et al.

References

[edit]
  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