1878 Belgian general election

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1878 Belgian general election
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
  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 partySecond party
  FrereOrban.jpg Jules Malou ars-moriendi.jpg
Leader Walthère Frère-Orban Jules Malou
Party Liberal Catholic
Leader sinceCandidate for PMCandidate for PM
Seats before57 seats67 seats
Seats won4818
Seats after7260
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 15Decrease2.svg 7
Popular vote21,28320,700
Percentage50.31%48.94%

Government before election

Malou I
Catholic

Government after election

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.

Contents

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

Belgian Chamber 1878.svg
PartyVotes%Seats
WonTotal+/–
Liberal Party 18,96652.614872+15
Catholic Party 17,08547.391860–7
Total36,051100.0066132+8
Total votes36,051
Registered voters/turnout57,64062.55
Source: Mackie & Rose, [3] Sternberger et al.

Senate

Belgium Senate 1878.svg
PartySeats
Liberal Party 36
Catholic Party 30
Total66
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]

ProvinceArrondissementSeatsChange
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

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References

  1. Codebook Constituency-level Elections Archive, 2003
  2. 1 2 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)