1882 Belgian general election

1882 Belgian general election

←  1880 13 June 1882 (1882-06-13) 1884  →
69 of the 138 seats in the Chamber of Representatives 70 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 74 seats 58 seats Seats won 49 20 Seats after 79 59 Seat change 5 1 Popular vote 22,001 19,681 Percentage 52.77% 47.21%
Government before election Frère-Orban II Liberal Government after election Frère-Orban II Liberal

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 13 June 1882. ^{[1] [2]} The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 79 of the 138 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 37 of the 69 seats in the Senate. ^[2] Voter turnout was 75.1%, although only 55,517 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. Special elections were also held in the arrondissements of Antwerp, Philippeville, Brussels, Nivelles and Namur.

Run-off elections were held a week later, on 20 June 1882.

A special election was also held in Liège on 16 October 1882 following the death of Dieudonné Mouton  ( nl ) on 17 September.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				Won	Total	+/–
	Liberal Party	22,001	52.77	49	79	+5
	Catholic Party	19,681	47.21	20	59	+1
	Others	7	0.02	0	0	0
Total		41,689	100.00	69	138	+6
Total votes		41,689	–
Registered voters/turnout		55,517	75.09
Source: Mackie & Rose, [3] Sternberger et al.

Senate

Party		Seats
	Liberal Party	37
	Catholic Party	32
Total		69
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	8	+1
	Mechelen	3	–
	Turnhout	3	–
Limburg	Hasselt	2	–
	Maaseik	1	–
	Tongeren	2	–
East Flanders	Aalst	4	+1
	Oudenaarde	3	–
	Gent	8	–
	Eeklo	1	–
	Dendermonde	3	–
	Sint-Niklaas	3	–
West Flanders	Bruges	3	–
	Roeselare	2	–
	Tielt	2	–
	Kortrijk	4	–
	Ypres	3	–
	Veurne	1	–
	Diksmuide	1	–
	Ostend	1	–
Brabant	Leuven	5	–
	Brussels	16	+2
	Nivelles	4	–
Hainaut	Tournai	4	–
	Ath	2	–
	Charleroi	7	–
	Thuin	3	–
	Mons	6	+1
	Soignies	3	–
Liège	Huy	2	–
	Waremme	2	–
	Liège	9	+1
	Verviers	4	–
Luxembourg	Arlon	1	–
	Marche	1	–
	Bastogne	1	–
	Neufchâteau	1	–
	Virton	1	–
Namur	Namur	4	–
	Dinant	2	–
	Philippeville	2	–
		138	+6

References

1. Codebook Constituency-level Elections Archive, 2003
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 (1882-1883)