1912 Belgian general election

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1912 Belgian general election
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
  1910 2 June 1912 1914  

All 186 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
93 of 120 seats in the Senate
 First partySecond partyThird party
  DeBroqueville.jpg 3x4.svg 3x4.svg
Leader Charles de Broqueville N/A
Party Catholic LiberalSocialist Liberal
Seats won1014521
Popular vote1,337,315710,459291,084
Percentage51.01%27.10%11.10%

 Fourth partyFifth party
  3x4.svg
LeaderLaurent Vandersmissen
Party Labour CVP
Seats won181
Popular vote243,33819,317
Percentage9.28%0.74%

Government before election

De Broqueville I
Catholic

Government after election

De Broqueville I
Catholic

Full general elections were held in Belgium on 2 June 1912. [1]

Contents

Background

Charles de Broqueville M 37 4 Charles de Brocqueville.jpg
Charles de Broqueville

Catholics had formed the government continuously since 1884. Minister Schollaert had drafted a controversial education law, because of which he was forced to resign in June 1911. He was succeeded by a government led by Charles de Broqueville. The education law was intended to financially equalise public and private education, which was opposed by liberals and socialists as it benefited private (Catholic) schools. Both opposition parties, united against Catholics, were expected to win the elections. King Albert I was preparing to switch to a progressive government headed by liberal Paul Hymans. However, the elections unexpectedly increased the majority of the Catholic Party, which won 101 of the 186 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 54 of the 93 seats in the Senate. [2] Consequently, the incumbent Catholic government headed by Charles de Broqueville continued after the elections.

Electoral system

These elections were the first full general elections since 27 May 1900, when a proportional system using the D'Hondt method was introduced. Since 1893, there was universal suffrage with plural voting. Hence, there were more votes than the 1,745,666 who could vote in these Chamber elections (out of a population of 7,571,387 in the country).

Following the population census, the number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives increased from 166 to 186. The number of directly elected seats in the Senate (half the number of Chamber seats) consequently increased from 83 to 93; the number of provincial senators remained at 27.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Belgian Chamber 1912.svg
PartyVotes%Seats
Catholic Party 1,337,31551.01101
LiberalSocialist kartels710,45927.1045
Liberal Party 291,08411.1021
Belgian Labour Party 243,3389.2818
Christene Volkspartij 19,3170.741
Independents20,2580.770
Total2,621,771100.00186
Valid votes2,621,77197.68
Invalid/blank votes62,3272.32
Total votes2,684,098100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,814,08995.38
Source: Belgian Elections [3]

Senate

Belgium Senate 1912.svg
PartyVotes%Seats
Catholic Party 1,224,76752.2254
LiberalSocialist kartels480,45720.4916
Liberal Party 408,04317.4014
Belgian Labour Party 223,1979.529
Christene Volkspartij 8,9370.380
Total2,345,401100.0093
Valid votes2,345,40196.90
Invalid/blank votes75,1363.10
Total votes2,420,537100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,525,81095.83
Source: Belgian Elections [4]

Constituencies

The distribution of seats among the electoral districts was as follows. [5] Several arrondissements got one or more additional seats, following the population census. With Neufchâteau-Virton receiving an extra seat, every electoral district now had at minimum, three seats in the Chamber.

ProvinceArrondissement(s)ChamberChangeSenateChange
Antwerp Antwerp 15+27+1
Mechelen 5+15+1
Turnhout 4+1
Elected by the provincial council3
Limburg Hasselt 34+1
Tongeren-Maaseik 4+1
Elected by the provincial council2
East Flanders Aalst 54
Oudenaarde 3
Gent-Eeklo 12+16+1
Dendermonde 4+14
Sint-Niklaas 4
Elected by the provincial council4
West Flanders Bruges 42
Roeselare-Tielt 5+13+1
Kortrijk 54
Ypres 3
Veurne-Diksmuide-Ostend 5+12
Elected by the provincial council3
Brabant Leuven 7+13
Brussels 26+513+2
Nivelles 42
Elected by the provincial council4
Hainaut Tournai-Ath 63
Charleroi 11+27+1
Thuin 3
Mons 7+15
Soignies 4
Elected by the provincial council4
Liège Huy-Waremme 42
Liège 13+17+1
Verviers 52
Elected by the provincial council3
Luxembourg Arlon-Marche-Bastogne 33
Neufchâteau-Virton 3+1
Elected by the provincial council2
Namur Namur 55+1
Dinant-Philippeville 4
Elected by the provincial council2
Total186+20120+10

References

  1. Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (31 May 2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. p. 289. ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7.
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, pp308-310
  3. "Verkiezingsdatabase". www.ibzdgip.fgov.be.
  4. "Verkiezingsdatabase". www.ibzdgip.fgov.be.
  5. List of members of the Chamber of Representatives (1912)