1949 Chilean parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Chile on 6 March 1949. ^[1] Although the Social Christian Conservative Party received the most votes in the Senate elections, the Liberal Party won the most seats, whilst the Radical Party remained the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies.

They were the first parliamentary elections with women's suffrage. ^[2]

Electoral system

The term length for Senators was eight years, with around half of the Senators elected every four years. This election saw 20 of the 45 Senate seats up for election. ^[3]

Campaign

Having won 15 seats in the Chamber of Deputies in the 1945 elections, the Communist Party was banned in 1948. ^[4]

Results

Senate

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Social Christian Conservative Party	55,825	22.28	3
	Liberal Party	42,930	17.13	6
	Agrarian Labor Party	42,230	16.85	3
	Radical Party	42,125	16.81	5
	Authentic Socialist Party	15,318	6.11	0
	Radical Democracy	10,445	4.17	1
	Democratic Party	9,252	3.69	0
	Popular Socialist Party	8,772	3.50	1
	Radical Doctrinaire Party	8,613	3.44	0
	Socialist Party	6,818	2.72	0
	Progressive Liberal Party	6,002	2.40	0
	National Falange	2,222	0.89	1
Total		250,552	100.00	20
Valid votes		250,552	99.07
Invalid/blank votes		2,351	0.93
Total votes		252,903	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		316,186	79.99
Source: Nohlen

Chamber of Deputies

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Radical Party	100,869	21.70	34	–5
	Social Christian Conservative Party	98,118	21.11	31	–5
	Liberal Party	83,582	17.98	33	+2
	Agrarian Labor Party	38,742	8.33	14	+11
	Radical Democracy	23,248	5.00	8	New
	Popular Socialist Party	22,631	4.87	6	New
	Democratic Party	20,682	4.45	6	0
	National Falange	18,221	3.92	3	0
	Socialist Party	15,676	3.37	5	–1
	People's Democratic Party	8,536	1.84	1	New
	Traditionalist Conservative Party	7,485	1.61	2	New
	Progressive Liberal Party	6,431	1.38	2	–1
	Authentic Socialist Party	5,125	1.10	1	–2
	Laborista Party	5,105	1.10	1	–
	Radical Doctrinaire Party	4,424	0.95		–
	Social Christian Movement	2,018	0.43		–
	Democrat Party	1,994	0.43	0	–1
	Chilean Renovating Action	1,985	0.43	0	New
Total		464,872	100.00	147	0
Valid votes		464,872	98.83
Invalid/blank votes		5,504	1.17
Total votes		470,376	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		591,994	79.46
Source: Nohlen

References

1. Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p262 ISBN   978-0-19-928358-3
2. Drake, Paul (1991), Bethell, Leslie (ed.), "Chile, 1930 — 58" , The Cambridge History of Latin America: Volume 8: Latin America since 1930: Spanish South America, vol. 8, Cambridge University Press, pp. 267–310, doi:10.1017/chol9780521266529.006, ISBN   978-0-521-26652-9
3. Nohlen, p283
4. Nohlen, p254