Belgian general election, 1861

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Belgian general election, 1861
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
  1859 11 June 1861 (1861-06-11) 1863  

58 of the 116 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
57 seats needed for a majority

 First partySecond party
  Charlesrogier.jpg No image.png
Leader Charles Rogier
Party Liberal Catholic
Leader sinceCandidate for PM
Seats before69 seats47 seats
Seats won3622
Seats after6650
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 3Increase2.svg 3
Popular vote15,97911,799
Percentage57.52%42.48%

Government before election

Rogier II
Liberal

Elected Government

Rogier II
Liberal

State Coat of Arms of Belgium.svg
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Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 11 June 1861. [1] [2] In the elections for the Chamber of Representatives the result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 66 of the 116 seats. [2] Voter turnout was 58.4%, although only 47,555 people were eligible to vote.

Belgium Federal constitutional monarchy in Western Europe

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 square kilometres (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.

The Liberal Party was a Belgian political party that existed from 1846 until 1961, when it became the Party for Freedom and Progress, Partij voor Vrijheid en Vooruitgang/Parti de la Liberté et du Progrès or PVV-PLP, under the leadership of Omer Vanaudenhove.

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.

Limburg (Belgium) Province of Belgium

Limburg is a province in Belgium. It is the easternmost of the five Dutch-speaking provinces that together form the Region of Flanders, one of the three main political and cultural sub-divisions of modern Belgium.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

PartyVotes%Seats
WonTotal+/–
Liberal Party 15,97957.53666–3
Catholics11,79942.52250+3
Invalid/blank votes2,760
Total30,538100581160
Registered voters/turnout47,55558.4
Source: Mackie & Rose, [3] Sternberger et al

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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, p46