1859 Belgian general election

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1859 Belgian general election
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
  1857 14 June 1859 (1859-06-14) 1861  

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 before70 seats38 seats
Seats won3127
Seats after6947
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 1Increase2.svg 9
Popular vote15,05212,726
Percentage54.19%45.81%

Government before election

Rogier II
Liberal

Government after election

Rogier II
Liberal

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 14 June 1859. [1] [2] The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 69 of the 116 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 31 of the 58 seats in the Senate. [2] Voter turnout was 55.9%, although only 49,672 people were eligible to vote.

Contents

Under the alternating system, elections for the Chamber of Representatives were only held in five out of the nine provinces: Antwerp, Brabant, Luxembourg, Namur and West Flanders. Additionally, special elections were held on the same day in the arrondissements of Charleroi, Liège and Mons.

Campaign

Twelve of the 58 seats were uncontested, of which the Catholics won nine and the Liberals three. [3]

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Belgian Chamber 1859.svg
PartyVotes%Seats
WonTotal+/–
Liberal Party 15,05254.193169–1
Catholics12,72645.812747+9
Total27,778100.0058116+8
Total votes27,778
Registered voters/turnout49,67255.92
Source: Mackie & Rose, [3] Sternberger et al.

The results exclude the voting figures for the Leper Colony seat. [3]

Senate

Belgium Senate 1859.svg
PartySeats
Liberal Party 31
Catholics27
Total58
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 6
Mechelen 3
Turnhout 3+1
Limburg Hasselt 2
Maaseik 1
Tongeren 2
East Flanders Aalst 3
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 4
Brussels 11+2
Nivelles 4
Hainaut Tournai 4
Ath 2
Charleroi 4+1
Thuin 2
Mons 5+1
Soignies 3
Liège Huy 2
Waremme 1
Liège 7+2
Verviers 3
Luxembourg Arlon 1
Marche 1
Bastogne 1
Neufchâteau 1
Virton 1
Namur Namur 4+1
Dinant 2
Philippeville 2
116+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. 1 2 3 Thomas T. Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) The International Almanac of Electoral History, Macmillan, p46
  4. List of members of the Chamber of Representatives (1859)