Belgian general election, 1874

Belgian general election, 1874

9 June 1874

61 of the 124 seats in the Chamber of Representatives 63 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party   Party Catholic Liberal Last election 71 seats 53 seats Seats won 68 56 Seat change 3 3

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 9 June 1874.^[1][2] The result was a victory for the Catholic Party, which won 68 of the 124 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 34 of the 62 seats in the Senate.^[2] Voter turnout was 64.1%, although only 52,074 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.

Incumbent Head of Government Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt was re-elected in the arrondissement of Hasselt but died on 21 August 1874. A special election was held on 27 September 1874 to replace him, which Henri de Pitteurs-Hiegaerts won.

Additionally, a special election was held in the arrondissement of Tielt to replace Gustave de Mûelenaere, who died on 8 July 1874. Auguste Beernaert was elected to succeed him.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Party	Votes	%	Seats
			Won	Total	+/–
Liberal Party	17,531	52.5	35	56	+3
Catholic Party	15,864	47.5	26	68	–3
Invalid/blank votes	2,687	–	–	–	–
Total	36,082	100	61	124	0
Registered voters/turnout	52,074	64.1	–	–	–
Source: Mackie & Rose,[3] Sternberger et al

Senate

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Catholic Party			34
Liberal Party			28
Total			62
Sternberger et al.

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