Belgian general election, 1878

Belgian general election, 1878

11 June 1878

66 of the 132 seats in the Chamber of Representatives 67 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party   Party Liberal Catholic Last election 57 seats 67 seats Seats won 72 60 Seat change 15 7

Government before election Malou I Catholic Elected Government Frère-Orban II Liberal

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 11 June, 18 June and 15 July 1878.^[1][2] The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 72 of the 132 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 36 of the 66 seats in the Senate.^[2] Voter turnout was 62.5%, although only 56,640 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. Additionally, special elections were held in the arrondissements of Antwerp, Brussels and Kortrijk after these electoral districts got one extra seat due to population growth.

The were the first elections with strict guarantees for secret ballots, which contributed to the success of the liberals.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Party	Votes	%	Seats
			Won	Total	+/–
Liberal Party	18,966	52.6	48	72	+15
Catholic Party	17,085	47.4	18	60	–7
Invalid/blank votes	2,697	–	–	–	–
Total	38,748	100	66	132	+8
Registered voters/turnout	57,640	62.5	–	–	–
Source: Mackie & Rose,[3] Sternberger et al

Senate

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Liberal Party			36
Catholic Party			30
Total			66
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]

Province	Arrondissement	Seats	Change
Antwerp	Antwerp	7	+1
	Mechelen	3	–
	Turnhout	3	–
Limburg	Hasselt	2	–
	Maaseik	1	–
	Tongeren	2	–
East Flanders	Aalst	3	–
	Oudenaarde	3	–
	Gent	8	+1
	Eeklo	1	–
	Dendermonde	3	–
	Sint-Niklaas	3	–
West Flanders	Bruges	3	–
	Roeselare	2	–
	Tielt	2	–
	Kortrijk	4	+1
	Ypres	3	–
	Veurne	1	–
	Diksmuide	1	–
	Ostend	1	–
Brabant	Leuven	5	–
	Brussels	14	+1
	Nivelles	4	–
Hainaut	Tournai	4	–
	Ath	2	–
	Charleroi	7	+2
	Thuin	3	–
	Mons	5	–
	Soignies	3	–
Liège	Huy	2	–
	Waremme	2	+1
	Liège	8	–
	Verviers	4	+1
Luxembourg	Arlon	1	–
	Marche	1	–
	Bastogne	1	–
	Neufchâteau	1	–
	Virton	1	–
Namur	Namur	4	–
	Dinant	2	–
	Philippeville	2	–
		132	+8

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
4. List of members of the Chamber of Representatives (1878)