1876 Spanish general election

none 1876 Spanish general election Spain 1785 parliamentary no 1873 Spanish general election 1873 1879 Spanish general election 1879 All 424 seats in the Congress of Deputies"Cuba" Elections in Cuba were indefinitely postponed due to the outbreak of the Ten Years' War, resulting in the vacancy of the 18 seats allocated to the island.Roldán de Montaud 1999 246Decree of 1 April 1871 explanatory statement: "On the island of Cuba, the work of preparing electoral lists was hampered by the state of war that prevailed there and the necessary replacement of the electoral districts established by the decree—now law—of 14 December 1868, with new districts. [es no En la isla de Cuba embarazaron los trabajos de formación de las listas electorales el estado de guerra que allí se sostiene y la precisa sustitución por nuevos distritos de las circunscripciones de elección establecidos por el decreto, hoy ley, de 14 de diciembre de 1868.]". and all 200 seats in the Senate213 seats needed for a majority in the Congress and 101 in the Senate 20–23 January 187628–31 January 1876 (Canary Islands)15–18 February 1876 (Puerto Rico) 170x170px Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Conservative Party (Spain) 1874 Madrid 3 seats 317 10px 314 170x170px Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Constitutional Party (Spain) 1872 Zamora 7 seats 48 10px 41 170x170px Alejandro Pidal y Mon Moderate Party (Spain) 1876 Villaviciosa 0 seats 12 10px 12 170x170px Cristino Martos Radical Democratic Party (Spain) 1871 — 20 seats 6 10px 14 170x170px Emilio Castelar Republican 1876 Barcelona 347 seats 1 10px 346 Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Conservative Party (Spain) Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Conservative Party (Spain) A general election was held in Spain from 20 to 23 January 1876 to elect the members of the Constituent es Cortes no in the Restoration period. 406 of 424 seats in the Congress of Deputies and all 200 seats in the Senate were up for election. In the Canary Islands the election was held from 28 to 31 January, in Puerto Rico it was held from 15 to 18 February, and in Cuba it was indefinitely postponed."Cuba"http://investigacion.cchs.csic.es/HistoriaPoliticaXIX/Elecciones_y_legislaturas/4950 Historia política del siglo XIX. Elecciones y legislaturas. 34. Constituyentes de 1876 Spanish National Research Council es 11 December 2020 On 5 April 1877, another election to the Senate was held.Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado Gaceta de Madrid 41 10 February 1877 es Real decreto disolviendo el actual Senado, y señalando el día 5 de Abril próximo para la elección de los Senadores que deben nombrar las Corporaciones del Estado y los mayores contribuyentes http://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1877/041/A00375-00375.pdf 375 The electorate consisted of 3,989,612 electors, about 24.0% of the country population.http://revistaayer.com/sites/default/files/articulos/34-2-ayer34_DerechosyConstitucion_Flaquer.pdf 1999 Ayer 34 El derecho de representación: sufragio y leyes electorales Margarita Caballero Domínguez 56 This was the first election to be held after the end of the First Spanish Republic in 1874. The Third Carlist War and the Ten Years' War were still unraveling at the time, meaning that elections were not held in some districts (namely, those in the Captaincy General of Cuba). The newly founded Liberal Conservative Party of incumbent prime minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo won an overall majority of seats, paving the way for the adoption of the Spanish Constitution of 1876, which would mark the starting point of the Bourbon Restoration that would last until 1931. Background The pronunciamiento—a military coup—of Arsenio Martínez Campos on 29 December 1874 put an end to the First Spanish Republic and hastened the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy around the figure of Prince Alfonso de Borbón, son of former Queen Isabella II. An interim government led by Cánovas del Castillo was confirmed by King Alfonso XII upon disembarking in Barcelona on 9 January 1875. Overview Under the Sandhurst Manifesto, the Spanish es Cortes no were conceived as a provisional assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution that would re-establish the monarchy around Prince Alfonso de Borbón. The electoral and procedural rules of the Democratic Sexennium remained in force, including the provisions for both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate under the 1869 Constitution, but excluding the 1873 amendments.Royal Decree of 31 December 1875 art. 2.Ortega Álvarez Santaolaya Machetti 1996 85 For Puerto Rico, those were the same as the used in the 1871 election.Decree of 2 February 1876 2–7. Date The term of each chamber of the es Cortes no—the Congress and one-quarter of the Senate—expired three years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier.Constitution 1869 arts. 39 & 64. Election day was held over several voting days: the first was used to elect polling station officials, and the remaining ones were devoted to the parliamentary election itself.Law of 20 August 1870 arts. 52–58, 71 & 115. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.Constitution 1869 art. 42. Only elections to renew one-quarter of the Senate were constitutionally required to be held concurrently with elections to the Congress, though the former could be renewed in its entirety in the case that a full dissolution was agreed by the monarch. The es Cortes no had been officially dissolved since 8 January 1874, following the coup d'état of Pavía.Decree of 8 January 1874 arts. 1–2. The election decree was issued on 31 December 1875, setting election day to start on 20 January 1876 in peninsular Spain, on 28 January in the Canary Islands, and on 15 February in Puerto Rico, and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 15 February.Royal Decree of 31 December 1875 arts. 1 & 3. In Cuba, elections were indefinitely postponed due to the Ten Years' War.Roldán de Montaud 1999 246 Electoral system Voting for each chamber of the es Cortes no was based on universal manhood suffrage, comprising all Spanish national males over 25 years of age with full civil rights.Law of 20 August 1870 art. 1.Ortega Álvarez Santaolaya Machetti 1996 84–85Carreras de Odriozola Tafunell Sambola 2005 1077 In Puerto Rico, voting was based on censitary suffrage, comprising Spanish males of voting age who were either literate or taxpayers with a minimum quota of 16 escudos in direct taxes.Decree of 1 April 1871 art. 7.López Domínguez 1976 318–319 Additional restrictions excluded those deprived of political rights or barred from public office by a final sentence, criminally imprisoned (without bail) or convicted, and homeless.Law of 20 August 1870 art. 2; Decree of 1 April 1871 art. 8 (suppl. supplemented by Decree of 9 November 1868 art. 2). The Congress of Deputies had one seat per 40,000 inhabitants or fraction above 20,000. All were elected in single-member districts using plurality voting and distributed among the provinces of Spain according to population.Constitution 1869 art. 65; Law of 20 August 1870 arts. 108–112. Cuba and Puerto Rico were allocated 18 and 15 seats, respectively.Decree of 14 December 1868 arts. 1–2; Decree of 1 April 1871 art. 2."Cuba" As a result of the aforementioned allocation, 424 single-member districts were established.Seat allocation:Peninsular Spain and archipelagos: Law of 1 January (II) 1871 art. 1 & attached table. Spanish West Indies: Decree of 14 December 1868 art. 3 & attached table; Decree of 1 April 1871 arts. 2–3 & attached table.López Domínguez 1976 228–230 All 200 Senate seats were elected using indirect, two-round majority voting. Delegates chosen by local councils—each of which was assigned an initial minimum of one delegate, with one additional delegate for every six councillors—voted for senators together with provincial deputies. Provinces and the whole of Puerto Rico were allocated four seats each.Constitution 1869 arts. 60–61; Law of 20 August 1870 arts. 133 & 153–158; Decree of 1 April 1871 art. 2.Carreras de Odriozola Tafunell Sambola 2005 1082 For the Congress, the law provided for by-elections to fill vacant seats during the legislative term.Law of 20 August 1870 arts. 130–132. For the Senate, any vacancies arising during the legislative term were filled in the chamber's next full or one-quarter election, with senators elected this way serving the remainder of their seat's original term.Law of 20 August 1870 arts. 161–165. Candidates Nomination rules For the Congress, Spanish males with the right to vote could run for election.Constitution 1869 art. 66; Law of 20 August 1870 art. 4. For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish males over 40 years of age, with full civil rights, who belonged (or had belonged) to certain categories:Constitution 1869 arts. 62–63; Law of 20 August 1870 art. 3. Holders of a number of senior public or institutional posts, including the presidents of the Congress; the heads and members of higher courts and state institutions;These comprised the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Council of War and the Court of Auditors. deputies elected in three general elections or in the Constituent es Cortes no; government ministers; certain general officers (captain generals, admirals, lieutenant generals and vice admirals); ambassadors; archbishops and bishops; university rectors; heads of the royal academies; four-time provincial deputies; and two-time local mayors of towns over 30,000; Senior officials after two years of service, including plenipotentiaries and full professors; Being among the 50 largest taxpayers by property tax, or among the 20 largest by corporate tax, in each province. Ineligibility provisions for both chambers also applied to a number of territorial officials within their areas of jurisdiction or relevant territories, during their term of office and up to three months afterwards; public contractors; tax collectors; and public debtors.Law of 20 August 1870 arts. 7–8. Additionally in Puerto Rico, ineligibility extended to those convicted of slave trade crimes.Decree of 1 April 1871 art. 9. Incompatibility rules barred representing multiple constituencies simultaneously, as well as combining:Law of 20 August 1870 arts. 11–14; Royal Decree of 11 January 1876 arts. 1–5 (suppl. supplemented by Law of 1 January (I) 1871 arts. 1–2); Decree of 1 April 1871 art. 10. Legislative roles (deputy, senator, provincial deputy and local councillor) with each other; The role of senator with any post not explicitly permitted under Senate eligibility requirements; The role of deputy with any government-appointed post, with exceptions—and as many as 40 deputies allowed to simultaneously benefit from these—including government ministers; and a number of specific posts based in Madrid, such as general officers, chiefs in the Central Administration (provided a public salary of Pts 12,500); senior court officials; university authorities and professors; and chief engineers with two years of service. Results Congress of Deputies + ← Summary of the 20–23 January 1876In the Canary Islands, the election was held from 28 to 31 January 1876. In Puerto Rico, it was held from 15 to 18 February 1876. Congress of Deputies election results → center|400px Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % Liberal Conservative Party (Conservadores) 343 Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) 328 Unconditional Spanish Party (PIE) 15 Constitutional Party (Constitucionales) 37 Moderate Party (Moderados) 11 Radical Democratic Party (Radicales) 5 Parliamentary Centre (Centro) 4 Federal Democratic Republican Party (Federales) 1 Independents (Independientes) 5 Total 406 Votes cast / turnout Abstentions Registered voters SourcesLópez Domínguez 1976 320–323, 335–338 & 744–749https://www.historiaelectoral.com/e1876.html Elecciones a Cortes. 20 de enero de 1876 es Historia Electoral.com 19 April 20227 February 1876 http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0001078135&page=2 Elecciones generales de 1876 es National Library of Spain El Globo 19 April 2022Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado Gaceta de Madrid 36 5 February 1876 es Elecciones Generales de 1876.- Relación de los Diputados proclamados en los distritos, y número de votos que han obtenido https://boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1876/036/A00293-00294.pdf 293–294For Congress election results: 25 January 1876 http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0001411446&page=3 Movimiento electoral es National Library of Spain La Iberia 19 April 2022 25 January 1876 http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0026586272&page=2 Crónica electoral es National Library of Spain El Pabellón Nacional 19 April 2022 26 January 1876 http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000007613&page=2 Crónica electoral es National Library of Spain El Siglo Futuro 19 April 2022 6 February 1876 http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0001078135&page=2 Elecciones Generales de 1876 es National Library of Spain El Globo 31 July 2022For Congress election results in the Canary Islands and Puerto Rico: 7 February 1876 http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000183910&page=1 Elección de diputados en Canarias es National Library of Spain La Correspondencia de España 19 April 2022 27 February 1876 http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000343704&page=3 Puerto-Rico es National Library of Spain La Época 31 July 2022 https://issuu.com/adelantereunificacionistas/docs/diputados_pdf/s/12339497 Diputados Año 1876 es Diputados Provincia de Puerto Rico, España: 1809-1898 1 August 2022 Seats #ddd 550px 500px Conservative Conservative Party (Spain) 84.48 Constitutional Constitutional Party (Spain) 9.11 Moderate Moderate Party (Spain) 2.71 Radical Radical Democratic Party (Spain) 1.23 Centre Parliamentary Centre 0.99 Fed. Republican Federal Democratic Republican Party 0.25 Independent Independent politician 1.23 Notes References Bibliography Legislation 30em y Decreto sobre el ejercicio del sufragio universal Decree 9 November 1868 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1868/315/A00001-00012.pdf 14 September 2025 Decree of 9 November 1868 y Decreto electoral para Diputados a Cortes Constituyentes en las provincias de Cuba y Puerto Rico Decree 14 December 1868 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1869/020/A00001-00001.pdf 14 September 2025 Decree of 14 December 1868 y Constitución del Estado Constitution 5 June 1869 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1869/158/A00001-00002.pdf 17 August 2025 Constitution 1869 y Ley Electoral Law 20 August 1870 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1870/233/A00009-00014.pdf 17 August 2025 Law of 20 August 1870 y Ley fijando las excepciones al art. 12 de la electoral vigente, relativo a incompatibilidad del cargo de Diputado a Cortes Law 1 January 1871 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1871/026/A00201-00202.pdf 17 August 2025 Law of 1 January (I) 1871 y Ley mandando que los distritos para las elecciones de Diputados a Cortes sean los que se expresan en la división adjunta Law 1 January 1871 Madrid Gazette es https://boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1871/027/A00217-00232.pdf 21 August 2022 Law of 1 January (II) 1871 y Decreto mandando se verifiquen en Puerto Rico las elecciones ordinarias de Senadores y Diputados a Cortes Decree 1 April 1871 Madrid Gazette es https://boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1871/104/A00841-00842.pdf 19 August 2022 Decree of 1 April 1871 y Decreto disponiendo que las elecciones ordinarias de Senadores y Diputados a Cortes en la provincia de Puerto Rico se verifiquen con arreglo a las prescripciones del Real decreto de 1.º de Abril de 1871 Decree 29 June 1872 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1872/182/A00936-00936.pdf 20 September 2025 Decree of 29 June 1872 y Decreto declarando disueltas las Cortes Constituyentes de 1873 Decree 8 January 1874 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1874/009/A00069-00070.pdf 18 August 2025 Decree of 8 January 1874 y Real decreto disponiendo que las Cortes de la Monarquía española se reúnan el 15 de Febrero, y señalando los días en que han de comenzar las elecciones de Senadores y de Diputados Royal Decree 31 December 1875 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1876/001/A00001-00002.pdf 18 August 2025 Royal Decree of 31 December 1875 y Real decreto dictando reglas sobre incompatibilidades parlamentarias Royal Decree 11 January 1876 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1876/012/A00089-00089.pdf 4 April 2026 Royal Decree of 11 January 1876 y Decreto mandando se verifiquen las elecciones de Senadores y Diputados a Cortes en la provincia de Puerto Rico Decree 2 February 1876 Puerto Rico Gazette National Library of Spain es https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=05e6d84e-45bb-4c53-b37b-ff6698b5dc94&page=2 3 April 2026 Decree of 2 February 1876 Other 30em López Domínguez José María 1976 Elecciones y partidos políticos de Puerto Rico: 1809-1898 https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/54455/1/5327102689.pdf es Puerto Rico Complutense University of Madrid 1 11 September 2022 Ortega Álvarez Luis Santaolaya Machetti Pablo 1996 Evolución histórica del sistema electoral español https://revista.cortesgenerales.es/rcg/article/view/784 es Cortes Generales Revista de las Cortes Generales 37 0213-0130 10.33426/rcg/1996/37/784 65–107 free Roldán de Montaud Inés 1999 Política y elecciones en Cuba durante la restauración http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/8781/1/POL%C3%8DTICA%20Y%20ELECCIONES%20EN%20CUBA%20DURANTE.pdf es Revista de Estudios Políticos 104 245–287 19 December 2020 Carreras de Odriozola Albert Tafunell Sambola Xavier 2005 1989 Estadísticas históricas de España, siglos XIX-XX http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/dat/autores.pdf es 1 Bilbao Fundación BBVA 1072–1097 II 84-96515-00-1 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20150924010950/http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/dat/autores.pdf 24 September 2015 dmy-all External links Historical archive of deputies (1810–1977) from www.congreso.es, the official Congress of Deputies web portal (in Spanish) Elections in the Sexenio Revolucionario and the Restoration at www.historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish/Catalan) Category:1876 elections in Spain 1876 Category:January 1876 in Europe