1873 Spanish general election

none 1873 Spanish general election Spain 1873 parliamentary no August 1872 Spanish general election 1872 (Aug) 1876 Spanish general election 1876 All 424 seats in the Constituent Cortes"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 246Law of 11 March 1873 art. 2: "The election of Deputies for said Cortes will take place in the Peninsula, adjacent islands and the island of Puerto Rico (...); granting the Government, with respect to Cuba, the power to designate the deadlines in which the electoral operations are to be carried out and the circumstances that must be met by the electors. [es no Se procederá a la elección de Diputados para dichas Cortes en la Península, islas adyacentes e isla de Puerto Rico (...); dejando al Gobierno, respecto de Cuba, la facultad de designar los plazos en que se han de ejecutar las operaciones electorales y las circunstancias que han de concurrir en los electores.]" 213 10–13 May 1873 170x170px Francesc Pi i Margall Republican Barcelona 343 10px 265 170x170px Cristino Martos Radical Democratic Party (Spain) — 20 10px 254 170x170px Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Conservative–Constitutional — 7 10px 7 Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Estanislao Figueras Republican Estanislao Figueras Republican A general election was held in Spain from 10 to 13 May 1873 to elect the members of the Constituent Cortes in the First Spanish Republic. 406 of 424 seats in the es Cortes no were up for election. The election in Cuba was indefinitely postponed."Cuba" The election was held with universal male suffrage. It was held in very unorthodox conditions and drew a very low voter turnout, as neither the Carlist or Alfonsist monarchists participated. The same happened with centralist and unitarian Republicans, or even the incipient labor organizations affiliated with the First International, who held a campaign of election boycott. This left the republic with a serious lack of legitimacy. The Federal Democratic Republican Party won the election. Background The political situation in Spain, worsened due to the outbreak of the Third Carlist War, the intensification of the Ten Years' War in Cuba, the breakup of the governing coalition—over frictions among its component factions, led by Prime Minister Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla and State minister Cristino Martos—and a conflict between the prime minister and the Artillery Corps, led King Amadeo I to finally abdicate the Spanish throne on 11 February 1873. As a consequence, the Spanish es Cortes no, reconstituted into a National Assembly in joint and permanent session, proclaimed the First Spanish Republic.Agreement of 11 February 1873 art. 1 Overview Under the 1873 Republic proclamation, the Spanish es Cortes no conceived in the 1869 Constitution were reassembled as a National Assembly in a joint session of both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate. The electoral and procedural rules of the Democratic Sexennium remained in force with amendments, including the Senate's abolition and the Congress's conversion into a constituent assembly.Law of 11 March 1873 arts. 1 & 3 Date 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 election to the Constituent es Cortes no was officially called on 11 March 1873, with the corresponding decree setting election day for between 10 and 13 May.Law of 11 March 1873 art. 2 In Cuba, elections were indefinitely postponed due to the Ten Years' War.Roldán de Montaud 1999 246 Electoral system Voting for the es Cortes no was based on universal manhood suffrage, comprising all Spanish national males over 21 years of age with full civil rights.Law of 11 March 1873 art. 3 (suppl. supplemented by Law of 20 August 1870 art. 1).Ortega Álvarez Santaolaya Machetti 1996 84–85Carreras de Odriozola Tafunell Sambola 2005 1076 In Puerto Rico, voting was based on censitary suffrage, comprising Spanish males of voting age who were either literate or taxpayers for any direct tax, barring freedmen without political rights.Law of 11 March 1873 art. 3; Regulation of 16 April 1873 arts. 3–4.López Domínguez 1976 291Slavery had been abolished in Puerto Rico on 22 March 1873.López Domínguez 1976 293 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; Regulation of 16 April 1873 art. 4. The Constituent es Cortes no 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; Regulation of 16 April 1873 arts. 46–47."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; Regulation of 16 April 1873 arts. 47 & attached table.López Domínguez 1976 228–230 The law provided for by-elections to fill vacant seats during the legislative term.Law of 20 August 1870 arts. 130–132. Candidates Nomination rules Spanish males with the right to vote could run for election. Causes of ineligibility 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.Constitution 1869 art. 66; Law of 20 August 1870 arts. 4 & 7–8. Additionally in Puerto Rico, ineligibility extended to those convicted of slave trade crimes.Regulation of 16 April 1873 art. 32. Incompatibility rules barred representing multiple constituencies simultaneously, as well as combining legislative roles (deputy, provincial deputy and local councillor) with each other or 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.Law of 20 August 1870 arts. 12–14; Law of 1 January (I) 1871 arts. 1–2; Regulation of 16 April 1873 art. 37. Results Overall + ← Summary of the 10–13 May 1873 Constituent Cortes election results → center|400px Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % Total +/− Federal Democratic Republican Party (PRDF) 343 +265 Radical Democratic Party (PDR) 20 −254 Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) 15 +1 Conservative–Constitutional Coalition (C–C) 7 −7 Alfonsist Conservatives (A) 3 −6 Independent Republicans (R.IND) 1 −1 Independent Carlists (CARL.IND) n/a n/a 0 −3 Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) n/a n/a 0 −1 Independents (INDEP) 17 +6 Vacant"Cuba" 18 ±0 Total 1,883,778 424 ±0 Votes cast / turnout 1,883,778 40.97 Abstentions 2,713,700 59.03 Registered voters 4,597,478 SourcesBUCM 1997 370–371 & 400Carreras de Odriozola Tafunell Sambola 2005 1092–1093López Domínguez 1976 295–296, 306–309 & 736–743Lozano Carles https://www.historiaelectoral.com/e1873.html Elecciones a Cortes de la República 10 de mayo de 1873 es Historia Electoral.com 22 September 2025 Seats #ddd 550px 500px PRDF Federal Democratic Republican Party 80.90 PDR Radical Democratic Party (Spain) 4.72 PLR Independent Liberal (Spain) 3.54 C–C Constitutional Party (Spain) 1.65 A Conservative Party (Spain) 0.71 R.IND Independent Republican (Spain) 0.24 INDEP Independent politician 4.01 Vacant #000 4.25 Notes References Bibliography Legislation 30em 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 Acuerdo reasumiendo la Asamblea Nacional todos los poderes, declarando como forma de Gobierno la República, y que se elija por nombramiento directo de la misma Asamblea el Poder Ejecutivo Law 11 February 1873 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1873/043/A00495-00495.pdf 22 September 2025 Agreement of 11 February 1873 y Ley convocando Cortes Constituyentes, que se reunirán en Madrid el día 1º de Junio próximo para la organización de la República, y mandando proceder a la elección de Diputados para dichas Cortes en los días 10, 11, 12 y 13 de Mayo Law 11 March 1873 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1873/089/A01019-01019.pdf 22 September 2025 Law of 11 March 1873 y Reglamento para la elección de Diputados a Cortes Constituyentes de la provincia de Puerto Rico Regulation 16 April 1873 Puerto Rico Gazette National Library of Spain es https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=5409e57d-39d1-426b-beae-dcd1ceb67814 1 April 2026 Regulation of 16 April 1873 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 BUCM 1997 CAPÍTULO 7. Las elecciones parciales... https://webs.ucm.es/BUCM/tesis/19972000/H/0/H0048902.pdf es Complutense University of Madrid 355–617 21 September 2025 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 Category:1873 elections in Spain Category:General elections in Spain Category:May 1873 in Europe Category:First Spanish Republic