1831 Belgian general election

none 1831 Belgian general election Belgium parliamentary 1833 Belgian general election 1833 All 102 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and all 51 seats in the Senate 1831 08 29 yes Government Government after election de Mûelenaere de Mûelenaere Catholic-Liberal Catholic-Liberal General elections were held in Belgium on 29 August 1831.Sternberger, D, Vogel, B & Nohlen, D (1969) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band I: Europa - Erster Halbband, p105 They were the first elections to the new bicameral parliament created by the constitution adopted in February 1831. In the Senate elections Catholics won 31 seats and Liberals four. Voter turnout was 62.2%, although only 46,000 people (1.1% of the country's population) were eligible to vote. On 8 September 1831, King Leopold I of Belgium opened the 1831–1832 parliamentary session, the first ever of the Belgian Parliament.Discours du Trône pour l'ouverture de la session 1831-1832, prononcé par Sa Majesté, Chamber of Representatives Electoral system The electoral system was defined in the 1831 constitution and the electoral law of 3 March 1831. The 102 members of the Chamber of Representatives and 51 members of the Senate were elected by absolute majority in 44 electoral districts. Each district had between one and seven representatives and one to three senators; some were elected by joint or alternating districts. Eligibility vote was restricted to men aged 25 or older who held Belgian nationality either through birth or through grand naturalisation, and who paid a cens fixed by the electoral law. The cens differentiated depending on the place of residence. Constituencies The 44 constituencies elected 102 representatives and appointed 51 senators as follows.Recueil des décrets du congrès national de la Belgique, vol. 2 (Brussels, H. Remy, 1831), pp. 218-228. On Google Books ProvinceConstituencyRepresentativesSenatorsAntwerp(9 representatives;4 senators)Antwerp42Mechelen31Turnhout21Brabant(14 representatives;7 senators)Brussels73.5B Brussels and Nivelles elected one Senator on an alternating basis, starting with BrusselsNivelles31.5BLeuven42West Flanders(15 representatives;8 senators)Bruges31Ypres21.5Y Veurne, Ostend and Diksmuide together elected one Senator, and a second on an alternating basis with YpresKortrijk32Tielt21Roeselare21Veurne11.5YOstend1Diksmuide1East Flanders(18 representatives;9 senators)Ghent63Aalst32Sint-Niklaas31Oudenaarde31Dendermonde21Eeklo11Hainaut(15 representatives;7 senators)Mons31.5T Mons and Tournai appointed one additional senator on an alternating basisTournai41.5TCharleroi2.5C Charleroi and Thuin elected one representative on an alternating basis, beginning with Thuin1Thuin1.5C1Soignies21Ath21Liège(9 representatives;5 senators)Liège4.5L Liège and Huy elected one representative on an alternating basis, beginning with Huy.2Huy1.5L1Verviers21Waremme11Limburg(9 representatives;4 senators)Maastricht3.5M Maastricht and Hasselt elected one representative on an alternating basis, beginning with Hasselt.2Hasselt2.5M1Roermond31LuxembourgLux This is the area of Luxembourg Province until 1839, when the stipulations of the Treaty of London ceded the area covered by the constituencies of Diekirch, Grevenmacher and Luxembourg back to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.Xavier Heuschling Statistique de la population dans ses rapports avec la représentation narionale Revue de Belgique 30 1878 428 849233859(8 representatives;4 senators)Bastogne11.5Bastogne and Marche alternated with Neufchâteau and Virton to appoint one Senator between them, with the first nomination being from Neufchâteau. These two pairs of constituencies further alternated with Diekirch/Grevenmacher/Arlon to appoint a second senatorMarche1Neufchâteau1Virton1DiekirchLux11.5Diekirch, Grevenmacher and Arlon together appointed one Senator between them, and a second in turn with the paired constituencies Bastogne/Marche and Neufchâteau/Virton.GrevenmacherLux1Arlon1LuxembourgLux11Namur(5 representatives;3 senators)Namur31.5P Philippeville and Namur appointed one further Senator on an alternating basis, beginning with Philippeville.Philippeville10.5PDinant11 Results Senate Catholics 31 yellow Liberals 4 blue Independents 16 Sternberger et al. References Category:1830s elections in Belgium General Belgium Belgium