1856 Portuguese legislative election

Legislative elections were held in Portugal on 9 November 1856. == Results == The elected Miguelistas did not take their oath of office. === Results by constituency === The minutes of the preparatory session of the Chamber of Deputies held on 19 January 1857, at which the credentials committees presented their reports, record the voting in some constituencies. Once the verification was complete, the president of the preparatory session proclaimed the deputies whose credentials had been approved. In the tables below, the percentage shows the proportion of the constituency's voters who voted for each candidate, and elected candidates are shown in bold. Each elector in a multi-member constituency could vote for more than one candidate. ==== Sintra ==== The constituency of Sintra returned two deputies and had eight polling assemblies and 2,081 voters. The Sintra election was disputed. The committee noted irregularities at the assemblies of Mafra, where thirteen officers of the 1st Infantry Regiment registered in the municipality of Belém had voted; Gradil, where 101 ballots written on wavy-edged, cut paper had been counted although they should have been declared void; and Montelavar, where one elector protested against bribery and coercion allegedly carried out by parish magistrates (regedores). Since the two elected candidates would have kept their majority even if the disputed votes were deducted, the committee recommended that the election be approved. A motion by José Maria do Casal Ribeiro to adjourn the matter so that a parliamentary inquiry could be held into the alleged abuses of the administrator of the municipality of Mafra was rejected, and the report was approved. ==== Funchal ==== The constituency of Funchal returned four deputies, and the tallying assembly counted 4,189 voters. The election took place without protests or complaints. The committee reserved the question of Sebastião Frederico Rodrigues Leal's eligibility for a separate report. ==== Daman and Diu ==== The constituency of Daman and Diu returned one deputy. There were three primary assemblies and no protests against the election were recorded. Apart from the elected candidate, António Afonso Mendes Coutinho received four votes and Avelino José Xavier one vote, both at the Daman assembly. ==== Goa ==== The constituency of Goa returned three deputies. The minutes do not give the number of voters, so no percentages are shown. The committee reserved for a separate report the election of António Afonso Mendes Coutinho, judge of the district of Bardez, against whose eligibility protests had been lodged at several assemblies. ==== Angola ==== The constituency of Angola returned two deputies and had 1,432 voters. The original minutes were lost in the wreck of the brig Oriente, and the election was verified from certified copies. == References ==