1871 Spanish general election

none 1871 Spanish general election Spain 1785 parliamentary no 1869 Spanish general election 1869 April 1872 Spanish general election 1872 (Apr) 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 8–11 March 18718–15 March 1871 (Canary Islands)20–23 June 1871 (Puerto Rico) 170x170px Francisco Serrano Monarchist–Democratic Coalition Jaén 235 10px 24 170x170px Francesc Pi i Margall Republican Barcelona IV 52 10px 17 170x170px Agustín Crespí de Valldaura Carlist 8B0000 Villadiego 51 10px 28 170x170px Alejandro Mon y Menéndez Moderate Party (Spain) Oviedo (lost) 18 10px 17 170x170px Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Alfonsist Cieza 9 New 170x170px Duke of Montpensier Montpensierist 00008B San Fernando 7 New Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Francisco Serrano Liberal Union Francisco Serrano Liberal Union A general election was held in Spain from 8 to 11 March 1871 to elect the members of the 1st es Cortes no under the Spanish Constitution of 1869, during the Democratic Sexennium 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 until 15 March, in Puerto Rico it was held from 20 to 23 June, and in Cuba it was indefinitely postponed."Cuba" The election was held following the promulgation of the 1869 Constitution and the swearing-in of Amadeo I as King of Spain on 2 January 1871. Francisco Serrano, a member of the Liberal Union (part of the ruling Monarchist–Democratic Coalition together with the Progressive Party and the Cimbrios Democrats), was the prime minister before the election. Background Following the approval and promulgation of the Spanish Constitution of 1869, which enshrined Spain as a constitutional monarchy, the Constituent es Cortes no searched for a suitable candidate from a new dynasty to replace the House of Bourbon, with Francisco Serrano serving as regent and Juan Prim as prime minister in the meantime.López Domínguez 1976 194 Prince Amadeo of Savoy was chosen as new King of Spain on 16 November 1870 and sworn-in as Amadeo I on 2 January 1871, but Prim's assassination on 27 December left Amadeo without his proponent and main supporter. A new coalition cabinet formed by the Liberal Union, the Progressive Party and the Cimbrios Democrats was formed by Serrano, who called a snap election as a show of legitimacy for the new monarch, whose foreign origins made him unpopular with the general populace.López Domínguez 1976 194 In order to ensure the victory of the Monarchist–Democratic Coalition, Serrano reinstated first-past-the-post voting, which made it easier for the government to use electoral fraud in rural districts. Voters were required to present an "electoral card" (es cédula electoral) that mayors were entitled to award to its constituents; as most of these were aligned with the governing coalition, they could refuse awarding the card to voters that were hostile to the government.Pi y Arsuaga Pi y Margall 1902 8–9 They also employed voter intimidation tactics through the es partida de la porra aligned to the Progressive Party, to violently attack opponents.González Calleja 1998 26 The enthronement of Amadeo I led to the Federal Democratic Republican Party (PRDF) splitting into two factions: the "benevolent" (es benevolentes), who aimed at deposing Amadeo through legal means, and the "intransigent" (es intransigentes), who dubbed the system as illegitimate and chose to abstain from electoral participation, advocating instead for the proclamation of a "federal republic from below" through violent insurrection.Vilches 2001 364 For Carlists, the good results obtained on the previous election, coupled with the failure of uprising attempts in the summers of 1869 and 1870 (the latter known as es la escocada), led to the movement favouring electoral means to achieve power. Ramón Cabrera, de facto leader of the movement, resigned as captain general of the Royal Carlist Army and retired from politics due to disagreements with Carlos de Borbón.Espasa 1928 The pretender assumed the chieftainship of the party and named a Central Council presided by the Marquis of Villadarias, who organised electoral activity and propaganda.Ferrer Dalmau 1941 As a result of the Liberal Union's decision to support Amadeo's election, two factions split up and ran on their own in the 1871 election: the "montpensierists" (es montpensieristas), supporters of the Duke of Montpensier's claim to the throne (led by the Duke himself and Antonio de los Ríos Rosas), and the conservative "alfonsists", who supported the claim of Isabella II's son, Alfonso de Borbón (led by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo).Vilches 2001 152 Overview Under the 1869 Constitution, the Spanish es Cortes no were conceived as "co-legislative bodies", forming a nearly perfect bicameral system.Constitution 1869 arts. 38, 49 & 51–54. Both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate exercised legislative, oversight and budgetary functions, sharing almost equal powers, except in budget laws (taxation and public credit) or military force—whose first reading corresponded to Congress, which also had greater preeminence—and in impeachment processes against government ministers, where Congress handled indictment and the Senate the trial.Constitution 1869 arts. 46, 50 & 89–90.https://www.senado.es/web/conocersenado/temasclave/historiaconstitucional/index.html Conocer el Senado. Temas clave. El Senado en la historia constitucional española es Senate of Spain 11 October 2025 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 2 January 1871, following the swearing-in of Amadeo I as King of Spain.López Domínguez 1976 194 The election decree was issued on 14 February, setting election day to start on 8 March (extended until 15 March in the Canary Islands) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 3 April.Decree of 14 February 1871 arts. 1–3.2 March 1871 https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=e61c113a-b6c1-4838-81c1-791c1535873e&page=3 Elecciones en Madrid es National Library of Spain La Independencia Española 20 September 2025 The publication of the corresponding decree for Puerto Rico was delayed until 1 April, setting election day in the island for between 20 and 23 June.Decree of 1 April 1871 art. 1.López Domínguez 1976 207 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 83–85Carreras 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 with a minimum quota of 16 escudos in direct taxes.Decree of 1 April 1871 art. 7.López Domínguez 1976 203 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; 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 8–11 March 1871"Canary+Puerto Rico" In the Canary Islands, the election was held until 15 March 1871. In Puerto Rico, the election was held from 20 to 23 June 1871. Congress of Deputies election results → center|400px Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % Total +/− Monarchist–Democratic Coalition (P–UL–D) 235 −24 Federal Democratic Republican Party (PRDF) 52 −17 Catholic–Monarchist Communion (CMC) 51 +28 Moderate Party (PM) 18 +17 Liberal Reformist Party (PLR)1 14 +10 Alfonsist Conservatives (A) 9 +9 Montpensierists (M) 7 +7 Liberal Conservative Party (PLC)2 1 −6 Independents (INDEP) 19 +19 Vacant"Cuba" 18 ±0 Total 424 +43 Votes cast / turnout Abstentions Registered voters SourcesCarreras de Odriozola Tafunell Sambola 2005 1092López Domínguez 1976 207–209, 231–235 & 710–719Lozano Carles https://www.historiaelectoral.com/e1871.html Elecciones a Cortes 8 de marzo de 1871 es Historia Electoral.com 19 September 2025 left Footnotes: 1 Liberal Reformist Party results are compared to Independent Liberals totals in the 1869 election. 2 Liberal Conservative Party results are compared to Independent Conservatives totals in the 1869 election. Seats #ddd 550px 500px M–D Monarchist–Democratic Coalition 55.42 PRDF Federal Democratic Republican Party 12.26 CMC Traditionalist Communion 12.03 PM Moderate Party (Spain) 4.25 PLR Independent Liberal (Spain) 3.30 A Conservative Party (Spain) 2.12 M #00008B 1.65 PLC Independent Conservative (Spain) 0.24 INDEP Independent politician 4.48 Vacant #000 4.25 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 convocando a Cortes ordinarias, que se reunirán el día 3 de Abril de este año Decree 14 February 1871 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1871/047/A00385-00385.pdf 16 September 2025 Decree of 14 February 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 Other 30em Pi y Arsuaga Francisco Pi y Margall Francisco 1902 Historia de España en el siglo XIX: sucesos políticos, económicos, sociales y artísticos es 5 Barcelona Seguí Espasa J. 1928 Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europeo-Americana https://books.google.com/books?id=bVBNAQAAMAAJ es 63 Bilbao Espasa-Calpe 376–506 Ferrer Dalmau Melchor 1941 Historia del Tradicionalismo Español https://books.google.com/books?id=AwQqAQAAMAAJ es 23 1 Seville Editorial Católica Española 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 González Calleja Eduardo 1998 La razón de la fuerza: orden público, subversión y violencia política en la España de la Restauración (1875-1917) https://books.google.com/books?id=DvE0gsxVyuQC es 34 Madrid Spanish National Research Council 8400077784 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 Vilches Jorge 2001 Progreso y libertad: el Partido Progresista en la revolución liberal española es Madrid Alianza Editorial 8420667684 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:1871 elections in Spain Category:1871 in Spain Category:General elections in Spain Spain