1876 Spanish general election

Date

The term of each chamber of the Cortes—the Congress and one-quarter of the Senate—expired three years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier.^[9] 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.^[10]

The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.^[11] 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.^[9]

The Cortes had been officially dissolved since 8 January 1874, following the coup d'état of Pavía.^[12] 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.^[13] In Cuba, elections were indefinitely postponed due to the Ten Years' War.^[1][2]

Electoral system

Voting for each chamber of the Cortes was based on universal manhood suffrage, comprising all Spanish national males over 25 years of age with full civil rights.^[14][15][16] 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.^[17][18] 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.^[19]

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.^[20] Cuba and Puerto Rico were allocated 18 and 15 seats, respectively.^[21][a] As a result of the aforementioned allocation, 424 single-member districts were established.^[22][23]

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.^[24][25]

For the Congress, the law provided for by-elections to fill vacant seats during the legislative term.^[26] 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.^[27]

Nomination rules

For the Congress, Spanish males with the right to vote could run for election.^[28]

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:^[29]

• 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;^[b] deputies elected in three general elections or in the Constituent Cortes; 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.^[30] Additionally in Puerto Rico, ineligibility extended to those convicted of slave trade crimes.^[31]

Incompatibility rules barred representing multiple constituencies simultaneously, as well as combining:^[32]

• 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.

Congress of Deputies

More information Parties and alliances, Popular vote ...

← Summary of the 20–23 January 1876^[c] Congress of Deputies election results →

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
Sources[33][34][35][36][37][38]

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