1912 Belgian general election

Full general elections were held in Belgium on 2 June 1912.[1]

1912 Belgian general election

2 June 1912

All 186 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
93 of 120 seats in the Senate
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Charles de Broqueville N/A
Party Catholic LiberalSocialist Liberal
Seats won 101 45 21
Popular vote 1,337,315 710,459 291,084
Percentage 51.01% 27.10% 11.10%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Laurent Vandersmissen
Party Labour CVP
Seats won 18 1
Popular vote 243,338 19,317
Percentage 9.28% 0.74%

Government before election

De Broqueville I
Catholic

Government after election

De Broqueville I
Catholic

Background

Charles de Broqueville

Catholics had formed the government continuously since 1884. Minister Schollaert had drafted a controversial education law and was forced to resign in June 1911. He was succeeded by a government led by Charles de Broqueville. The education law intended to financially equalise public and private education, which was opposed by liberals and socialists as it benefited private (Catholic) schools. Both opposition parties, united against Catholics, were expected to win the elections. King Albert I was preparing to switch to a progressive government headed by liberal Paul Hymans. However, the elections unexpectedly increased the majority of the Catholic Party, which won 101 of the 186 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 54 of the 93 seats in the Senate.[2] Consequently, the incumbent Catholic government headed by Charles de Broqueville continued after the elections.

Electoral system

These elections were the first full general elections since 27 May 1900, when a proportional system using the D'Hondt method was introduced. Since 1893, there was universal suffrage with plural voting. Hence there were more votes than the 1,745,666 who could vote in these Chamber elections (out of a population of 7,571,387 in the country).

Following the population census, the number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives increased from 166 to 186. The number of directly elected seats in the Senate (half the number of Chamber seats) consequently increased from 83 to 93; the number of provincial senators remained at 27.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

PartyVotes%Seats
Catholic Party1,337,31551.01101
LiberalSocialist kartels710,45927.1045
Liberal Party291,08411.1021
Belgian Labour Party243,3389.2818
Christene Volkspartij19,3170.741
Independents20,2580.770
Total2,621,771100.00186
Valid votes2,621,77197.68
Invalid/blank votes62,3272.32
Total votes2,684,098100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,814,08995.38
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

PartyVotes%Seats
Catholic Party1,224,76752.2254
LiberalSocialist kartels480,45720.4916
Liberal Party408,04317.4014
Belgian Labour Party223,1979.529
Christene Volkspartij8,9370.380
Total2,345,401100.0093
Valid votes2,345,40196.90
Invalid/blank votes75,1363.10
Total votes2,420,537100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,525,81095.83
Source: Belgian Elections

Constituencies

The distribution of seats among the electoral districts was as follows.[3] Several arrondissements got one or more additional seats, following the population census. With Neufchâteau-Virton receiving an extra seat, every electoral district now had at minimum three seats in the Chamber.

Province Arrondissement(s) ChamberChange SenateChange
AntwerpAntwerp15+27+1
Mechelen5+15+1
Turnhout4+1
Elected by the provincial council3
LimburgHasselt34+1
Tongeren-Maaseik4+1
Elected by the provincial council2
East FlandersAalst54
Oudenaarde3
Gent-Eeklo12+16+1
Dendermonde4+14
Sint-Niklaas4
Elected by the provincial council4
West FlandersBruges42
Roeselare-Tielt5+13+1
Kortrijk54
Ypres3
Veurne-Diksmuide-Ostend5+12
Elected by the provincial council3
BrabantLeuven7+13
Brussels26+513+2
Nivelles42
Elected by the provincial council4
HainautTournai-Ath63
Charleroi11+27+1
Thuin3
Mons7+15
Soignies4
Elected by the provincial council4
LiègeHuy-Waremme42
Liège13+17+1
Verviers52
Elected by the provincial council3
LuxembourgArlon-Marche-Bastogne33
Neufchâteau-Virton3+1
Elected by the provincial council2
NamurNamur55+1
Dinant-Philippeville4
Elected by the provincial council2
Total186+20120+10

References

  1. Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (31 May 2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. p. 289. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, pp308-310
  3. List of members of the Chamber of Representatives (1912)
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