1864 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 11 August 1864,[1][2] the first full general elections since 1857.[3] The snap elections were called upon the loss of a parliamentary majority for the liberal government of Charles Rogier and a hung parliament, following the death of liberal representative Charles Cumont in July 1864. In the last few parliamentary sessions preceding the elections, all Catholic members quit the Chamber, resulting in it not being quorate.

1864 Belgian general election

11 August 1864 (1864-08-11)

All 116 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
57 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Charles Rogier
Party Liberal Catholic
Leader since Candidate for PM
Seats before 59 seats 57 seats
Seats won 64 52
Seat change 5 5
Popular vote 39,576 39,750
Percentage 49.74% 49.96%

Government before election

Rogier II
Liberal

Elected Government

Rogier II
Liberal

Although the Catholics received the most votes for seats in the Chamber of Representatives, the result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 64 of the 116 seats.[2] Voter turnout was 76.7%,[3] although only 103,717 people (2.1% of the population) were eligible to vote.[2]

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Party Votes % Seats +/–
Catholics39,75050.052–5
Liberal Party39,57649.764+5
Others2400.30New
Invalid/blank votes4,383
Total83,9491001160
Registered voters/turnout103,71776.7
Source: Mackie & Rose,[3] Sternberger et al

References

  1. Codebook Constituency-level Elections Archive, 2003
  2. Sternberger, D, Vogel, B & Nohlen, D (1969) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band I: Europa - Erster Halbband, p105
  3. Thomas T Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) The International Almanac of Electoral History, Macmillan, p46
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