1900 Belgian general election

27 May 1900

All 152 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Paul de Smet de Naeyer August De Winne
Party Catholic Labour Liberal
Seats won 86 32 31
Popular vote 993,945 461,295 464,959
Percentage 48.46% 22.49% 22.67%

Government before election

de Smet de Naeyer II
Catholic

Government after election

de Smet de Naeyer II
Catholic

Full general elections were held in Belgium on 27 May 1900.[1]

They were the first elections under a proportional system (using the D'Hondt method) instead of a majority system.[2] Belgium became the first country to adopt proportional representation as basis of its electoral system. To make the system possible, smaller electoral districts (arrondissements) were grouped into a single electoral district (a group of arrondissements). The introduction of proportional representation was beneficial to the Liberal Party, which significantly increased its number of seats. The Liberal Party previously suffered losses after the introduction of universal suffrage in 1894.

The Catholic Party thus lost seats but retained its absolute majority, with 86 of the 152 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 44 of the 76 seats in the Senate.[3]

Results

Chamber of Representatives

PartyVotes%Seats
Catholic Party993,94548.4686
Liberal Party464,95922.6731
Belgian Labour Party461,29522.4932
Christene Volkspartij52,0932.541
Radical Party33,8401.652
Other parties44,7822.180
Total2,050,914100.00152
Registered voters/turnout2,269,414
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

PartyVotes%Seats
Catholic Party911,26252.8144
Liberal Party565,76732.7923
Belgian Labour Party119,0006.904
Radical Party78,1954.534
Social Radical Party17,8381.031
Liberal dissidents4,6330.270
Independents28,9701.680
Total1,725,665100.0076
Registered voters/turnout2,020,987
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Belgian Elections

Constituencies

The distribution of seats among the electoral districts was as follows for the Chamber of Representatives.[4] As the electoral system changed to a proportional one, the electoral arrondissements with only one or two representatives were grouped together to form larger ones. Each electoral district now had at least 3 representatives, with the exception of Neufchâteau-Virton.

ProvinceArrondissementPreviousNew
AntwerpAntwerp11
Mechelen4
Turnhout3
LimburgHasselt3
Maaseik13
Tongeren2
East FlandersAalst4
Oudenaarde3
Gent910
Eeklo1
Dendermonde3
Sint-Niklaas4
West FlandersBruges3
Roeselare24
Tielt2
Kortrijk4
Ypres3
Veurne14
Diksmuide1
Ostend2
BrabantLeuven6
Brussels18
Nivelles4
HainautTournai46
Ath2
Charleroi8
Thuin3
Mons6
Soignies3
LiègeHuy24
Waremme2
Liège11
Verviers4
LuxembourgArlon13
Marche1
Bastogne1
Neufchâteau12
Virton1
NamurNamur4
Dinant24
Philippeville2
152152

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. Shepherd, William R. (1900). "Record of Political Events". Political Science Quarterly. 15 (4): 760. doi:10.2307/2140482. ISSN 0032-3195.
  3. Nohlen & Stöver, pp307-310
  4. List of members of the Chamber of Representatives (1900-1901)
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