1878 Belgian general election

11 June 1878 (1878-06-11)
66 of the 132 seats in the Chamber of Representatives 67 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Walthère Frère-Orban Jules Malou Party Liberal Catholic Leader since Candidate for PM Candidate for PM Seats before 57 seats 67 seats Seats won 48 18 Seats after 72 60 Seat change 15 7 Popular vote 21,283 20,700 Percentage 50.31% 48.94%
Government before election Malou I Catholic Government after election Frère-Orban II Liberal

Politics of Belgium
Constitution Taxation Constitutional Court
Monarchy Monarch (list) Philippe Duchess of Brabant Elisabeth of Belgium Crown Council Royal Family
Federal Parliament Senate President: Stephanie D'Hose Chamber of Representatives President: Eliane Tillieux
Federal Cabinet De Croo Government Prime Minister: Alexander De Croo
Judiciary Administrative jurisdictions Council of State Highest court Court of Cassation Appellate courts Court of appeal Court of labour Trial courts Court of assizes Tribunal of first instance Civil tribunal Correctional tribunal Family and juvenile tribunal Sentence enforcement tribunal Labour tribunal Enterprise tribunal Minor crimes Minor claims Police tribunal Justice of the peace
Recent elections European 2009 2014 2019 2024 Federal 2007 2010 2014 2019 Regional 2004 2009 2014 2019 Local 2000 2006 2012 2018 Political parties
Subdivisions Communities and regions Provinces Arrondissements Municipalities
Foreign relations France-Belgium relations Belgium-Germany relations Belgium-United Kingdom relations Belgium-Netherlands relations Belgium–Luxembourg relations Politics of the European Union
Belgium portal Other countries

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 11 June, 18 June and 15 July 1878.^[1][2] The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 72 of the 132 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 36 of the 66 seats in the Senate.^[2] Voter turnout was 62.5%, although only 56,640 people were eligible to vote.

Under the alternating system, elections for the Chamber of Representatives were only held in four out of the nine provinces: Hainaut, Limburg, Liège and East Flanders. Additionally, special elections were held in the arrondissements of Antwerp, Brussels and Kortrijk after these electoral districts got one extra seat due to population growth.

They were the first elections with strict guarantees for secret ballots following the law of 9 July 1877, which contributed to the success of the liberals.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				Won	Total	+/–
	Liberal Party	18,966	52.61	48	72	+15
	Catholic Party	17,085	47.39	18	60	–7
Total		36,051	100.00	66	132	+8
Total votes		36,051	–
Registered voters/turnout		57,640	62.55
Source: Mackie & Rose,[3] Sternberger et al.

Senate

Party		Seats
	Liberal Party	36
	Catholic Party	30
Total		66
Source: Sternberger et al.

Constituencies

The distribution of seats among the electoral districts was as follows for the Chamber of Representatives, with the difference compared to the previous election due to population growth:^[4]

References