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 Liberal–Socialist 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

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

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

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Catholic Party	1,337,315	51.01	101
	Liberal–Socialist kartels	710,459	27.10	45
	Liberal Party	291,084	11.10	21
	Belgian Labour Party	243,338	9.28	18
	Christene Volkspartij	19,317	0.74	1
	Independents	20,258	0.77	0
Total		2,621,771	100.00	186
Valid votes		2,621,771	97.68
Invalid/blank votes		62,327	2.32
Total votes		2,684,098	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,814,089	95.38
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Catholic Party	1,224,767	52.22	54
	Liberal–Socialist kartels	480,457	20.49	16
	Liberal Party	408,043	17.40	14
	Belgian Labour Party	223,197	9.52	9
	Christene Volkspartij	8,937	0.38	0
Total		2,345,401	100.00	93
Valid votes		2,345,401	96.90
Invalid/blank votes		75,136	3.10
Total votes		2,420,537	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,525,810	95.83
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.

References