Belgian general election, June 1870
First party
Second party
Leader
Walthère Frère-Orban
Jules d'Anethan
Party
Liberal
Catholic
Leader since
Candidate for PM
Candidate for PM
Seats before
72 seats
50 seats
Seats won
31
30
Seats after
61
61
Seat change
11
11
Popular vote
17,173
13,698
Percentage
55.63%
44.37%
Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 11 June 1870.[ 1] [ 2] In the elections for the Chamber of Representatives the Liberal Party and the Catholic Party both won 61 seats, resulting in a hung parliament .[ 2] Voter turnout was 60%, although only 51,435 people were eligible to vote. Consequently, early elections were held two months later.
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 .
Chamber of Representatives [ edit ]
Party Votes % Seats Won Total +/– Liberal Party 17,173 55.63 31 61 –11 Catholic Party 13,698 44.37 30 61 +11 Total 30,871 100.00 61 122 0 Total votes 30,871 – Registered voters/turnout 51,435 60.02 Source: Mackie & Rose,[ 3] Sternberger et al .
^ Codebook Constituency-level Elections Archive, 2003
^ a b Sternberger, D, Vogel, B & Nohlen, D (1969) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band I: Europa - Erster Halbband , p105
^ Thomas T. Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) The International Almanac of Electoral History , Macmillan, pp48–49