1903 Spanish general election

1903 Spanish general election

26 April 1903 (Congress) 10 May 1903 (Senate)
All 403 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate 202 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
First party Second party Third party   170x170px 170x170px 170x170px Leader Francisco Silvela Eugenio Montero Ríos Nicolás Salmerón Party PLC Liberal Party (Spain, 1880) Republican Leader since 1899 1902 1903 Leader's seat Piedrahita Senator (for life) Barcelona Last election 91 (C) · 41 (S) 252 (C) · 117 (S) 15 (C) · 3 (S) Seats won 228 (C) · 101 (S) 95 (C) · 50 (S) 28 (C) · 1 (S) Seat change 137 (C) · 60 (S) 157 (C) · 67 (S) 13 (C) · 2 (S)   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   170x170px 170x170px 170x170px Leader José Canalejas None José María Vallés Party Monarchist Democratic Party Tetuanists Federal Leader since 1902 — 1901 Leader's seat Alcoy — La Bisbal Last election Did not contest 10 (C) · 7 (S) 2 (C) · 0 (S) Seats won 9 (C) · 4 (S) 6 (C) · 6 (S) 8 (C) · 1 (S) Seat change 9 (C) · 4 (S) 4 (C) · 1 (S) 6 (C) · 1 (S)
Prime Minister before election Francisco Silvela PLC Prime Minister after election Francisco Silvela PLC

The 1903 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 26 April (for the Congress of Deputies) and on Sunday, 10 May 1903 (for the Senate), to elect the 11th Cortes of the Kingdom of Spain in the Restoration period. All 403 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.

Overview

Electoral system

The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system. Both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate had legislative, control and budgetary functions, sharing equal powers except for laws on contributions or public credit, where the Congress had preeminence. Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage, which comprised all national males over 25 years of age, having at least a two-year residency in a municipality and in full enjoyment of their civil rights.

For the Congress of Deputies, 95 seats were elected using a partial block voting system in 27 multi-member constituencies, with the remaining 308 being elected under a one-round first-past-the-post system in single-member districts. Candidates winning a plurality in each constituency were elected. In constituencies electing eight seats or more, electors could vote for no more than three candidates less than the number of seats to be allocated; in those with more than four seats and up to eight, for no more than two less; in those with more than one seat and up to four, for no more than one less; and for one candidate in single-member districts. The Congress was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, with each multi-member constituency being allocated a fixed number of seats. Additionally, literary universities, economic societies of Friends of the Country and officially organized chambers of commerce, industry and agriculture were entitled to one seat per each 5,000 registered voters that they comprised. The law also provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated throughout the legislature.

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:

Seats	Constituencies
8	Madrid
7	Barcelona
5	Palma de Mallorca, Seville
4	Cartagena
3	Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Burgos, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva(+2), Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Lugo, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza

For the Senate, 180 seats were indirectly elected by the local councils and major taxpayers, with electors voting for delegates instead of senators. Elected delegates—equivalent in number to one-sixth of the councillors in each local council—would then vote for senators using a write-in, two-round majority voting system. The provinces of Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia were allocated four seats each, whereas each of the remaining provinces was allocated three seats, for a total of 150. The remaining 30 were allocated to special districts comprising a number of institutions, electing one seat each—the archdioceses of Burgos, Granada, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tarragona, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; the Royal Spanish Academy; the royal academies of History, Fine Arts of San Fernando, Exact and Natural Sciences, Moral and Political Sciences and Medicine; the universities of Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Oviedo, Salamanca, Santiago, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; and the economic societies of Friends of the Country from Madrid, Barcelona, León, Seville and Valencia. An additional 180 seats comprised senators in their own right—the Monarch's offspring and the heir apparent once coming of age; Grandees of Spain of the first class; Captain Generals of the Army and the Navy Admiral; the Patriarch of the Indies and archbishops; and the presidents of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme War Council and the Supreme Council of the Navy, after two years of service—as well as senators for life (who were appointed by the Monarch).

Election date

The term of each chamber of the Cortes—the Congress and one-half of the elective part of the Senate—expired five years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The previous Congress and Senate elections were held on 19 May and 2 June 1901, which meant that the legislature's terms would have expired on 19 May and 2 June 1906, respectively. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.

The Cortes were officially dissolved on 26 March 1903, with the dissolution decree setting the election dates for 26 April (for the Congress) and 10 May 1903 (for the Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to convene on 18 May.

Background

The Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a constitutional monarchy, awarding the monarch power to name senators and to revoke laws, as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the army. The monarch would also play a key role in the system of el turno pacífico (English: the Peaceful Turn) by appointing and dismissing governments and allowing the opposition to take power. Under this system, the major political parties of the time, the conservatives and the liberals—characterized as elite parties with loose structures and dominated by internal factions led by powerful individuals—alternated in power by means of election rigging, which they achieved through the encasillado, using the links between the Ministry of Governance, the provincial civil governors and the local bosses (caciques) to ensure victory and exclude minor parties from the power sharing.

Results

Congress of Deputies

← Summary of the 26 April 1903 Congress of Deputies election results →

400px
Parties and alliances		Popular vote		Seats
		Votes	%
	Liberal Conservative Party (PLC)			228
	Liberal Party (PL)			95
	Republican Union Party (PUR)			28
	Monarchist Democratic Party (PDM)			9
	Federal Republican Party (PRF)			8
	Liberal Reformist Party (PLR)			7
	Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT)			7
	Tetuanist Conservatives (T)			6
	Regionalist League (LR)			4
	Integrist Party (PI)			3
	Independents (INDEP)			8
Total				403
Votes cast / turnout
Abstentions
Registered voters
Sources

Seats
PLC			56.58%
PL			23.57%
PUR			6.95%
PDM			2.23%
PRF			1.99%
CT			1.74%
PLR			1.74%
T			1.49%
LR			0.99%
PI			0.74%
INDEP			1.99%

Senate

← Summary of the 10 May 1903 Senate of Spain election results →

375px
Parties and alliances		Seats
	Liberal Conservative Party (PLC)	101
	Liberal Party (PL)	50
	Tetuanist Conservatives (T)	6
	Monarchist Democratic Party (PDM)	4
	Regionalist League (LR)	2
	Republican Union Party (PUR)	1
	Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT)	1
	Federal Republicans Party (PRF)	1
	Liberal Reformist Party (PLR)	1
	Independents (INDEP)	4
	Archbishops (ARCH)	9
Total elective seats		180
Sources

Seats
PLC			56.11%
PL			27.78%
T			3.33%
PDM			2.22%
LR			1.11%
PUR			0.56%
PRF			0.56%
CT			0.56%
PLR			0.56%
INDEP			2.22%
ARCH			5.00%

Distribution by group

Summary of political group distribution in the 11th Restoration Cortes (1903–1905)

Group		Parties and alliances		C	S	Total
	PLC		Liberal Conservative Party (PLC)	227	99	329
			Urquijists (U)	1	2
	PL		Liberal Party (PL)	93	49	145
			Liberal Coalition (CL)	2	1
	PUR		Republican Union Party (PUR)	28	1	29
	PDM		Monarchist Democratic Party (PDM)	9	4	13
	T		Tetuanist Conservatives (T)	6	6	12
	PRF		Federal Republican Party (PRF)	8	1	9
	CT		Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT)	7	1	8
	PLR		Liberal Reformist Party (PLR)	7	1	8
	LR		Regionalist League (LR)	4	2	6
	PI		Integrist Party (PI)	3	0	3
	INDEP		Independents (INDEP)	8	4	12
	ARCH		Archbishops (ARCH)	0	9	9
Total				403	180	583