1863 Belgian general election

1863 Belgian general election
58 of the 116 seats in the Chamber of Representatives; 57 seats needed for a majority
Government before election; Rogier II; Liberal	Government after election ; Rogier II; Liberal

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 9 June 1863.^[1]^[2] The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 59 of the 116 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 33 of the 58 seats in the Senate.^[2] Voter turnout was 74.5%, although only 52,519 people were eligible to vote.

Under the alternating system, elections for the Chamber of Representatives were only held in five out of the nine provinces: Antwerp, Brabant, Luxembourg, Namur and West Flanders. Additionally, special elections were held in the arrondissements of Tournai, Ghent and Hasselt.

Results

Chamber of Representatives



Party		Votes	%	Seats
Party		Votes	%	Won	Total	+/–
	Catholics	21,310	54.49	34	57	+7
	Liberal Party	17,799	45.51	24	59	–7
Total		39,109	100.00	58	116	0

Total votes		39,109	–
Registered voters/turnout		52,519	74.47
Source: Mackie & Rose,^[3] Sternberger et al.

Senate



Party		Seats
	Liberal Party	33
	Catholics	25
Total		58

Source: Sternberger et al.

References

^ 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, p46