1923 Spanish general election

The 1923 Spanish general election was held on Sundays, 29 April and 13 May 1923, to elect the 20th Restoration Cortes of the Kingdom of Spain. All 409 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.[1]

1923 Spanish general election

29 April 1923 (Congress) 13 May 1923 (Senate)
All 409 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate 205 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
Registered	4,782,347 (total) 3,128,928 (non-Article 29)
Turnout	2,056,974 (65.7%)
Leader Manuel García Prieto José Sánchez Guerra Francesc Cambó Party Liberal Unity Conservative LRC Leader since 1913 1921 1917 Leader's seat Senator for life Cabra Barcelona Seats won 223 C / 105 S 124 C / 46 S 22 C / 6 S Popular vote 979,435 591,026 110,007 Percentage 47.6% 28.7% 5.3%   Leader Alejandro Lerroux Pablo Iglesias José Selva Mergelina Party Republican PSOE Carlist Leader since 1908 2 May 1879 1921 Leader's seat Barcelona Madrid — Seats won 15 C / 3 S 7 C / 0 S 5 C / 3 S Popular vote 129,225 38,151 19,071 Percentage 6.3% 1.9% 0.9%
Prime Minister before election Manuel García Prieto PLD (Liberal Unity) Elected Prime Minister Manuel García Prieto PLD (Liberal Unity)

This would be the last election under the turno system, as the Cortes would be dissolved and the Constitution suspended as a result of a military coup in September 1923 staged by Captain General Miguel Primo de Rivera. Primo de Rivera would establish a dictatorship which would last until 1930. In 1931, the Second Spanish Republic would be proclaimed.

Overview

Background

The Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a constitutional monarchy, awarding the King power to name senators and to revoke laws, as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the army. The King would also play a key role in the system of the turno pacífico (English: Peaceful Turn) by appointing and toppling governments and allowing the opposition to take power. Under this system, the Conservative and Liberal parties 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.[2]

Electoral system

The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameralism. 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.[3][4] Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage, which comprised all national males over twenty-five, having at least a two-year residency in a municipality and in full enjoyment of their civil rights. Voting was compulsory except for those older than 70, the clergy, first instance judges and public notaries.[5]

For the Congress of Deputies, 173 seats were elected using a partial block voting in 44 multi-member constituencies, with the remaining 236 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 ten seats or more, electors could vote for no more than four candidates less than the number of seats to be allocated; in those with more than eight seats and up to ten, for no more than three less; 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. Additionally, in single-member districts where candidates ran unopposed, as well as in multi-member districts where the number of candidates was equal or less than the number of seats to be filled, candidates were to be automatically proclaimed without an election as outlined under Article 29 of the electoral law. The Congress was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, with each multi-member constituency being allocated a fixed number of seats: 13 for Barcelona and Madrid, 6 for Valencia, 5 for La Coruña, Palma, Santander and Seville, 4 for Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Córdoba, Huelva, Jaén, Lugo, Málaga, Murcia and Oviedo and 3 for Alcázar de San Juan, Alcoy, Algeciras, Bilbao, Burgos, Cádiz, Cartagena, Castellón de la Plana, Ciudad Real, El Ferrol, Gijón, Granada, Jerez de la Frontera, Las Palmas, Lérida, Llerena, Lorca, Orense, Pamplona, Pontevedra, San Sebastián, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tarragona, Valladolid, Vera, Vigo and Zaragoza. The law also provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated throughout the legislature.[3][6][7][8]

For the Senate, 180 seats were indirectly elected, with electors voting for delegates instead of senators. Elected delegates—equivalent in number to one-sixth of the councillors in each municipal corporation—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 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, 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; as well as other high-ranking state figures—and senators for life (who were appointed by the Monarch).[9][10]

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 Monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.[3][7][9]

Results

Congress of Deputies

← Summary of the 29 April 1923 Congress of Deputies election results

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote		Seats
		Votes[lower-alpha 1]	%	Cont.	A.29	Total
	Liberal Unity (Concentración Liberal)	979,435	47.62	137	86	223
	Liberal Democratic Party (PLD)			53	39	92
	Liberal Party (PL)			31	16	47
	Liberal Left (IL)			31	15	46
	Reformist Party (PR)			11	8	19
	Agrarian Liberal Party (PLA)			9	1	10
	Independent Democratic Party (PDI)			1	7	8
	Independent Liberals (LI)			1	0	1
	Conservatives (Conservadores)	591,026	28.73	73	51	124
	Liberal Conservative Party (PLC)			54	38	92
	Ciervist Conservatives (CC)			9	9	18
	Maurist Party (PM)			10	4	14
	Republicans (Republicanos)	129,225	6.28	11	4	15
	Republican Democracy–Catalan Republican Party (DR–PRC)			9	3	12
	Federal Democratic Republican Party (PRDF)			2	0	2
	Autonomist Republican Union Party (PURA)			0	1	1
	Regionalist League of Catalonia (LRC)	110,007	5.35	20	2	22
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	38,151	1.85	6	1	7
	Agrarians (Agrarios)	29,975	1.46	1	0	1
	Catholics (Católicos)	26,377	1.28	2	0	2
	Carlists (Carlistas)	19,071	0.93	4	1	5
	Jaimists (Jaimistas)			3	0	3
	Traditionalist Communion (CT)			1	0	1
	Integrist Party (PI)			0	1	1
	Catalan Action (AC)	16,937	0.82	0	0	0
	Basque Nationalist Party (PNV)	13,152	0.64	1	0	1
	National Monarchist Union (UMN)	6,240	0.30	0	0	0
	Biscay Monarchist League (LMV)	3,437	0.17	1	0	1
	Communist Party of Spain (PCE)	2,320	0.11	0	0	0
	Independents (Independientes)	54,263	2.64	7	1	8
	Other candidates/blank ballots	37,358	1.82	0	0	0
Total		2,056,974		263	146	409
Votes cast / turnout		2,056,974	65.74
Abstentions		1,071,954	34.26
Non-Article 29 registered voters		3,128,928	65.43
Article 29 non-voters		1,653,419	34.57
Registered voters		4,782,347
Sources[11][12][13][14]

Popular vote Liberal Unity   47.62% Conservative   28.73% Republican   6.28% LRC   5.35% PSOE   1.85% Agrarian   1.46% Catholic   1.28% Carlist   0.93% NV   0.64% LMV   0.17% Independent   2.64% Others   3.06%

Seats Liberal Unity   54.52% Conservative   30.32% LRC   5.38% Republican   3.67% PSOE   1.71% Carlist   1.22% Catholic   0.49% Agrarian   0.24% NV   0.24% LMV   0.24% Independent   1.96%

Senate

← Summary of the 13 May 1923 Senate of Spain election results

Parties and coalitions		Seats
	Liberal Unity (Concentración Liberal)	105
	Conservatives (Conservadores)	46
	Liberal Conservative Party (PLC)	37
	Ciervist Conservatives (CC)	6
	Maurist Party (PM)	3
	Regionalist League of Catalonia (LRC)	6
	Republicans (Republicanos)	3
	Carlists (Carlistas)	3
	Catholics (Católicos)	1
	Biscay Monarchist League (LMV)	2
	Independents (Independientes)	5
	Archbishops (Arzobispos)	9
Total elective seats		180
Sources[15][16][17][18]

Seats Liberal Unity   58.33% Conservative   25.56% LRC   3.33% Republican   1.67% Carlist   1.67% LMV   1.11% Catholic   0.56% Independent   2.78% Archbishops   5.00%

Notes

1. In multi-member constituencies, votes have been allocated by calculating the arithmetic average of each candidacy and adding it to the votes of single-member constituencies.

References

1. "Real decreto declarando disueltos el Congreso de los Diputados y la parte electiva del Senado; disponiendo que las Cortes se reúnan el día 23 de Mayo próximo, y que las elecciones de Diputados se verifiquen en todas las provincias de la Monarquía el día 29 del mes actual, y las de Senadores el 13 de Mayo siguiente". Royal Decree of 6 April 1923 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2018.
2. Martorell Linares 1997, pp. 139–143.
3. "Constitución de 1876". Act of 30 June 1876 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2016.
4. "El Senado en la historia constitucional española". Senate of Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2016.
5. Carreras de Odriozola & Tafunell Sambola 2005, p. 1077.
6. "Ley electoral de los Diputados a Cortes". Law of 28 December 1878 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2016.
7. "Ley reformando la Electoral vigente". Law of 8 August 1907 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2016.
8. "Ley de división electoral para las elecciones de Diputados a Cortes". Law of 23 October 1913 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 July 2018.
9. "Ley electoral de Senadores". Law of 8 February 1877 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2016.
10. "Real decreto declarando disueltos el Congreso de los Diputados y la parte electiva del Senado, y convocando á nuevas elecciones en las fechas que se expresan". Royal Decree of 16 March 1899 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2016.
11. Villa García 2020, pp. 276–287.
12. "Resultado de las elecciones de Diputados a Cortes verificadas el 29 de abril de 1923" (PDF). National Institute of Statistics (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 September 2020.
13. "La constitución del Congreso". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 5 May 1923. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
14. "Elecciones a Cortes 29 de abril de 1923". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 September 2020.
15. "Ayer fueron elegidos ciento ochenta abuelos de la patria". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Voz. 14 May 1923. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
16. "La elección de Senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Época. 14 May 1923. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
17. "El Gobierno se felicita del resultado". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 15 May 1923. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
18. "Las elecciones de Senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Globo. 15 May 1923. Retrieved 13 September 2020.

Bibliography

• Carreras de Odriozola, Albert; Tafunell Sambola, Xavier (2005) [1989]. Estadísticas históricas de España, siglos XIX-XX (PDF) (in Spanish). 1 (II ed.). Bilbao: Fundación BBVA. pp. 1072–1097. ISBN 84-96515-00-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.
• Martorell Linares, Miguel Ángel (1997). "La crisis parlamentaria de 1913-1917. La quiebra del sistema de relaciones parlamentarias de la Restauración". Revista de Estudios Políticos (in Spanish) (96): 137–161. ISSN 0048-7694. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
• García Muñoz, Montserrat (2002). "La documentación electoral y el fichero histórico de diputados". Revista General de Información y Documentación (in Spanish). 12 (1): 93–137. ISSN 1132-1873. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
• Cabo Villaverde, Miguel (2008). "Leyendo entre líneas las elecciones de la Restauración: la aplicación de la ley electoral de 1907 en Galicia". Historia Social (in Spanish) (61): 23–43. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
• Villa García, Roberto (2020). "¿Un sufragio en declive?: las elecciones al Congreso de 1923". Historia y Política (in Spanish) (43): 255–290. doi:10.18042/hp.43.09. ISSN 1989-063X. Retrieved 12 September 2020.

External links

• Historical archive of deputies (1810–1977). Congress of Deputies (in Spanish).
• Elections in the Revolutionary Sexennium and the Restoration. Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish).