1911 Portuguese Constituent National Assembly election

Constituent Assembly elections were held in Portugal on 28 May 1911, following a coup in October 1910.[1] The result was a victory for the Portuguese Republican Party, which won 229 of the 234 seats.[2]

1911 Portuguese Constituent National Assembly election

← 1910 28 May 1911 1913 →

234 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
118 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Teófilo Braga, 1915 - António Novais (cropped).png
AzedoGneco1.png
Leader Teófilo Braga Azedo Gneco
Party Republican Party Socialist Party
Last election 14 Did not run
Seats won 229 2
Seat change Increase 215 New

Prime Minister before election

Teófilo Braga
PRP

Prime Minister after election

Teófilo Braga
PRP

Electoral system

edit

The country was divided into 51 constituencies for the election.[3] Lisbon elected 20 members from two 10 member seats using proportional representation and the d'Hondt method, whilst Oporto had one 10 member constituency using the same system.[3] The remaining seats were elected from 48 constituencies with three or four members.[3]

Property qualifications for voters were abolished and suffrage was extended to all adults who were either literate or heads of their households, as well as soldiers, who had previously been barred from voting.[4] Bankrupts and "vagabonds" were excluded from the electoral roll.[3]

Candidates for the election had to be literate, and could not run in more than one seat.[3] Party lists had to obtain a certain number of signatures in every constituency (100 in Lisbon and Oporto and 25 in other constituencies) in order to contest the election.[3]

Parties

edit

The table below lists the parties that contested the elections:

Name Ideology Political position Leader
PRP Portuguese Republican Party
Partido Republicano Português
Republicanism
Radicalism
Centre Teófilo Braga
PSP Portuguese Socialist Party
Partido Socialista Português
Socialism
Proudhonism
Left-wing Azedo Gneco

Results

edit
 
PartyVotes%Seats
Portuguese Republican Party229
Portuguese Socialist Party2
Independents3
Total234
Registered voters/turnout846,801
Source: Nohlen & Stöver
Parliamentary seats
Republicans
97.86%
Socialist Party
0.85%
Others
1.31%

Aftermath

edit

The 1911 constitution was subsequently drawn up, which provided for a bicameral parliament and a president elected by a two-thirds vote in Parliament.[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1542 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p1551
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Nohlen & Stöver, p1534
  4. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, pp1533-1534