Spanish general election, 1923

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.

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.^[2][3] 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.^[4]

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. 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.^[2][5][6][7]

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).^[8][9]

Election date

The term of each House 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 Houses at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.^[2][6][8]

Congress of Deputies

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

Parties and coalitions			Seats
			Seats	+/−
	Liberals and Reformists (Ministerials) (Lib–Ref)		213	+94
		Liberal Democrats (LD)1	86	+42
		Liberals (Romanonists) (L)1	47	+18
		Liberal Left (IL)1	42	+16
		Reformist Party (PR)1	17	+9
		Agrarian Liberals (Gassetists) (Lib.agr)	10	+5
		Nicetist Liberals (Lib.nic)	6	+2
		Independent Liberals (Lib.i)	4	+1
		Independent Reformists (Ref.i)	1	+1
	Liberal Conservative Party (PLC)1		92	–80
	Regionalist League of Catalonia (LRC)		20	+6
	Ciervist Conservatives (CC)		18	–5
	Maurist Party (PM)		12	–12
	National Monarchist Union (UMN)		10	–1
		Liberal Left (IL)	4	+2
		Liberal Democrats (LD)	3	+2
		Liberals (Romanonists) (L)	1	–4
		Liberal Conservative Party (PLC)	1	–1
		Reformist Party (PR)2	1	±0
	Radical Republican Party (PRR)		7	–1
		Radical Republican Party (PRR)	4	–1
		Republicans (Rep)	3	±0
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		7	+3
	Basque Dynastics (Din.v)		5	+2
	Traditionalist Communion (Jaimists) (CT)		4	±0
	Catalan Republican Party (PRC)		3	+1
	Federal Democratic Republican Party (PRDF)		2	±0
	Autonomist Monarchist Federation (FMA)		2	–1
	Catalan Nationalist Republicans (Rep.nac.cat)		2	±0
	Catholic Action Regional Group–Traditionalist Catholic Party (ARAC–PCT)		1	–1
	Basque Nationalist (NV)		1	±0
	Agrarians (Agr)		1	±0
	Autonomist Republican Union Party (PURA)		1	–1
	Integrist Party (PI)		1	±0
	Independent Catholics (Cató.i)		1	±0
	Regionalists (Reg)		1	–1
	Independent Conservatives (Cons.i)		1	–2
	Independent Republicans (Rep.i)		0	–2
	Independents (Indep)		4	+1
Total			409	±0
Sources[10][11]
Footnotes: 1 Liberal Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats, Liberals (Romanonists), Liberal Left and Reformist Party do not include results in Catalonia. 2 Reformist Party results within National Monarchist Union are compared to its totals in Catalonia in the 1920 election.