1918 Spanish general election

1918 Spanish general election

24 February 1918 (Congress)[a] 10 March 1918 (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
First party Second party Third party   Leader Eduardo Dato Marquis of Alhucemas Count of Romanones Party Conservative Liberal Democratic Romanonist Leader since 1913 1913 1912 Leader's seat Vitoria Senator for life Guadalajara Last election 90 (C) · 36 (S) Did not contest 228 (C) · 112 (S)[b] Seats won 104 (C) · 48 (S) 89 (C) · 41 (S) 40 (C) · 23 (S) Seat change 14 (C) · 12 (S) 89 (C) · 41 (S) 188 (C) · 89 (S)   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Santiago Alba Melquíades Álvarez Antonio Maura Party Liberal Left Alliance Maurist Leader since 1917 1918 1913 Leader's seat Albuñol Madrid (lost) Palma Last election Did not contest 34 (C) · 3 (S)[c] 17 (C) · 5 (S) Seats won 33 (C) · 17 (S) 34 (C) · 2 (S) 27 (C) · 9 (S) Seat change 33 (C) · 17 (S) 0 (C) · 1 (S) 10 (C) · 4 (S)
Prime Minister before election Marquis of Alhucemas Liberal Democratic Prime Minister after election Antonio Maura Maurist

A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 24 February (for the Congress of Deputies)^[a] and on Sunday, 10 March 1918 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 17th Restoration Cortes. All 409 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.

The Liberal government of the Count of Romanones took power in the middle of World War I in Europe, having to navigate through Spain's neutrality in the war and its impact on the country's economy. Finance Minister Santiago Alba gained prominence by leading a liberal legislative program of tax reforms, public investments, improvements in the Public Treasury administration and fighting tax fraud. These reforms were blocked by the obstructionist and filibustering opposition from the Regionalist League under Francesc Cambó which, coupled with a conflict between Anglophiles and Germanophiles, led to Romanones' resignation in April 1917. A brief 53-day government under the Marquis of Alhucemas fell after the Defence Juntas—constituted as military pressure groups against the higher pay and quicker promotion of "Africanists"—refused to disband, with King Alfonso XIII attempting to maintain the turno by giving power back to the Conservatives under Eduardo Dato.

During his second tenure, Dato had to tackle the unravelling Spanish crisis of 1917, seeing off the meetings of the Assembly of Parliamentarians in Barcelona (demanding constitutional reform and an increased role of regions in the power-sharing) and the revolutionary general strike in August, as the social response to the rising cost of living, unequal distribution of incomes and inspired by the Russian Revolution. After less than five months, a new interference by the Defence Juntas caused the downfall of Dato's cabinet. Seeking a solution to the mounting crises after the resignation of three prime ministers in less than a year, the King tasked Alhucemas with forming a government of national unity with Maurists, liberals, and Catalanists—nicknamed the "Horace's monster" (Monstruo de Horacio) due to its heterogeneous composition—and call a snap election.

Joining the warring Conservative factions—Datists, Maurists and Ciervists—the Liberals fragmented into the Alhucemas-led Liberal Democrats, a weakened Romanonist faction and a new splinter by Alba: the Liberal Left. With both dynastic parties in disarray, the resulting parliament was the most fragmented since the approval of the Spanish Constitution of 1876, with neither being able to muster a parliamentary majority. The Republican–Socialist Conjunction merged with Melquíades Álvarez's Reformist Party into the Alliance of the Left, but results were perceived as disappointing (particularly in Madrid, where Álvarez and Alejandro Lerroux both failed to secure their seats).^[2] The election would see the formation of the "National Government" (Gobierno Nacional) under Antonio Maura, including all Liberal and Conservative factions, as well as the Regionalist League of Catalonia.

The Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a semi-constitutional monarchy, awarding the monarch the right of legislative initiative together with the bicameral Cortes; the capacity to veto laws passed by the legislative body; the power to appoint senators and government members (including the prime minister); as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the armed forces.^[3] The monarch would play a key role in the turno system by appointing and dismissing governments, which would then organize elections to provide themselves with a parliamentary majority. This informal system allowed the two major "dynastic" political parties at the time, the Conservatives and the Liberals—characterized as oligarchic, elite parties with loose structures dominated by internal factions, each led by powerful individuals—to alternate in power by means of electoral fraud (pucherazo). This was achieved by assigning candidates to districts before the elections were held (encasillado), then arrange their victory through the links between the Ministry of Governance and the territorial clientelistic networks of provincial governors and local bosses (the caciques), excluding minor parties from the power sharing.^[4][5]

The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system.^[6] 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, the first reading of which corresponded to Congress, and impeachment processes against government ministers, in which each chamber had separate powers of indictment (Congress) and trial (Senate).^[7][8] Voting for each chamber of the Cortes was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage and censitary suffrage, respectively:

• For the Congress, it 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. Voting was compulsory, though those older than 70, the clergy, first instance judges and public notaries (the latter two categories, within their respective area of jurisdiction) were exempt from this obligation.^[9][10][11]

Electors were required to not being in active military service; nor being sentenced—by a final court ruling—to perpetual disqualification from political rights or public offices, to afflictive penalties not legally rehabilitated at least two years in advance, nor to other criminal penalties that remained unserved at the time of the election; neither being legally incapacitated, bankrupt, insolvent, debtors of public funds, nor homeless.^[9]

• For the Senate, it comprised archbishops and bishops (in the ecclesiastical councils); full academics (in the royal academies); rectors, full professors, enrolled doctors, directors of secondary education institutes and heads of special schools in their respective territories (in the universities); members with at least a three-year-old membership (in the economic societies of Friends of the Country); major taxpayers and Spanish citizens of age, being householders residing in Spain and in full enjoyment of their political and civil rights (for delegates in the local councils); and provincial deputies.^[12]

The Congress of Deputies was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, distributed among the provinces of Spain.^[13] 98 seats were distributed among 28 multi-member constituencies and elected using a partial block voting system: 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; and in those with more than one seat and up to four, for no more than one less.^[14] The remaining seats—311 for the 1918 election—were allocated to single-member districts and elected using plurality voting.^[15] Additionally, in those districts where the number of candidates was equal or less than the number of seats up for election, candidates were to be automatically elected.^[16]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:^[15][17]

For the Senate, 180 seats were elected using an indirect, write-in, two-round majority voting system.^[18][19] Voters in the economic societies, the local councils and major taxpayers elected delegates—equivalent in number to one per each 50 members (in each economic society) or to one-sixth of the councillors (in each local council), with an initial minimum of one—who, together with other voting-able electors, would in turn vote for senators.^[20] 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.^[21][22] 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 six oldest royal academies (the Royal Spanish; History; Fine Arts of San Fernando; Exact, Physical 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.^[23]

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 with an annual income of at least 60,000 Pt (from their own real estate or from rights that enjoy the same legal consideration); captain generals of the Army and admirals of the Navy; the Patriarch of the Indies and archbishops; and the presidents of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme Council of War and Navy, after two years of service—as well as senators for life appointed directly by the monarch.^[24]

The law provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated in both the Congress and Senate throughout the legislature's term.^[25][26]

For the Congress, Spanish citizens of age, of secular status, in full enjoyment of their civil rights and with the legal capacity to vote could run for election, provided that they were not contractors of public works or services, within the territorial scope of their contracts; nor holders of government-appointed offices, the judiciary, the prosecution ministry and presidents or members of provincial deputations—during their tenure of office and up to one year after their dismissal—in constituencies within the whole or part of their respective area of jurisdiction, except for government ministers and civil servants in the Central Administration.^[27][28] A number of other positions were exempt from ineligibility, provided that no more than 40 deputies benefitted from these:^[29][30]

• Civil, military and judicial positions with a permanent residence in Madrid and a yearly public salary of at least 12,500 Pt;
• The holders of a number of positions: the president, prosecutors and chamber presidents of the territorial court of Madrid; the rector and full professors of the Central University of Madrid; inspectors of engineers; and general officers of the Army and Navy based in Madrid.

Additionally, candidates intending to run were required to either have previously served as deputies, elected in a general or by-election; to secure the endorsement of two current or former senators or deputies from the same provinces, or from three current or former provincial deputies representing a territory that, in whole or in part, was included in the constituencies for which they sought election; or to secure the endorsement of at least one twentieth of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election.^[31]

For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish citizens over 35 years of age and not subject to criminal prosecution, disfranchisement nor asset seizure, provided that they were entitled to be appointed as senators in their own right or belonged or had belonged to one of the following categories:^[32][33]

• Those who had ever served as senators before the promulgation of the 1876 Constitution; and deputies having served in at least three different congresses or eight terms;
• The holders of a number of positions: presidents of the Senate and the Congress; government ministers; bishops; grandees of Spain not eligible as senators in their own right; and presidents and directors of the royal academies;
• Provided an annual income of at least 7,500 Pt from either their own property, salaries from jobs that cannot be lost except for legally proven cause, or from retirement, withdrawal or termination: full academics of the aforementioned corporations on the first half of the seniority scale in their corps; first-class inspectors general of the corps of civil, mining and forest engineers; and full professors with at least four years of seniority in their category and practice;
• Provided two prior years of service: Army's lieutenant generals and Navy's vice admirals; and other members and prosecutors of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme Council of War and Navy, and the dean of the Court of Military Orders;
• Ambassadors after two years of service and plenipotentiaries after four;
• Those with an annual income of 20,000 Pt or were taxpayers with a minimum quota of 4,000 Pt in direct contributions at least two years in advance, provided that they either belonged to the Spanish nobility, had been previously deputies, provincial deputies or mayors in provincial capitals or towns over 20,000 inhabitants.

Other causes of ineligibility for the Senate were imposed on territorial-level officers in government bodies and institutions—during their tenure of office and up to three months after their dismissal—in constituencies within the whole or part of their respective area of jurisdiction; contractors of public works or services; tax collectors and their guarantors; debtors of the State; deputies; local councillors (except those in Madrid); and provincial deputies for their respective provinces.^[34]

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.^[35] The previous Congress and Senate elections were held on 9 April and 23 April 1916, which meant that the legislature's terms would have expired on 9 April and 23 April 1921, respectively. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.^[36][37] There was no constitutional requirement for concurrent elections to the Congress and the Senate, nor for the elective part of the Senate to be renewed in its entirety except in the case that a full dissolution was agreed by the monarch. Still, there was only one case of a separate election (for the Senate in 1877) and no half-Senate elections taking place under the 1876 Constitution.

The Cortes were officially dissolved on 10 January 1918, with the dissolution decree setting the election dates for 24 February (for the Congress) and 10 March 1918 (for the Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 18 March.^[38]

← Summary of the 24 February 1918 Congress of Deputies election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote		Seats
		Votes	%	A.29	Cont.	Total
	Liberal Conservative Party (PLC)			14	90	104
	Liberal Democratic Party (Prietist) (PLD)			18	71	89
	Liberal Party (Romanonist) (PL)			8	32	40
	Alliance of the Left (AI)			4	30	34
	Liberal Left (Albist) (IL)			5	28	33
	Maurist Party (PM)			4	23	27
	Ciervist Conservatives (CC)			3	21	24
	Regionalist League (LR)			0	22	22
	Traditionalist Communion (Jaimist) (CT)			1	8	9
	Agrarian Liberal Party (Gassetist) (PLA)			0	7	7
	Basque Nationalist Communion (CNV)			1	6	7
	Integrist Party (PI)			1	0	1
	Independents (INDEP)			3	9	12
Total				62	347	409
Votes cast / turnout
Abstentions
Registered voters
Sources[a][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]

← Summary of the 10 March 1918 Senate of Spain election results →

Parties and alliances		Seats
	Liberal Conservative Party (PLC)	48
	Liberal Democratic Party (Prietist) (PLD)	41
	Liberal Party (Romanonist) (PL)	23
	Liberal Left (Albist) (IL)	17
	Maurist Party (PM)	9
	Regionalist League (LR)	8
	Ciervist Conservatives (CC)	6
	Traditionalist Communion (Jaimist) (CT)	5
	Agrarian Liberal Party (Gassetist) (PLA)	3
	Alliance of the Left (AI)	2
	Basque Nationalist Communion (CNV)	2
	Integrist Party (PI)	2
	Independents (INDEP)	5
	Archbishops (ARCH)	9
Total elective seats		180
Sources[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56]