Spanish general election, 1901

← 1899

19 May–2 June 1901

1903 →

All 402 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate
202 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
202 seats needed for a majority

Registered

4,300,066

Turnout

2,880,210–2,888,021 (67.0–67.2%)

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta	Francisco Silvela	Francisco Pi y Margall
Party	Liberal	Conservative	CR
Leader since	1876	1899	1901
Leader's seat	Logroño (Logroño)	Ávila (Piedrahita)	Barcelona (Barcelona)
Last election	102 seats	228 seats	13 seats
Seats won	245	84	14
Seat change	143	144	1

Prime Minister before election

Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Liberal

Elected Prime Minister

Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Liberal

The 1901 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 19 May and on Sunday, 2 June 1901, to elect the 10th Restoration Cortes of the Kingdom of Spain. All 402 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.

The Spanish legislature, the Cortes, was composed of two chambers at the time of the 1901 election:

This was a nearly perfect bicameral system, with the two chambers established as "co-legislative bodies". Both chambers had legislative, control and budgetary functions, sharing equal powers except for laws on contributions or public credit, where the Congress had preeminence.

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 (Spanish for "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 the Interior, the provincial civil governors, and the local bosses (caciques) to ensure victory and exclude minor parties from the power sharing.

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Wikipedia