Spanish general election, 1918

Spanish general election, 1918

← 1916 24 February–10 March 1918 1919 →
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	4,189,976–4,719,662
Turnout	2,790,164 (59.1–66.6%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Eduardo Dato Manuel García Prieto Álvaro Figueroa Torres Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Liberal Leader since 1913 1913 1912 Leader's seat Álava (Vitoria) None Guadalajara (Guadalajara) Last election 88 seats Did not contest 233 seats Seats won 98 92 43 Seat change 10 92 190   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Melquíades Álvarez Antonio Maura Santiago Alba Party AI PM IL Leader since 1918 1913 1917 Leader's seat None Balearic Islands (Palma) Valladolid (Villalón de Campos) Last election 32 seats 17 seats Did not contest Seats won 35 31 29 Seat change 3 14 29
Prime Minister before election Manuel García Prieto Liberal Democrats Elected Prime Minister Antonio Maura PM

Manuel García Prieto
Liberal Democrats

Antonio Maura
PM

The 1918 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 24 February and on Sunday, 10 March 1918, to elect the 17th 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.

The Spanish legislature, the Cortes, was composed of two chambers at the time of the 1918 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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