A general election was held in Spain on 27 April 1884 (for the Congress of Deputies) and on 8 May 1884 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 3rd under the Spanish Constitution of 1876, during the Restoration period. All 433 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.
Under the 1876 Constitution, the Spanish were conceived as "co-legislative bodies", forming a nearly perfect bicameral system. Both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate exercised legislative, oversight and budgetary functions, sharing almost equal powers, except in budget laws (taxation and public credit)âÂÂwhose first reading corresponded to CongressâÂÂand in impeachment processes against government ministers, where Congress handled indictment and the Senate the trial.
Voting for the Congress of Deputies was based on censitary suffrage, comprising Spanish national males over 25 years of age who met at least one of the following requirements:
In Cuba and Puerto Rico the taxpayer requirement was higher (Pts 125), while those not fully freed from servitude for three years were barred from voting in the Spanish West Indies. In the Basque Provinces and NavarreâÂÂwhere territorial contributions were not paid directlyâÂÂvoters had instead to prove a certain level of capital (Pts 2,400 in real estate, crops or livestock; or Pts 4,800 in industry, commerce, profession or trade). Additional restrictions excluded those deprived of political rights or disqualification from public office by a final court ruling, under criminal penalties, legally incapacitated, bankrupt people, and debtors of public funds.
The Congress of Deputies had one seat per 50,000 inhabitants. Of these, 111 were elected in 31 multi-member constituencies using partial block voting: in constituencies electing eight seats, voters could choose up to six candidates; in those with seven seats, up to five; in those with six seats, up to four; and in those with four or five seats, up to three. The remaining 321 seats were elected in single-member districts by plurality voting and distributed among the provinces of Spain and the Spanish West Indies according to population. Up to ten additional members could also be elected through cumulative voting in several single-member districts if they obtained more than 10,000 votes overall.
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:
Voting for the elective part of the Senate was also based on censitary suffrage, comprising archbishops and bishops (in the ecclesiastical councils); full academics (in the royal academies); university authorities and professors (in the universities); members with three years of seniority (in the economic societies of Friends of the Country); major taxpayers and Spanish citizens of legal age, resident householders with full political and civil rights (for delegates in the local councils); and provincial deputies.
180 Senate seats were elected using indirect, write-in, two-round majority voting. Delegates chosen by economic societies, local councils and major taxpayersâÂÂtogether with other qualified electorsâÂÂvoted for senators. The provinces of ÃÂlava, Albacete, ÃÂvila, Biscay, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Guipúzcoa, Huelva, Logroño, Matanzas, Palencia, Pinar del RÃÂo, Puerto PrÃÂncipe, Santa Clara, Santander, Santiago de Cuba, Segovia, Soria, Teruel, Valladolid and Zamora were allocated two seats each, and the rest three each, for a total of 147. The remaining 33 seats were allocated to special institutional districts (one each), including major archdioceses, royal academies, universities and economic societies of Friends of the Country. Another 180 seats consisted of senators in their own right (such as the monarch's offspring and the heir apparent once coming of age, grandees of Spain with sufficient income, certain general officersâÂÂcaptain generals and admiralsâÂÂarchbishops, and the heads of higher courts and state institutions after two years of service), as well as senators for life directly appointed by the monarch.
The law provided for by-elections to fill vacant seats during the legislative term.
For the Congress, secular Spanish citizens of legal age, with full civil rights and the right to vote could run for election. Causes of ineligibility applied to contractors of public works or services within the relevant territory in the year prior to the election; and to holders of certain government-appointed posts, provincial deputation members, mayors or similar officials, presidents of polling stations, or certain technical officials (civil, mining and forest engineers), during their term of office and for one year afterwards. In the Spanish West Indies, those not fully freed from servitude for ten years were also barred from running. Special exemptions from ineligibility were granted to certain individuals, capping at 40 the number of deputies able to benefit from these:
For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish citizens over 35 years of age who were not under criminal prosecution, disfranchisement nor asset seizure, and who either qualified to be senators in their own right or belonged (or had belonged) to certain categories:
Other ineligibility provisions for the Senate also applied to a number of territorial officials within their areas of jurisdiction, during their term of office and for up to three months afterwards; contractors of public works or services; tax collectors and their guarantors; debtors of public funds; deputies; local councillors (except those in Madrid); and provincial deputies within their respective provinces.
The term of each chamber of the âÂÂthe Congress and one-half of the elective part of the SenateâÂÂexpired five years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The previous elections were held on 21 August 1881 for the Congress and on 2 September 1881 for the Senate, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 21 August and 2 September 1886, respectively.
The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given timeâÂÂeither jointly or separatelyâÂÂand call a snap election. 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 were officially dissolved on 31 March 1884, with the corresponding decree setting election day for 27 April (Congress) and 8 May 1884 (Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 20 May.
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