A general election was held in Spain on 10 September 1905 (for the Congress of Deputies), and on 24 September 1905 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 12th under the Spanish Constitution of 1876, during the Restoration period. All 404 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.
The informal system had allowed the country's two main partiesâÂÂthe Conservatives and the LiberalsâÂÂto alternate in power by determining in advance the outcome of elections through electoral fraud, often facilitated by the territorial clientelistic networks of local bosses (the ). The absence of politically authoritative figureheads since the deaths of Cánovas and Sagasta, together with the national trauma from the SpanishâÂÂAmerican War, weakened the internal unity of both parties and allowed faction leaders and local to strengthen their positions as power brokers. Sagasta's death plunged the Liberal Party into turmoil, with an inconclusive leadership contest between Eugenio Montero RÃÂos and Segismundo Moret seeing the former temporarily splitting (together with supporters of José Canalejas and José López DomÃÂnguez) into the Liberal Democratic Party.
Francisco Silvela's second tenure as prime minister of Spain was short-lived, as he resigned in July 1903 over disagreements between the Crown and Antonio Maura over the latter's management of election preparations as Governance ministerâÂÂwhich had led to a strong performance by anti-monarchist forces in urban districts in the 1903 electionâÂÂand amid a growing rivalry with Finance minister Raimundo Fernández-Villaverde, a defender of orthodox economics who opposed Maura's deficit spending. A five-month long cabinet under Villaverde fell after most of the Conservatives coalesced around Maura as new party leader, but a government attempt by the latter collapsed in December 1904, following King Alfonso XIII's interference in the appointment of a new Chief of the Central Staff of the Army. The inability of any other Conservative leader to command the party's majority in parliament thwarted two government attempts by Marcelo Azcárraga and Villaverde (who had split into his own political faction), leading to a new Liberal "turn" under Montero RÃÂos.
The Restoration system had entered a phase of decline following the national trauma from the SpanishâÂÂAmerican War (the "1898 disaster") and the absence of politically authoritative figureheads since the deaths of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (1897) and Práxedes Mateo Sagasta (1903), weakening the internal unity of both dynastic parties and strengthening the position of faction leaders and local as power brokers. Concurrently, the anti-monarchist opposition became increasingly competitive in urban and some rural districts, partly due to the introduction of universal suffrage since 1890, partly due to the progressive weakening of the pro-government electoral apparatus.
Francisco Silvela's return to power in December 1902 had seen the incorporation of the remaining Gamacists under Antonio MauraâÂÂa strong adherent to Silvela's regenerationist view of a revolution from power"âÂÂinto the Conservative fold, with Maura himself being appointed as new governance minister. The rivalry within Silvela's cabinet between Maura (whose position was more flexible in favour of corporatism and social reforms, even through deficit spending) and Raimundo Fernández-Villaverde (proponent of a rigid orthodox economic policy based on fiscal discipline and the gold standard) led to the latter's resignation as finance minister in March 1903.
Villaverde and Maura's financial clashes over a cabinet-sponsored Navy Law, coupled with disagreements between the Crown and Maura over election preparation proceduresâÂÂas a result of the strong performance of anti-monarchist candidates in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia in the 1903 general electionâÂÂled to Silvela's resignation on 20 July 1903, with young King Alfonso XIII appointing Villaverde as new prime minister. This situation would last for only five months, as most of the Conservatives coalesced around Maura (singled out by Silvela as his successor) after a vigorous parliamentary speech in defense of Conservative ideals on 11 November, prompting the downfall of Villaverde's government when it proved unable to get its 1904 budget bill through parliament in December.
A new government under Antonio Maura saw attempts to implement a regenerationist agenda, but his policy of increasing public spending caused a rift with the Villaverdists within the Conservative Party. During this period, the government had to deal with the "Nozaleda affair": its attempt to propose Bernardino NozaledaâÂÂformer archbishop of Manila, questioned for his role during the loss of the PhilippinesâÂÂas archbishop of Valencia, earning Maura criticism from the opposition. Maura resigned on 16 December 1904, following the King's refusal to sign the appointment of General Francisco Loño to the newly created post of Chief of the Central Staff of the ArmyâÂÂwith Alfonso XIII preferring General Camilo GarcÃÂa de Polavieja insteadâÂÂsparking a political crisis as no other Conservative leader could command the party's parliamentary support: an interim cabinet by Marcelo Azcárraga fell within one month over disagreements on the date of re-opening of the , and a second government under Villaverde was left in a clear minority, surviving only for as long as the parliament remained closed. Once the were re-opened, the government suffered a string of parliamentary defeats until it was brought down in a vote of confidence on 20 June 1905. Both Silvela and Villaverde would die within a few weeks of each other in 1905, leaving Maura as the sole undisputed leader of the Conservative Party.
Sagasta's death had left the Liberal Party in need of a new leader and political direction. In a parliamentary assembly held on 15 November 1903, Eugenio Montero RÃÂos narrowly outvoted Segismundo Moret among party legislators (210 to 194), but fell short of the two-thirds majority required for election. The party split into two factions, with Montero RÃÂos being joined by José López DomÃÂnguez and José CanalejasâÂÂwho had left both the Liberal government and party the previous year over his disagreement with Moret and Sagasta's deal with the Holy See on the issue of religious ordersâÂÂinto the new Liberal Democratic Party. In June 1905, amid the crisis of the Conservative government (seeing five cabinets succeeding each other within two years), Montero RÃÂos and Moret agreed on a united front to pose a viable political alternative, which bore fruit upon the former's appointment as prime minister on 23 June.
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 universal manhood suffrage, comprising all Spanish national males over 25 years of age with full civil rights, provided they had two years of residence in a municipality. 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, debtors of public funds, and homeless.
The Congress of Deputies had one seat per 50,000 inhabitants. Of these, 98 were elected in 28 multi-member constituencies using partial block voting: in constituencies electing eight seats or more, voters could choose up to three candidates less than the number of seats at stake; in those with between four and eight seats, up to two less; and in those with between one and four seats, up to one less. The remaining 306 seats were elected in single-member districts by plurality voting and distributed among the provinces of Spain according to population. Additionally, universities, economic societies of Friends of the Country and officially organized chambers of commerce, industry and agriculture, had one seat per 5,000 registered voters.
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 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 Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia were allocated four seats each, and the rest three each, for a total of 150. The remaining 30 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; and to holders of certain government-appointed posts, or provincial deputation members, during their term of office and for one year afterwards. Government ministers and civil servants in the Central Administration were exempt from these causes. 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 26 April 1903 for the Congress and on 10 May 1903 for the Senate, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 26 April and 10 May 1908, 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 17 August 1905, with the corresponding decree setting election day for 10 September (Congress) and 24 September 1905 (Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 11 October.
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