Prince Amadeo of Savoy was chosen as new King of Spain on 16 November 1870 and sworn-in as Amadeo I on 2 January 1871, but Prim's assassination on 27 December left Amadeo without his proponent and main supporter. A new coalition cabinet formed by the Liberal Union, the Progressive Party and the Cimbrios Democrats was formed by Serrano, who called a snap election as a show of legitimacy for the new monarch, whose foreign origins made him unpopular with the general populace.[3] In order to ensure the victory of the Monarchist–Democratic Coalition, Serrano reinstated first-past-the-post voting, which made it easier for the government to use electoral fraud in rural districts. Voters were required to present an "electoral card" (cédula electoral) that mayors were entitled to award to its constituents; as most of these were aligned with the governing coalition, they could refuse awarding the card to voters that were hostile to the government.[4] They also employed voter intimidation tactics through the partida de la porra aligned to the Progressive Party, to violently attack opponents.[5]
The enthronement of Amadeo I led to the Federal Democratic Republican Party (PRDF) splitting into two factions: the "benevolent" (benevolentes), who aimed at deposing Amadeo through legal means, and the "intransigent" (intransigentes), who dubbed the system as illegitimate and chose to abstain from electoral participation, advocating instead for the proclamation of a "federal republic from below" through violent insurrection.[6] For Carlists, the good results obtained on the previous election, coupled with the failure of uprising attempts in the summers of 1869 and 1870 (the latter known as la escocada), led to the movement favouring electoral means to achieve power. Ramón Cabrera, de facto leader of the movement, resigned as captain general of the Royal Carlist Army and retired from politics due to disagreements with Carlos de Borbón.[7] The pretender assumed the chieftainship of the party and named a Central Council presided by the Marquis of Villadarias, who organised electoral activity and propaganda.[8]
As a result of the Liberal Union's decision to support Amadeo's election, two factions split up and ran on their own in the 1871 election: the "montpensierists" (montpensieristas), supporters of the Duke of Montpensier's claim to the throne (led by the Duke himself and Antonio de los Ríos Rosas), and the conservative "alfonsists", who supported the claim of Isabella II's son, Alfonso de Borbón (led by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo).[9]
For the Congress, the law provided for by-elections to fill vacant seats during the legislative term.[28] For the Senate, any vacancies arising during the legislative term were filled in the chamber's next full or one-quarter election, with senators elected this way serving the remainder of their seat's original term.[29]
Eligibility
For the Congress, Spanish citizens with the right to vote could run for election, provided that they were not holders of government-appointed posts.[30][31] Special exemptions from ineligibility were granted to certain individuals, capping at 40 the number of deputies able to benefit from these:[32]
For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish citizens over 40 years of age and in full enjoyment of their civil rights, provided that they belonged (or had belonged) to certain categories:[33][34]
Senior officials after two years of service, including members of higher courts and state institutions; plenipotentiaries; and full professors;
The 50 largest taxpayers by territorial contribution, and the 20 largest by industrial and trade contribution, in each province.
Other ineligibility provisions 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; and debtors of public funds.[35] Additionally in Puerto Rico, ineligibility extended to those convicted of slave trade crimes.[36] Incompatibility rules prohibited the simultaneous holding of the positions of deputy, senator, provincial deputy and local councillor, as well as serving by two or more constituencies.[37][38]
Election date
The term of each chamber of the Cortes—the Congress and one-quarter of the Senate—expired three years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier.[39]Election day was held over several voting days: the first was used to elect polling station officials, and the remaining ones were devoted to the parliamentary election itself.[40]
The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.[41] Only elections to renew one-quarter of the Senate were constitutionally required to be held concurrently with elections to the Congress, though the former could be renewed in its entirety in the case that a full dissolution was agreed by the monarch.[39]
The Cortes had been officially dissolved since 2 January 1871, following the swearing-in of Amadeo I as King of Spain.[3] The election decree was issued on 14 February, setting election day to start on 8 March (extended until 15 March in the Canary Islands) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 3 April.[42][43] The publication of the corresponding decree for Puerto Rico was delayed until 1 April, setting election day in the island for between 20 and 23 June.[44][45] In Cuba, elections were indefinitely postponed due to the outbreak of the Ten Years' War.[1][2]
123Elections in Cuba were indefinitely postponed due to the outbreak of the Ten Years' War, resulting in the vacancy of the 18 seats allocated to the island.[1][2]
↑In the Canary Islands, the election was held until 15 March 1871. In Puerto Rico, the election was held from 20 to 23 June 1871.
123Decree of 1 April (1871), explanatory statement: "On the island of Cuba, the work of preparing electoral lists was hampered by the state of war that prevailed there and the necessary replacement of the electoral districts established by the decree—now law—of 14 December 1868, with new districts. [Spanish: En la isla de Cuba embarazaron los trabajos de formación de las listas electorales el estado de guerra que allí se sostiene y la precisa sustitución por nuevos distritos de las circunscripciones de elección establecidos por el decreto, hoy ley, de 14 de diciembre de 1868.]".
Pi y Arsuaga, Francisco; Pi y Margall, Francisco (1902). Historia de España en el siglo XIX: sucesos políticos, económicos, sociales y artísticos (in Spanish). Vol.5. Barcelona: Seguí.
Vilches, Jorge (2001). Progreso y libertad: el Partido Progresista en la revolución liberal española (in Spanish). Madrid: Alianza Editorial. ISBN8420667684.
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