Zorrilla's government generally attempted to avoid resorting to fraud in the organization of the election process, instructing the provincial civil governors not to impose or recommend official candidates, reforming the census in those places where voters had been disenfranchised from the electoral roll—mostly to facilitate Sagasta's victory in April—and reinstating local councils which had been suspended. While this did not prevent the existence of allegations of government interference, the election was widely seen as more free and fair than previous ones.[4]
Most of the opposition to the Radical government had chosen not to participate in the election: the Constitutional Party and the Alfonsists fielded few candidates, mostly opting for a strategy of "retreat" (retraimiento, akin to election boycott), whereas for the Federal Democratic Republican Party only the "benevolent" faction chose to participate.[5] Discontent with Amadeo's proclamation as King of Spain paved the way for Carlists to withdraw from electoral participation and wage the Third Carlist War in favour of their pretender, Carlos de Borbón, who tried to earn the support of various Spanish regions by promising to reintroduce various area-specific customs and laws (particularly, the Catalan, Valencian and Aragonesefueros which had been abolished at the beginning of the 18th century by King Philip V in his unilateral Nueva Planta decrees).
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.[10]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.[11] The previous election was held on 2 April 1872, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 2 April 1875.
The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.[12] 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.[10]
The Cortes were officially dissolved on 28 June 1872, with the corresponding decree setting election day to start on 24 August and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 15 September.[13][14] In Cuba, elections were indefinitely postponed due to the outbreak of the Ten Years' War.[1][2]
For the Congress, the law provided for by-elections to fill vacant seats during the legislative term.[25] 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.[26]
For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish males over 40 years of age, with full civil rights, who belonged (or had belonged) to certain categories:[28]
Being among the 50 largest taxpayers by property tax, or among the 20 largest by corporate tax, in each province.
Ineligibility provisions for both chambers also applied to a number of territorial officials within their areas of jurisdiction, during their term of office and up to three months afterwards; public contractors; tax collectors; and public debtors.[29] Additionally in Puerto Rico, ineligibility extended to those convicted of slave trade crimes.[30]
Incompatibility rules barred representing multiple constituencies simultaneously, as well as combining:[31]
Legislative roles (deputy, senator, provincial deputy and local councillor) with each other;
The role of senator with any post not explicitly permitted under Senate eligibility requirements;
The role of deputy with any government-appointed post, with exceptions—and as many as 40 deputies allowed to simultaneously benefit from these—including government ministers; and a number of specific posts based in Madrid, such as general officers, chiefs in the Central Administration (provided a public salary of Pts12,500); senior court officials; university authorities and professors; and chief engineers with two years of service.
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]
↑Zorrilla was also elected in El Burgo de Osma; he chose to sit for Madrid III instead, and resigned as deputy for El Burgo de Osma.
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.]".
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