Post by Diarist on Jan 27, 2018 16:23:56 GMT 1
Outcome of the election.
Just under 10 million people voted, with an abstention rate of 28 percent, a level of apathy higher than might be suggested by the ongoing political violence. A small number of coerced voters and anarchists formed part of the abstainers. The elections of 1936 were narrowly won by the Right, with considerably larger resources than the Popular Front and followed a mild form of Nazi propaganda. The exact numbers of votes differ among historians; Brenan assigns the Popular Front 4,000,000 votes, the Right around 3,700,000 and the centre 750,000. It was a comparatively narrow victory in terms of votes, but Paul Preston describes it as a 'triumph of power in the Cortes' – the Right won 227 deputies and the Popular Front only 172, and the imbalance caused by the nature of Spain's electoral system since the 1932 election law came into force. The same system which benefited the political right in 1933. The political centre did badly. Lerroux's Radicals, incumbent until his government's collapse, were electorally devastated; many of their supporters had been pushed to the right by the increasing instability in Spain. Portela Valladares had formed the Centre Party, but had not had time to build it up. Worried about the problems of a minority party losing out due to the electoral system, he made a pact with the right, but this was not enough to ensure success. Leaders of the centre, Lerroux, Cambó and Melquíades Álvarez, barely won seats. The Falangist party, under José Antonio Primo de Rivera received only 46,000 votes, a very small fraction of the total cast. This seemed to show little appetite for a takeover of that sort. The allocation of seats between coalition members was a matter of agreement between them. The official results (Spanish: escrutinio) will be released on 20 February. In 20 seats, no alliance or party had secured 40% of the vote; 17 will be decided by a second vote on 3 March.
Despite not having a mandate, some socialists have taken to the streets to free political prisoners, not expecting the new government to do so. There were claims of an imminent socialist or anarchist takeover because the left had firmly believed, at all levels, that they would win.
Just under 10 million people voted, with an abstention rate of 28 percent, a level of apathy higher than might be suggested by the ongoing political violence. A small number of coerced voters and anarchists formed part of the abstainers. The elections of 1936 were narrowly won by the Right, with considerably larger resources than the Popular Front and followed a mild form of Nazi propaganda. The exact numbers of votes differ among historians; Brenan assigns the Popular Front 4,000,000 votes, the Right around 3,700,000 and the centre 750,000. It was a comparatively narrow victory in terms of votes, but Paul Preston describes it as a 'triumph of power in the Cortes' – the Right won 227 deputies and the Popular Front only 172, and the imbalance caused by the nature of Spain's electoral system since the 1932 election law came into force. The same system which benefited the political right in 1933. The political centre did badly. Lerroux's Radicals, incumbent until his government's collapse, were electorally devastated; many of their supporters had been pushed to the right by the increasing instability in Spain. Portela Valladares had formed the Centre Party, but had not had time to build it up. Worried about the problems of a minority party losing out due to the electoral system, he made a pact with the right, but this was not enough to ensure success. Leaders of the centre, Lerroux, Cambó and Melquíades Álvarez, barely won seats. The Falangist party, under José Antonio Primo de Rivera received only 46,000 votes, a very small fraction of the total cast. This seemed to show little appetite for a takeover of that sort. The allocation of seats between coalition members was a matter of agreement between them. The official results (Spanish: escrutinio) will be released on 20 February. In 20 seats, no alliance or party had secured 40% of the vote; 17 will be decided by a second vote on 3 March.
Despite not having a mandate, some socialists have taken to the streets to free political prisoners, not expecting the new government to do so. There were claims of an imminent socialist or anarchist takeover because the left had firmly believed, at all levels, that they would win.