1831 French legislative election

Legislative elections were held in France on 5 July 1831.

1831 French legislative election

← 1830 5 July 1831 1834 →

First party Second party Third party   Leader Casimir Périer Pierre-Antoine Berryer Jacques Laffitte[1] Party Liberals Legitimists Republicans and leftists Seats won 282 104 73

Prime Minister before election Casimir Périer Elected Prime Minister Casimir Périer

Electoral system

Following the July Revolution which brought King Louis-Philippe to power, new election laws were passed on 19 April 1831. Members were elected by first-past-the-post voting in 459 single-member constituencies.

Although suffrage remained limited, the electorate was nearly doubled. Voters now needed to be at least twenty-five years old and to pay 200 francs in income taxes, down from 300 francs before the revolution. Professionals and public servants could vote if they paid at least 100 francs in taxes. The "double voting" system that allowed the wealthiest voters to vote twice was abolished. Candidates had to be at least thirty years old and pay at least 500 francs in taxes.^[2]

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Liberals			282
	Legitimists			104
	Republicans and dynastic left			73
Total				459
Total votes		125,090	–
Registered voters/turnout		166,583	75.09
Source: Frémy[3]

Note that these groupings are not formal party affiliations. Instead, they reflect groupings made by later historians based on the political opinions of the deputies. Historians do not always agree on how to draw these lines: Thomas Beck gives a similar number for the pro-government representatives (273), but assigns far more of the opposition to the left (170), leaving only seven legitimists.^[4]

References

1. Pinkney, David (1972). The French Revolution of 1830. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 196, 300. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
2. Larché, M. Jacques. "Sénat Rapport N. 301" (PDF). French National Assembly. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
3. Frémy, Dominique (2000). Quid. Paris: R. Laffont. p. 755. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
4. Beck, Thomas (1974). French legislators, 1800-1834: A Study in Quantitative History. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 187. Retrieved 17 June 2023.