1865 Sierran federal election
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None of the 33 seats in the K.S. Senate All 50 seats in the K.S. House of Commons 26 seats needed for majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 608,379 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 22.53% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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File:1865 Sierran federal election map.svg A map presenting the results of the election, by party of the MP elected from each constituency. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1865 Sierran federal election was the third federal election to be held after the 1858 Constitution's ratification. The third Sierran Parliament was dissolved on August 22, 1863 after the House passed a motion of no confidence in the Royalist government under Frederick Bachelor, Sr. The election was held from September 1 to October 16, 1865 to elect members of the House of Commons of the 4th Sierran Parliament. Although the incumbent Royalists maintained a majority over the House, the incumbent Bachelor, Sr. resigned and was replaced by his deputy, Richard Trist. The election reflected the second election where the Royalists suffered seat losses while both the Democratic-Republicans and Whigs made gains. The Democratic-Republicans' rise towards a majority coincided increased voter participation by Sierra's working-class and citizens from the Styxie provinces.
Two years prior to the 1865 election, Sierra had an election in 1863 that saw the Royalists narrowly maintaining a majority in the House over the Democratic-Republicans. The election was decided based on three parliamentary districts in San Francisco, which were nearly evenly split between the two major parties, but had a slight Royalist lean. In 1862, a special by-election was held in San Francisco's 8th district after incumbent Royalist MP John Farrow died of tuberculosis. The by-election was won by Democratic-Republican challenger Matthew E. Conway, whose victory forecasted the Democratic-Republicans' rise in the Royalist-majority province.
In the summer of 1865, San Francisco factory workers led a strike that resulted in government crackdown against strikers. The crackdown, which became known as the Union Square affair, resulted in over 45 arrested and 12 dead. Moderate Royalists who were sympathetic to the grievances of workers, known as Pauperheads, came under increasing pressure by their own constituents to oppose the government's policies and actions towards labor unions. Party leaders and whips sought to control and censure the Pauperheads, forcing them to side with the opposition and thereby triggering a motion of no confidence. The friction between the Pauperheads and the Royalist leadership resulted in the party running their own handpicked candidates in the Pauperheads' districts, a move that established the precedent of political parties selecting and endorsing their own candidates, rather than individuals filing to contest on their own. Bachelor, Sr. requested the King to dissolve the Parliament in preparation of new elections, but decided to resign after serving nearly 7 years as prime minister. His resignation following a motion of no confidence set a precedent that most prime ministers have since followed. In the wake of Bachelor Sr.'s resignation, he was replaced by his deputy, Richard Trist, who led the Royalists in the election and won. The electoral results were hotly contested by the Democratic-Republican opposition which accused of the Royalists of electoral fraud for stuffing the ballots in key precincts with illegitimate votes and discarding Democratic-Republican casted votes.
Results
Summary of results
| ↓ | ||||
| 26 | 21 | 3 | ||
| Royalist | Democratic-Republican | Whig | ||
| Party | Votes | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalist | 71,823 | 52.4% |
26 / 50 (52%)
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| Democratic-Republican | 57,979 | 42.3% |
21 / 50 (42%)
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| Whig | 5,483 | 5.3% |
3 / 50 (6%)
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Detailed analysis
| Party | Party leader | # of candidates |
Seats | Popular vote | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1863 | Elected | % Change | # | % | pp Change | ||||
| Royalist | Richard Trist | 70 | 29 | 26 | -10.34% | 71,823 | 52.40% | –7.0 pp | |
| Democratic-Republican | Ulysses Perry | 76 | 19 | 21 | 10.52% | 57,979 | 42.30% | +5.5 pp | |
| Whig | Leland Stanford | 28 | 2 | 3 | 50.00% | 5,483 | 5.30% | +2.5 pp | |
| Total | 174 | 50 | 50 | 0.00% | 41,721 | 100.00% | |||
Results by province
| Party name | CV | GC | LG | MA | MO | PL | SF | SJ | SC | SH | RN | TA | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalist | Seats: | 0 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | |
| Popular votes: | 15.2 | 84.1 | 85.0 | 47.0 | 37.3 | 42.2 | 63.2 | 23.3 | 24.3 | 29.5 | 18.0 | 17.7 | 59.4 | ||
| Democratic-Republican | Seats: | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 21 | |
| Popular votes: | 84.7 | 15.6 | 14.9 | 52.8 | 62.6 | 57.3 | 31.7 | 75.9 | 75.0 | 69.9 | 80.7 | 82.0 | 36.8 | ||
| Whig | Seats: | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Popular votes: | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 5.1 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 2.8 | ||
| Independent/Other | Seats: | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Popular votes: | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.0 | ||
| Total seats: | 1 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 50 | ||
