MundoAndino Home : Andes Chile Guide at Mundo Andino
Chilean presidential election, 1896
The Chilean presidential election of 1896 took place through a system of electors, and resulted in the election as President of Federico Errazuriz Echaurren. The election was marred by controversy, and there had to be a confirmation in Congress to satisfy Errazuriz's opponents.
Campaign
For this campaign the political forces organized themselves in two big alliances: Liberal-Conservative Coalition, whose candidate was Federico Errazuriz Echaurren, and the Liberal Alliance, whose candidate was the Senator for Santiago Vicente Reyes Palazuelos.
The campaign itself was furious and fairly even. Reyes was a member of the Doctrinary Liberal party and boasted of being a "free-thinker". On the other hand, Errazuriz was very popular with the conservatives and belonged to a well-know political family of impeccable catholic credentials. The economic issues also came to the fore: Reyes and his followers were in favor of going back to the metallic conversion, while Errazuriz (whose voting base was heavily influenced by the large land-owners and agricultural producers) was in favor of a variable conversion system that could keep the exchange rate favorable for their exports.
After a very close vote, in which the decision Errazuriz won, the Liberal Alliance refused to recognize the result. The decision was moved to the full congress, where finally Errazuriz prevailed by only two votes.
Results
Electoral vote
Source: [*]Congress plenary election
Source: [*]Need more information for your travel research or homework?
Ask your questions at the forum about 1896 in Chile or help others to find answers.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Chilean presidential election, 1896
