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The 1855 Chilean parliamentary election was held on 25 March 1855 during the presidency of Manuel Montt. It renewed the Chamber of Deputies and the portion of the Senate subject to periodic renewal under the Constitution of 1833.

The election was an overwhelming victory for candidates supported by Montt's government. The opposition Liberal Party contested relatively few districts and was defeated in most of those it contested. The principal exceptions were the mining region around Copiapó, where liberals Manuel Antonio Matta and José Victorino Lastarria were elected, and Lontué, where Federico Errázuriz Zañartu won a seat.

The election took place in a period of growing political opposition to Montt's government. The divisions that developed among conservatives and liberals after the 1851 revolution and the later Question of the Sacristan contributed to the emergence of distinct political groupings. The opposition victories in 1855, particularly in Copiapó, demonstrated the growing strength of liberalism outside Santiago and helped establish a political base for the opposition that would become more significant in the following years.

Background

The election was held during the second term of President Manuel Montt, whose government was supported by the conservative political establishment and by his principal minister and political ally, Antonio Varas. Montt had first been elected president in 1851 after a contested election that was followed by an armed uprising by his opponents.

The political opposition remained comparatively weak after the suppression of the 1851 uprising. The government exercised substantial influence over elections, while opposition groups were divided over both constitutional reform and the relationship between the state and the Catholic Church.

The situation changed particularly in Copiapó. The expansion of mining and the development of a politically active local elite helped create conditions favorable to liberal opposition. In the 1855 election, local mining interests joined with liberal activists to support the candidacies of Manuel Antonio Matta and José Victorino Lastarria.

Electoral system

The election was conducted under the Constitution of 1833 and the electoral legislation in force at the time. The Chamber of Deputies was elected directly by departments and was renewed in its entirety every three years. The Constitution provided for one deputy for every 20,000 inhabitants and an additional deputy for a fraction of at least 10,000.

The Senate consisted of 20 members elected indirectly. Special electoral bodies were chosen in the departments, with three senatorial electors for each deputy assigned to the department. Senators served nine-year terms and the Senate was renewed by thirds, with seven senators elected in each of the first two renewals and six in the third.

Suffrage was restricted by age, literacy, and property or occupational qualifications. Under the Constitution, Chilean men were entitled to vote if they were at least 25 years old when unmarried or 21 when married, could read and write, and met specified property, capital, employment, income, or usufruct requirements. Voters also had to be registered and possess a qualification certificate issued at least three months before the election.

The number of deputies had been increased by electoral legislation in 1854, from the previous establishment of 56 to 72, while the number of departments represented in the Chamber increased from 38 to 42. Historical reconstructions of the 1855–1858 legislature differ over the number of deputies ultimately incorporated, partly because some elections were unresolved or did not result in the immediate incorporation of the elected member.

Campaign and results

The election was characterized by limited competition. According to Alberto Edwards, the government's candidates won in almost every department, while the liberal opposition, discouraged by its earlier defeats, mounted serious contests in only a small number of districts.

The most important opposition campaign took place in Copiapó and Caldera. Manuel Antonio Matta and José Victorino Lastarria were the opposition candidates for the two proprietary deputy positions. Their campaign brought together prominent local mining families and liberal activists and successfully challenged the influence of the government in the region.

The official returns for Copiapó and Caldera show Matta receiving 610 votes and Lastarria 595, well ahead of the principal government-backed candidates, Tomás Gallo and Juan Vicente Mira, who received 299 and 288 votes respectively.

In Lontué, Federico Errázuriz was elected after a short opposition campaign. These three men were the only opposition candidates to win seats in the Chamber in the election, according to the historical reconstruction cited by the Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional.

The government's broad victory reflected the electoral advantages enjoyed by the executive under the political and administrative system of the period. A later study of the constitutional system notes that the president and his ministers exercised extensive influence over elections and that government candidates generally obtained large majorities before the electoral reforms of the 1870s.

Aftermath

The newly elected opposition deputies initially adopted a cautious approach in Congress. Rather than immediately confronting the government, they generally refrained from provoking parliamentary disputes that they believed would have little support in the country at large.

The election nevertheless coincided with a growing shift in political opinion in parts of the country. Copiapó became an especially important center of liberal opposition. The election of Matta and Lastarria gave the movement a parliamentary platform, while the region's mining elite and other politically active groups increasingly challenged the government's authority.

Political tensions intensified over the following years. The Question of the Sacristan contributed to a split within the conservative movement, while liberal opponents increasingly sought cooperation with conservative sectors opposed to Montt and Varas. These realignments contributed to the formation of the Liberal-Conservative Fusion in the late 1850s.

The conflict eventually culminated in the Chilean civil war of 1859. Manuel Antonio Matta and other opposition figures participated in the failed uprising, which was defeated by the government. The rebellion nevertheless contributed to the further reorganization of Chilean political parties and to the growth of the opposition that challenged the government in the 1858 parliamentary election.