iard, must have attained the age
of thirty-five, must have the free management of his property, and
must not have been subjected to criminal proceedings, nor have been
deprived of the exercise of his political rights. The term of elected
senators is ten years. One-half of the number is renewed every five
years; but upon a dissolution of the elected portion of the chamber by
the crown, the quota is renewed integrally.[856]

[Footnote 856: Arts. 20-26. Dodd, Modern
Constitutions, II., 203-206.]

*683. The Congress of Deputies: Composition and Election.*--The lower
legislative chamber is composed of deputies chosen directly by the
inhabitants of the several electoral districts into which the kingdom
is divided. From the adoption of the present constitution until 1890
the franchise was restricted severely by property qualifications. (p. 618)
A reform bill which became law June 29, 1890, however, re-established
in effect the scheme of manhood suffrage which had been in operation
during the revolutionary epoch 1869-1875. Under the provisions of a
law of August 8, 1907, by which the electoral system was further
regulated, the franchise is conferred upon all male Spaniards who have
attained the age of twenty-five, who have resided in their electoral
district not less than two years, and who have not been deprived
judicially of their civil rights.[857] Except, indeed, in the case of
certain judicial officials and of persons more than seventy years of
age, the exercise of the voting privilege is, as in Belgium and in
some of the Austrian provinces, compulsory. The constitution requires
that there shall be at least one deputy for every 50,000 inhabitants.
The total membership of the Congress is at present 406. In the
majority of districts but a single deputy is chosen, but in
twenty-eight of the larger ones two or more are elected by _scrutin de
liste_, with provision for the representation of minorities. In
districts in which two or three deputies are to be chosen, each
elector votes for one fewer than the number to be elected; in
districts where from four to seven are to be chosen, the elector votes
for two fewer than the total number; and where the aggregate number is
eight to ten, or more than ten, he votes for three or four fewer,
respectively. Any Spaniard who is qualified for the exercise of the
suffrage is eligible for election, and for indefinite re-election, as
a deputy, save that