On 15 December 1875 emperor Pedro II of Brazil called the liberal João Lins Cansanção, the Viscount of Sinimbu , to head a new cabinet with the goal of establishing direct voting in the country. The expected reform was amidst the country's electoral, military , religious , and slavery crises. Sinimbu's bill proposed raising the minimum yearly income threshold to vote from 200 to 400 thousand réis and also prohibiting illiterates to vote. The bill, a constitutional reform, was approved in the Chamber of Deputies on 9 June 1879, but was rejected in the Senate on 12 November, and thus Sinimbu's cabinet fell. The new prime minister who followed, also a liberal, José Antônio Saraiva , took over on 28 March 1880 and managed to approve his own bill, the Saraiva Law, on 9 January 1881. The law introduced direct voting in the country, but prohibited the illiterate to vote, and so the number of electors in the country fell from over a million, or about 13% of the country's free adult population, to just over 100,000, less than 1% of the same group.
Province or neutral municipality
Districts
Liberals
Conservatives
Elected votes
Total votes
Alagoas
5
4
1
1,813
3,343
Amazonas
2
1
1
399
664
Bahia
14
11
3
8,322
14,449
Ceará
8
5
3
3,592
6,777
Espírito Santo
2
2
–
739
1,426
Goiás
2
2
–
1,010
2,256
Maranhão
6
4
2
2,202
3,747
Mato Grosso
2
2
–
676
1,230
Minas Gerais
20
14
6
10,641
17,912
Neutral Municipality and Rio de Janeiro
12
2
10
7,652
13,916
Pará
3
–
3
2,321
4,304
Paraíba
5
2
3
1,691
3,067
Paraná
2
2
–
1,093
1,775
Pernambuco
13
5
8
5,344
9,757
Piauí
3
3
–
1,745
2,894
Rio Grande do Norte
2
1
1
1,324
2,423
Rio Grande do Sul
6
6
–
5,607
10,313
Santa Catarina
2
1
1
1,127
2,243
São Paulo
9
6
3
5,765
11,126
Sergipe
4
1
3
1,564
2,649
Source: Câmara dos Deputados
Elected members by province
edit
Alagoas
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Tomás do Bonfim Espindola
Liberal
455
2nd
Manuel Joaquim de Mendonça Castelo Branco
Conservative
347
3rd
Francisco Ildefonso Ribeiro de Menezes
Liberal
276
4th
Lourenço Cavalcanti de Albuquerque
Liberal
339
5th
Teófilo Fernandes dos Santos
Liberal
396
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 374
Amazonas
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Antônio dos Passos Miranda
Conservative
110
2nd
Adriano Xavier de Olivera Pimentel
Liberal
289
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 373
Bahia
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Joaquim Elísio Pereira Marinho
Conservative
763
2nd
Ruy Barbosa
Liberal
443
3rd
Francisco Prisco de Sousa Paraíso
Liberal
688
4th
Francisco Maria Sodré Pereira
Liberal
649
5th
Ildefonso José de Araújo
Liberal
631
6th
Antônio Carneiro da Rocha
Liberal
853
7th
João Ferreira de Araújo Pinho
Conservative
667
8th
João Ferreira de Moura
Liberal
527
9th
Rodolfo Epifanio de Sousa Dantas
Liberal
523
10th
Aristides Cesar Spinola Zama
Liberal
629
11th
Antônio Rodrigues Lima
Liberal
660
12th
Juvencio Alves de Sousa
Liberal
607
13th
Aristides de Sousa Spinola
Liberal
241
14th
Francisco Bonifácio de Abreu
Conservative
441
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 375
Ceará
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Meton da Franca Alencar
Liberal
560
2nd
Antônio Pinto de Mendonça
Conservative
522
3rd
José Pompeu de Albuquerque Cavalcanti
Liberal
483
4th
Antônio Joaquim Rodrigues Junior
Liberal
417
5th
Paulino Franklin do Amaral
Conservative
413
6th
Leandro de Chaves Mello Ratisbona
Liberal
410
7th
Tomás Pompeu de Sousa Brasil
Liberal
368
8th
Alvaro Caminha Tavares da Silva
Conservative
391
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 373
Espírito Santo
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Daniel Accioli de Azevedo
Liberal
381
2nd
Leopoldo Augusto Deocleciano de Mello e Cunha
Liberal
358
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 375
Goiás
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
André Augusto de Padua Fleury
Liberal
332
2nd
José Leopoldo de Bulhões Jardim
Liberal
678
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 377
Maranhão
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
José da Silva Maia
Conservative
599
2nd
Felippe Franco de Sá
Liberal
334
3rd
Augusto Olympio Gomes de Castro
Conservative
476
4th
Salustiano Ferreira de Moraes Rego
Liberal
205
5th
Sinval Odorico de Moura
Liberal
264
6th
José Vianna Vaz
Liberal
321
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 373
Mato Grosso
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Antônio Gonçalves de Carvalho
Liberal
277
2nd
Augusto César de Pádua Fleury
Liberal
399
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 377
Minas Gerais
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Carlos Afonso de Assis Figueiredo
Liberal
460
2nd
Candido Luiz Maria de Oliveira
Liberal
472
3rd
Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena
Liberal
499
4th
Ignacio Antônio de Assis Martins
Liberal
544
5th
Martinho Álvares da Silva Campos
Liberal
481
6th
Francisco Ignacio de Carvalho Rezende
Conservative
700
7th
José Rodrigues de Lima Duarte
Liberal
678
8th
Carlos Vaz de Melo
Liberal
613
9th
José de Resende Monteiro
Conservative
753
10th
João Nogueira Penido
Liberal
587
11th
José Manoel Pereira Cabral
Conservative
705
12th
Francisco Silviano de Almeida Brandão
Liberal
750
13th
Olympio Oscar de Vilhena Valadão
Conservative
703
14th
Manoel José Soares
Conservative
561
15th
João Caetano de Oliveira e Sousa
Conservative
403
16th
Eduardo Augusto Montandon
Liberal
364
17th
João da Matta Machado
Liberal
326
18th
Joaquim Vieira de Andrade
Liberal
296
19th
Antônio Felicio dos Santos
Liberal
254
20th
Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo Junior
Liberal
449
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 377
Neutral Municipality and Rio de Janeiro
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Luiz Joaquim Duque Estrada Teixeira
Conservative
958
2nd
Joaquim Antônio Fernandes de Oliveira
Conservative
757
3rd
Adolfo Bezerra de Menezes
Liberal
859
4th
Paulino José Soares de Sousa
Conservative
802
5th
Francisco Belisario Soares de Sousa
Conservative
550
6th
Manoel Rodrigues Peixoto
Liberal
647
7th
João de Almeida Pereira
Conservative
621
8th
Alfredo Rodrigues Fernandes Chaves
Conservative
397
9th
João Manoel Pereira da Silva
Conservative
546
10th
Manoel Peixoto de Lacerda Werneck
Conservative
484
11th
Domingos de Andrade Figueira
Conservative
581
12th
Antônio Ferreira Vianna
Conservative
450
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 375
Pará
Paraíba
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Anisio Salathiel Carneiro da Cunha
Conservative
456
2nd
Manoel Tertuliano Tomás Henrique
Conservative
316
3rd
José Evaristo da Cruz Gouveia
Conservative
265
4th
Manoel Carlos de Gouveia
Liberal
299
5th
Antônio Alves de Sousa Carvalho
Liberal
355
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 374
Paraná
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Generoso Marques dos Santos
Liberal
492
2nd
Manoel Alves de Araújo
Liberal
601
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 376
Pernambuco
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Manoel do Nascimento Machado Portella
Conservative
725
2nd
José Mariano Carneiro da Cunha
Liberal
715
3rd
Manoel da Trindade Peretti
Conservative
395
4th
Joaquim Tavares de Mello Barreto
Liberal
302
5th
Francisco do Rego Barros de Lacerda
Conservative
331
6th
Henrique Marques de Holanda Cavalcanti
Conservative
304
7th
Ignacio Joaquim de Sousa Leão
Conservative
362
8th
Francisco de Caldas Lins
Conservative
480
9th
José Bernardo Galvão Alcoforado Junior
Conservative
237
10th
Ulysses Machado Pereira Vianna
Liberal
313
11th
Francisco Seraphico de Assis Carvalho
Liberal
275
12th
Antônio Gonçalves Ferreira
Conservative
328
13th
Antônio Manoel de Siqueira Cavalcanti
Liberal
531
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 374
Piauí
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Candido Gil Castelo Branco
Liberal
544
2nd
José Basson de Miranda Osório
Liberal
405
3rd
Franklin Américo de Menezes Dória
Liberal
796
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 373
Rio Grande do Norte
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Amaro Carneiro Bezerra Cavalcanti
Liberal
521
2nd
Tarquínio Bráulio de Sousa Amaranto
Conservative
803
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 374
Rio Grande do Sul
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Antônio Eleutério de Camargo
Liberal
1,319
2nd
Antônio Antunes Ribas
Liberal
711
3rd
Henrique Francisco de Ávila
Liberal
758
4th
Francisco Antunes Maciel
Liberal
947
5th
José Francisco Diana
Liberal
1,085
6th
Felisberto Pereira da Silva
Liberal
807
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 376
Santa Catarina
São Paulo
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Laurindo Abelardo de Brito
Liberal
656
2nd
Antônio Moreira de Barros
Liberal
676
3rd
José Luiz de Almeida Nogueira
Conservative
789
4th
Bento Francisco de Paula e Sousa
Liberal
551
5th
Martim Francisco Ribeiro de Andrada Filho
Liberal
575
6th
Martim Francisco Ribeiro de Andrade
Liberal
351
7th
Francisco Antônio de Sousa Queiroz Filho
Liberal
667
8th
Antônio da Costa Pinto e Silva
Conservative
572
9th
Antônio Pinheiro de Ulhôa Cintra
Conservative
748
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 376
Sergipe
District
Member
Party
Votes
1st
Graciliano Arístides do Prado Pimentel
Liberal
519
2nd
Antônio Dias Coelho e Melo
Liberal
393
3rd
Geminiano Brasil de Oliveira Góis
Conservative
273
4th
José Luiz Coelho e Campos
Conservative
379
Source: Câmara dos Deputados 1889 , p. 374
Câmara dos Deputados (1889). Organisações e programmas ministeriaes desde 1822 a 1889: notas explicativas sobre moções de confiança, com alguns dos mais importantes Decretos e Leis, resumo historico sobre a discussão do Acto Addicional, Lei de Interpretação, Codigo Criminal, do Processo e Commercial, lei de terras, etc., etc., com varios esclarecimentos e quadros estatisticos (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacioanal.
Ferraro, Alceu Ravanello (2013). "Educação, classe, gênero e voto no Brasil imperial: Lei Saraiva - 1881" . Educar em Revista (in Portuguese): 181–206. doi :10.1590/S0104-40602013000400012 . hdl :10183/112030 . ISSN 0104-4060 .