1976 Mauritian general election

General elections were held in Mauritius on 20 December 1976. They were the first general elections to be held since independence on 12 March 1968 and came nine years after the previous elections in 1967. Although elections had been scheduled for 1972, they were cancelled by the Labour Party–Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate–Muslim Committee of Action coalition government due to political unrest. The year prior to these elections was marked by the May 1975 Students protest riots.

The Mauritian Militant Movement won the most seats, but a coalition government was formed by the Independence Party (a coalition of the Labour Party, Muslim Committee of Action and Independent Forward Bloc) and the Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate. Around 400 candidates representing thirty-one parties contested the election, but only three parties won seats. Voter turnout was 88%.

Electoral system

The voting system involved twenty constituencies on Mauritius, which each elected three members. Two seats were elected by residents of Rodrigues, and eight seats were filled by the "best losers".

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				Cons	BL	Total	+/–
	Mauritian Militant Movement	469,420	38.69	30	4	34	New
	Independence Party	461,949	38.08	25	3	28	–3
	Parti Mauricien Social Démocrate	200,559	16.53	7	1	8	–19
	Independent Forward Bloc	26,902	2.22	0	0	0	–12
	Mauritian Democratic Union	12,505	1.03	0	0	0	New
	Progressive Socialist Party	9,807	0.81	0	0	0	New
	Rodrigues People's Organisation	6,376	0.53	0	0	0	New
	Mauritian Militant Socialist Movement	5,372	0.44	0	0	0	New
	Progressive Party of the South	2,223	0.18	0	0	0	New
	Republican Centre Party	1,636	0.13	0	0	0	New
	Labour Unity Liberals	800	0.07	0	0	0	New
	Mauritius Muslim Democratic League	266	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Mauritius People's Progressive Party	249	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Communist Party of Mauritius	244	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Mauritius Muslim Rights	236	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Mauritius United Party	186	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Movement and the Mauritian Socialist Youth	174	0.01	0	0	0	New
	People's Democratic Party	143	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Union of the General Population	92	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Independents	14,021	1.16	0	0	0	New
Total		1,213,160	100.00	62	8	70	0
Registered voters/turnout		462,034	–
Source: Electoral Commission, Nohlen et al.

External links

• 1976 Mauritian election day British Pathe