Chapter XCV: Section I: Of the Chamber of Representatives

Article 47.
Deputies to the Chamber of Representatives are elected
directly under the following conditions: A vote is conferred
on citizens who have completed their 25th year, who have
resided for at least one year in the same commune, and who are
not within one of the cases of exclusion provided for by law.
A supplementary vote is conferred on each citizen who fulfills
one of the following conditions:

1. To have completed 35 years of age, to be married, or to be
a widower having legitimate offspring, and to pay to the State
a tax of not less than 5 francs on account of dwelling-houses
or buildings occupied, unless exempted by reason of his
profession.

2. To have completed the age of 25 years and to be owner:
Either of real property, valued at not less than 2,000 francs
to be rated on the basis of the "revenu cadastral," or of a
"revenu cadastral" proportioned to that value; Or of an
inscription in the great book of the public debt, or of a
"carnet de rente Belge" at the savings bank of at least 100
francs of "rente." The inscriptions and bank books must have
belonged to the incumbent for at least two years and a half.
The property of the wife is assigned to the husband; that of
children under age, to the father. Two supplementary votes are
assigned to citizens fully 25 years of age who are included in
one of the following cases: A. To be the holder of a diploma
of higher instruction or of a similar certificate of
attendance on a complete course of medium instruction of the
higher degree, without distinction between public and private
establishments. B. To fill or to have filled a public office,
to occupy or to have occupied a position, to practise or to
have practised a private profession, which implies the
supposition that the titulary has at least an average
education of the higher degree. The law determines these
functions, positions and professions, as well as, in given
cases, the time during which they shall have been occupied or
practised. No person can accumulate more than three votes.

Article 48.
The constitution of the electoral colleges is regulated by law
for each province. The vote is obligatory and takes place in
the commune with exceptions to be determined by law.

Article 49.
The electoral law fixes the number of deputies according to
the population; this number cannot exceed the proportion of a
deputy for 40,000 inhabitants. It determines also the
qualifications of an elector and the mode of the electoral
operations.

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Article 50.
To be eligible, it is necessary:
1. To be a Belgian by birth or to have received the "grand
naturalization";
2. To enjoy civil and political rights;
3. To have completed 25 years of age;
4. To reside in Belgium.

No other condition of eligibility can be required.

Article 51.
The members of the Chamber of Representatives are elected for
four years. Half of them are changed every two years,
according to the order of the series determined by the
electoral law. In case of dissolution, the Chamber is entirely
renewed.

Article 52.
Each member of the Chamber of Representatives receives a
yearly indemnity of 4,000 francs. He is, besides, entitled to
free travel on the State railways and on the "conceded"
railways, from his residence to the city where the session is
held.