General elections were held for the first time in Puerto Rico on 27 March 1898,[1] as part of the Spanish general elections.
This followed the island being granted a Charter of Autonomy by the Spanish government, which allowed Puerto Rico to elect members to the Spanish parliament and established a bicameral legislature for the island,[2] with a fully-elected House of Representatives and a Council of Administration, whose members were a mix of elected delegates and appointees made by the Governor.
[3] The elections were held under universal male suffrage with a voting age of 25.
[1] The result was a victory for the Liberal Fusionist Party, which won a majority of seats in the new legislature.
[4] The newly elected legislature met for the first time on 17 July, but was dissolved a week later after the United States took over the island as part of the Spanish–American War.