Rainian House of Councillors election, 1877

The 3rd Rainian House of Councillors election was held from the 14th May - 4th June, 1877, being called after its six year term expired. 83 seats were contested in the election rather than the 80 in the last two elections.

The election followed six years of Union Party rule under Alfred Henry Lawson, who had promoted and . Despite this, the Union Party still remained split over, and religious rights, although Lawson was able to keep party divisions concealed. The opposition British Imperial Party led by Fydd Rochester sought to reverse their disastrous results from the 1871 election and retake government once again. They were helped by the poor condition of the Rainian economy, which was still suffering from the effects of the.

The election saw the Union Party get a plurality of seats despite the British Imperial's getting more votes. The Union Party was able to form a with the support of independent members of parliament. The success of the Union Party's campaign is often attributed to the new constituency boundaries drawn in 1875, which were to favour the Union Party.

Voter turnout was 73.56%.

Election process
The election used a voting system where each MP was elected in a single member constituency. In 1874, the Union government passed the Representation of the People Act that expanded the franchise by abolishing the the and replacing it with the qualification that all white men who paid an annual rental of £5 and all those holding land valued at £5 now had the vote.

The Electoral Fraud Act 1876 banned "corrupt practices" and set a ceiling on total spending on political campaigns. This was due to elections becoming increasingly expensive and a strain on MP's. However, corruption continued due to open voting still being used.