1946 Italian general election: Difference between revisions

1946 Italian general election
All 556 seats in the Constituent Assembly; 279 seats needed for a majority
Registered	28,005,449
Turnout	89.08%
	On the left, results of the election by province. On the right, the seat distribution by constituency.
Prime Minister before election; Alcide De Gasperi; DC	Prime Minister after the election ; Alcide De Gasperi; DC

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Revision as of 10:54, 8 October 2023

General elections were held in Italy on Sunday 2 and also on Monday 3 June (but until noon) 1946.^[1] They were the first after World War II and elected 556 deputies to the Constituent Assembly. Theoretically, a total of 573 deputies were to be elected, but the election did not take place in the Julian March and in South Tyrol, which were under military occupation by the United Nations.

For the first time, Italian women were allowed to vote in a national election. It was held concurrently with the 1946 Italian institutional referendum on the abolition of the monarchy.

Electoral system

To emphasise the restoration of democracy after the fascist era, a pure party-list proportional representation was chosen. Italian provinces were united in 31 constituencies, each electing a group of candidates.^[2] At constituency level, seats were divided between open lists using the largest remainder method with the Imperiali quota. Remaining votes and seats were transferred at national level, where special closed lists of national leaders received the last seats using the Hare quota.

Campaign

At the end of World War II, Italy was governed under transitional laws as a result of agreements between the National Liberation Committee (CLN) and the royal Lieutenant General of the Realm Umberto II of Italy. As no democratic elections had taken place for more than 20 years, legislative power was given to the government but, after the first election, the Italian Council of Ministers would have to receive a vote of confidence by the new Constituent Assembly.

The three main contestants were Christian Democracy and the Italian Socialist Party, which had both received popular support before the fascist era, and the Italian Communist Party, which had strengthened itself with the armed struggle against Nazism and fascism during the war. The Italian Liberal Party, heir of the pre-fascist and conservative ruling class, proposed an alliance called National Democratic Union. Monarchists groups created the National Bloc of Freedom, while the liberal socialist Action Party and Labour Democratic Party hoped to maximize the positive image of the governments that they ruled in the National Liberation Committee.

Parties and leaders

	Ideology	Leader
Christian Democracy (DC)	Christian democracy, Popularism	Alcide De Gasperi
Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity (PSIUP)	Socialism, Democratic socialism	Pietro Nenni
Italian Communist Party (PCI)	Communism, Marxism-Leninism	Palmiro Togliatti
National Democratic Union (UDN)	Liberalism, Conservatism	Luigi Einaudi
Common Man's Front (UQ)	Populism, Conservatism	Guglielmo Giannini
Italian Republican Party (PRI)	Republicanism, Reformism	Randolfo Pacciardi
National Bloc of Freedom (BNL)	Conservatism, Monarchism	Alfredo Covelli
Action Party (PdA)	Republicanism, Liberal socialism	Ugo La Malfa

Results

The election gave a large majority to the government formed by the three leaders of the CLN, which was briefly joined by the Republican Party after the exile of Umberto II. The alliance lasted for a year.



Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Christian Democracy	8,101,004	35.21	207
	Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity	4,758,129	20.68	115
	Italian Communist Party	4,356,686	18.93	104
	National Democratic Union	1,560,638	6.78	41
	Common Man's Front	1,211,956	5.27	30
	Italian Republican Party	1,003,007	4.36	23
	National Bloc of Freedom	637,328	2.77	16
	Action Party	334,748	1.45	7
	Movement for the Independence of Sicily	171,201	0.74	4
	Peasants' Party of Italy	102,393	0.44	1
	Republican Democratic Concentration	97,690	0.42	2
	Sardinian Action Party	78,554	0.34	2
	Italian Unionist Movement	71,021	0.31	1
	Social Christian Party	51,088	0.22	1
	Labour Democratic Party	40,633	0.18	1
	National Reconstruction Movement	39,748	0.17	0
	Independent Democratic Union of Labour	36,398	0.16	0
	Italian Republican Alliance	34,363	0.15	0
	Italian Monarchical Alliance	30,505	0.13	0
	Italian Monarchical Democratic Movement	30,017	0.13	0
	Party of the Italian Veteran	24,764	0.11	0
	Internationalist Communist Party	22,644	0.10	0
	Republican Progressive Democratic Front^[a]	21,853	0.09	1
	National Concentration of Combatants and Veterans	21,570	0.09	0
	Union of Combatants, Partisans, Veterans and Prisoner Families	14,383	0.06	0
	National Union Party	12,746	0.06	0
	Fighters and Independents Group	12,165	0.05	0
	Patriotic Monarchist Renewing Party	11,098	0.05	0
	Sardinian League	10,499	0.05	0
	Sicilian Independent Labour Party	10,246	0.04	0
	National War Victims Union	10,236	0.04	0
	Veterans Partisans	8,690	0.04	0
	Independent Workers Movement	8,596	0.04	0
	Italian Pacifist League	6,333	0.03	0
	Independent Sicilians of the Left	5,706	0.02	0
	Union for the Renaissance of the South	5,373	0.02	0
	Italian Political Centre	5,063	0.02	0
	Italian Centre	4,516	0.02	0
	UDLLIDIM	4,207	0.02	0
	Italian Liberal Party	4,052	0.02	0
	Italian Labour Party	3,891	0.02	0
	Socialist Republican Party	3,611	0.02	0
	National Deployment	2,781	0.01	0
	Socialist Reformist Party	2,234	0.01	0
	Political Group of Italians from Sicily, Africa and the Mediterranean	1,995	0.01	0
	Garibaldian Antifascist Partisan Movement of Italy	1,922	0.01	0
	Independent Internationalist Communist Union	1,776	0.01	0
	Young Italy	985	0.00	0
	Italian Progressive Party	780	0.00	0
	Autonomous Republican Party	683	0.00	0
	General Confederation of Italian Feminists for Work	662	0.00	0
	Independents	17,312	0.08	0
Total		23,010,479	100.00	556

Valid votes		23,010,479	92.24
Invalid/blank votes		1,936,708	7.76
Total votes		24,947,187	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		28,005,449	89.08
Source: Ministry of Interior

Popular vote

DC			35.21%
PSIUP			20.68%
PCI			18.93%
UDN			6.78%
UQ			5.27%
PRI			4.36%
BNL			2.77%
PdA			1.45%
Others			4.53%

Parliamentary seats

DC			37.23%
PSIUP			20.68%
PCI			18.71%
UDN			7.37%
UQ			5.40%
PRI			4.14%
BNL			2.88%
PdA			1.26%
Others			2.34%

By constituency

Constituency	Total seats	Seats won
		DC	PSIUP	PCI	UDN	UQ	PRI	BNL	PdA	Others

Turin	25	9	9	6	1
Cuneo	16	7	4	3	1					1
Genoa	16	6	5	5
Milan	34	12	12	9		1
Como	12	6	5	1
Brescia	15	9	4	2
Mantua	8	3	3	2
Trentino	4	3	1
Verona	27	15	8	4
Venice	13	7	4	2
Udine	11	6	4	1
Bologna	22	4	7	9			2
Parma	19	6	6	7
Florence	12	4	3	5
Pisa	13	5	3	4			1
Siena	8	2	2	4
Ancona	13	5	3	3			2
Perugia	9	3	2	3			1
Rome	29	11	3	4	2	2	5	2
L'Aquila	12	7	2	1	1		1
Benevento	7	4			2	1
Naples	27	11	2	2	6	4		2
Avellino	12	4	1	1	3	1		1		1
Bari	18	7	2	4	1	4
Lecce	12	5	1	1	2			3
Potenza	5	2	1	1	1
Catanzaro	21	8	2	3	3	2	1	2
Catania	23	10	3	1	4	2		1		2
Palermo	21	8	3	2	3	2	1			2
Cagliari	11	6	1	1		1				2
Aosta Valley	1									1
National	80	12	9	13	11	10	9	5	7	4
Total	556	207	115	104	41	30	23	16	7	13

Referendum

Together with the election, a constitutional referendum took place. Italian electors chose whether to continue the reign of Umberto II of Italy or turn Italy into a republic. While all regions of northern Italy as far as Tuscany and Marches gave a majority to the republic, all regions of southern Italy to Lazio and Abruzzo voted to maintain the monarchy.


Choice	Votes	%
Republic	12,717,923	54.26
Against	10,719,284	45.74
Total	23,437,207	100.00

Valid votes	23,437,207	93.99
Invalid/blank votes	1,498,136	6.01
Total votes	24,935,343	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	28,005,449	89.04
Source: Official Gazzette

Notes

^ Alliance between PSIUP, PCI, PRI and Action Party in Aosta Valley. The election happened in a single-member constituency with the first-past-the-post method, with candidate Giulio Bordon winning 51.79% of valid votes.

References

^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1047 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
^ The number of seats for each constituency ranged from 1 for Aosta Valley to 36 for Milan.

[3] Alliance between PSIUP, PCI, PRI and Action Party in Aosta Valley. The election happened in a single-member constituency with the first-past-the-post method, with candidate Giulio Bordon winning 51.79% of valid votes.

[NS-1] Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1047 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7

[2] The number of seats for each constituency ranged from 1 for Aosta Valley to 36 for Milan.

[1]

[2]

[a]

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 | next_election = 1948 Italian general election
 | next_year = 1948
 | seats_for_election = All 556 seats in the [[Constituent Assembly of Italy|Constituent Assembly]]{{br}}279 seats needed for a majority
 | election_date = 2–3 June 1946
 | registered = 28,005,449
 | turnout = 89.08%
+| image1 = [[File:Alcide de Gasperi 2.jpg|160x160px]]
-| image1 =  [[File:Alcide de Gasperi 2.jpg|160x160px]]
 | leader1 = [[Alcide De Gasperi]]
 | party1 = Christian Democracy (Italy)
@@ Line 19: / Line 18: @@
 | popular_vote1 = 8,101,004
 | percentage1 = 35.21%
 | image2 = {{CSS image crop|Image=Pietro Nenni 2.jpg|bSize=120|cWidth=120|cHeight=160}}
 | leader2 = [[Pietro Nenni]]
@@ Line 25: / Line 23: @@
 | leaders_seat2 = [[List of Italian constituencies (1946–1994)|Whole Italy]]
 | seats2 = 115
 | popular_vote2 = 4,758,129
 | percentage2 = 20.68%
 | image3 = {{CSS image crop|Image=Palmiro Togliatti (cropped).png|bSize=120|cWidth=120|cHeight=160}}
 | leader3 = [[Palmiro Togliatti]]
@@ Line 35: / Line 32: @@
 | popular_vote3 = 4,356,686
 | percentage3 = 18.93%
 | image4 = {{CSS image crop|Image=Luigi Einaudi.jpg|bSize=120|cWidth=120|cHeight=160}}
 | leader4 = [[Luigi Einaudi]]
 | party4 = National Democratic Union (Italy)
 | color4 = 2975C2
 | leaders_seat4 = [[List of Italian constituencies (1946–1994)|Whole Italy]]
 | seats4 = 41
 | popular_vote4 = 1,560,638
 | percentage4 = 6.78%
 | image5 = {{CSS image crop|Image=Guglielmogiannini.jpg|bSize=120|cWidth=120|cHeight=160}}
 | leader5 = [[Guglielmo Giannini]]
 | party5 = Common Man's Front
 | leaders_seat5 = [[List of Italian constituencies (1946–1994)#Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone|Rome]]
 | seats5 = 30
 | seat_change5 =
 | popular_vote5 = 1,211,956
 | percentage5 = 5.27%
 | swing5 =
 | image6 = {{CSS image crop|Image=Randolfo Pacciardi (2).jpg|bSize=120|cWidth=120|cHeight=160}}
 | leader6 = {{nowrap|[[Randolfo Pacciardi]]}}
 | party6 = Italian Republican Party
 | leaders_seat6 = [[List of Italian constituencies (1946–1994)#Pisa–Livorno–Lucca–Massa Carrara|Pisa]]
 | seats6 = 23
 | popular_vote6 = 1,003,007
 | percentage6 = 4.36%
 | map = [[File:1946 Italian general election - Results.svg|220px]] [[File:1946 Italian general election - Seat Distribution.svg|220px]]
-| map_caption = On the left, tesults of the election by province. On the right, the seat distribution by constituency.
+| map_caption = On the left, results of the election by province. On the right, the seat distribution by constituency.
 | title = [[Prime Minister of Italy|Prime Minister]]
 | posttitle = [[Prime Minister of Italy|Prime Minister]] after the election
 | before_election = [[Alcide De Gasperi]]
 | before_party = Christian Democracy (Italy)

v t e Elections and referendums in Italy
General	1861 1865 1867 1870 1874 1876 1880 1882 1886 1890 1892 1895 1897 1900 1904 1909 1913 1919 1921 1924 1929 1934 1946 1948 1953 1958 1963 1968 1972 1976 1979 1983 1987 1992 1994 1996 2001 2006 2008 2013 2018 2022 Next
European	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2024
Regional	1947 1949 1951 1953 1954 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 1964 1965 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1981 1983 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Local	1946 1947 1948 1949 1951 1952 1953 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Referendums	1946 1974 1978 1981 1985 1987 1989 1990 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2000 2001 2003 2005 2006 2009 2011 2016 (Apr) 2016 (Dec) 2020 2022
By-elections	1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
See also: Elections in Abruzzo Aosta Valley Apulia Basilicata Calabria Campania Emilia-Romagna Friuli-Venezia Giulia Lazio Liguria Lombardy Marche Molise Piedmont Sardinia Sicily Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Tuscany Umbria Veneto