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'{{Infobox referendum | name = Referendum on the Abrogation of the Divorce Law | title = Do you want the Law of 1 December 1970, No. 898, on the regulation of cases of dissolution of marriage, to be abrogated? | location ={{flagicon|Italy}} Italy | date = 12 May 1974 | yes = 13157558 | no = 19138300 | total = 33023179 | electorate = 37646322 | map = 1974 Italian divorce referendum.svg | mapdivision = province | mapcaption = <span style="color:royalblue">Blue</span> indicates provinces with a majority Yes vote, while <span style="color:red">Red</span> indicates provinces with a majority No vote. | notes = |outcome=Divorce law remains in force}} {{Politics of Italy}} An abrogative referendum on the divorce law was held in [[Italy]] on 12 May 1974.<ref name=NS>[[Dieter Nohlen]] & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1048 {{ISBN|978-3-8329-5609-7}}</ref> Voters were asked whether they wanted to repeal a government law passed three years earlier allowing [[divorce]] for the first time in modern Italian history. Those voting "yes" wanted to outlaw divorce as had been the case before the law came into effect, and those voting "no" wanted to retain the law and their newly gained right to divorce. The referendum was defeated by margin of 59.26% to 40.74% on a [[voter turnout]] of 87.72% out of 37 million eligible voters, thus allowing the divorce laws to remain in force. This vote was the first of its kind in the country, being the first regular legislative referendum held by the [[Italian Republic]] 27 years after the [[Italian constitution]], which allowed such referendums, was approved. It was considered a major victory for the [[civil rights]] and [[anti-clericalism]] movements, and for the [[Radical Party (Italy)|Italian Radical Party]]. ==Initial petitions== Agostino Sanfratello, from Piacenza, and Franco Maestrelli from Milan, on behalf of the movement Alleanza Cattolica, in January 1971 were the first to request a referendum against the divorce law at the Court of Cassation. (Oscar Sanguinetti and Pierluigi Zoccatelli "Costruiremo ancora Cattedrali. Per una storia delle origini di Alleanza Cattolica" publisher D'Ettoris, 2022) Signatures and petitions for the referendum were collected by [[Christianity|Christian]] groups led by [[Gabrio Lombardo]] with very strong support from the [[Catholic church]]. ==Political party positions== The [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democrats]] and the [[neo-fascist]] [[Italian Social Movement]] intensely campaigned for a yes vote to abolish the law and make divorce illegal again. Their main themes were the safeguarding of the [[tradition]]al [[nuclear family]] model and the [[Roman Catechism]]. Most left-wing political forces, the main ones being the [[Italian Socialist Party]] and the [[Italian Communist Party]], supported the no faction. Intense campaigning for a no vote also came from [[Marco Pannella]] of the [[Radical Party (Italy)|Italian Radical Party]] which had been petitioning for a right to divorce in Italy since the early 1960s. ==Confusion about voting== The wording of the referendum statement caused significant confusion, with some people not understanding that they had to vote "No" in order to retain the right to divorce or vote "Yes" in order to outlaw divorce. It was argued that the wording made the statement insufficiently clear, and some campaigners from the no camp stated that without this confusion the no vote might have been even higher than the 59% obtained. (See [[Double negative#Latin and Romance languages|double negative]].) ==Censorship== The [[Eurovision Song Contest 1974]] held in April of that year was not broadcast on the Italian state television channel [[RAI]] because of Italy's entry, a song by [[Gigliola Cinquetti]]. Despite the contest taking place more than a month before the planned vote, and despite Cinquetti eventually coming in second place, Italian censors refused the contest and song to be shown or heard. RAI censors felt the song, titled "[[Sì (Gigliola Cinquetti song)|Sì]]" ([[Italian language|Italian]] for "yes") and containing lyrics constantly repeating the word "Sì", could be accused of being a [[subliminal message]] and a form of propaganda to influence the Italian voting public to vote yes in the referendum. The song remained censored on most Italian state television and radio stations for over a month. ==Results== {| class=wikitable style=text-align:right !Choice !Votes !% |- |align=left|Yes||13,157,558||40.74 |- |align=left|{{cross|15}} No||'''19,138,300'''||'''59.26''' |- |align=left|Invalid/blank votes||727,321||– |- |align=left|'''Total'''||'''33,023,179'''||'''100''' |- |align=left|Registered voters/turnout||37,646,322||87.72 |- |align=left colspan=3|Source: [http://elezionistorico.interno.it/index.php?tpel=F&dtel=12/05/1974&tpa=I&tpe=A&lev0=0&levsut0=0&es0=S&ms=S Ministry of the Interior] |} {{Bar box |title=Popular vote |titlebar=#ddd |width=500px |barwidth=450px |bars= {{Bar percent|{{cross|12}} No|#E90000|59.26}} {{Bar percent|{{tick|12}} Yes|#088A29|40.74}} }} ==See also== *[[Referendum in Italy]] ==References== {{reflist}} {{Italian elections}} [[Category:Referendums in Italy]] [[Category:1974 referendums]] [[Category:1974 elections in Italy]] [[Category:Divorce law]] [[Category:May 1974 events in Europe]] [[Category:Divorce referendums]]'