Italian general election, 1882

Italian general election, 1882
Kingdom of Italy
29 October-5 November 1882

All 508 seats to the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Agostino Depretis Marco Minghetti Agostino Bertani
Party Historical Left Historical Right The Extreme
Seats won 289 147 44
Seat change Increase71 Increase24 new party
Percentage 56.8% 28.9% 8.6%
Swing Increase16.1% Decrease9.0% new party

Composition of the Parliament

Prime Minister before election

Agostino Depretis
Historical Left

Subsequent Prime Minister

Agostino Depretis
Historical Left

General elections were held in Italy on 29 October 1882, with a second round of voting on 5 November.[1] The "ministerial" left-wing bloc emerged as the largest in Parliament, winning 289 of the 508 seats.[2]

Electoral system

Shortly before the elections the voting age was lowered from 25 to 21 and the tax requirement lowered from 40 to ₤19.80, whilst men with three years of primary education were exempted from it.[3] This resulted in the number of eligible voters increasing from 621,896 at the 1880 elections to 2,017,829.[4] The electoral system was changed from one based on single-member constituencies to one based on small multi-member constituencies with between two and five seats.[3] Voters had as many votes as there were candidates, except in constituencies with five seats, in which they were limited to four votes.[5] To be elected in the first round a candidate needed an absolute majority of the votes cast and to receive a number of votes equivalent to at least one-eighth of the number registered voters. If a second round was required, the number of candidates going through was double the number of seats available.[5]

The race

The Historical Left was led by the Prime Minister of Italy, Agostino Depretis, a prominent member of the Italian politics for decades. The bloc of the Historical Right was led by Marco Minghetti, a conservative politician and former Prime Minister, from Bologna. A third large parliamentary group was The Extreme, a far-left organization led by Agostino Bertani, an Italian revolutionary.

The "Ministerial" left-wing bloc emerged as the largest in Parliament, winning 289 of the 508 seats; the Right arrived second with 147 seats.[6] Depretis was confirmed Prime Minister by king Umberto I.

Parties and leaders

Party Ideology Leader
Historical Left Liberalism, Centrism Agostino Depretis
Historical Right Conservatism, Monarchism Marco Minghetti
The Extreme Radicalism, Socialism Agostino Bertani
Dissident left-wing Progressivism, Social liberalism Giuseppe Zanardelli

Results

Affiliation Votes % Seats +/–
Historical Left 289+71
Historical Right 147New
The Extreme 44New
Dissident left-wing 19–100
Others 9+9
Invalid/blank votes62,646
Total1,223,8511005080
Registered voters/turnout2,017,82960.7
Source: Nohlen & Stöver
Parliamentary seats
Historical Left
 
56.8%
Historical Right
 
28.9%
The Extreme
 
8.6%
Dissident left-wing
 
3.7%
Others
 
2.0%

References

  1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1047 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p1082
  3. 1 2 Nohlen & Stöver, pp1029-1030
  4. Nohlen & Stöver, p1049
  5. 1 2 Nohlen & Stöver, p1039
  6. Nohlen & Stöver, p1082
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