1909 Italian general election explained

Country:Kingdom of Italy
Type:legislative
Previous Election:1904 Italian general election
Previous Year:1904
Next Election:1913 Italian general election
Next Year:1913
Seats For Election:All 508 seats in the Chamber of Deputies255 seats needed for a majority
Election Date:7 March 1909 (first round)
14 March 1909 (second round)
Image1:Giovanni Giolitti.jpg
Leader1:Giovanni Giolitti
Party1:Historical Left
Seats1:336
Seat Change1:3
Popular Vote1:995,290
Percentage1:54.45%
Swing1:3.55pp
Leader2:Filippo Turati
Party2:Italian Socialist Party
Seats2:41
Seat Change2:12
Popular Vote2:347,615
Percentage2:19.02%
Swing2:2.33pp
Image3:Ettore Sacchi.jpeg
Leader3:Ettore Sacchi
Party3:Italian Radical Party
Seats3:48
Seat Change3:8
Popular Vote3:181,242
Percentage3:9.92%
Swing3:1.54pp
Prime Minister
Posttitle:Elected Prime Minister
Before Election:Giovanni Giolitti
After Election:Giovanni Giolitti
Before Party:Historical Left
After Party:Historical Left

General elections were held in Italy on 7 March 1909, with a second round of voting on 14 March.[1] The "ministerial" left-wing bloc remained the largest in Parliament, winning 329 of the 508 seats.[2]

Background

The right-wing leader Sidney Sonnino succeed to Giolitti's protégé Alessandro Fortis as Prime Minister in 1906. But his cabinet had a short lift; any way Sonnino formed an alliance with France on the colonial expansion in North Africa. His government lasted only few months.

After Sonnino's resignation Giovanni Giolitti returned to power in 1906. Many critics accused Giolitti of manipulating the elections, piling up majorities with the restricted suffrage at the time, using the prefects just as his contenders. However, he did refine the practice in the elections of 1904 and 1909 that gave the liberals secure majorities.

In the election, The Right lost his important position in the Parliament, replaced by the Radical Party of Ettore Sacchi, who became an ally of Giolitti and the Italian Socialist Party of Filippo Turati, which continued its strong opposition to the Left governments.

Electoral system

The election was held using 508 single-member constituencies. However, prior to the election the electoral law was amended so that candidates needed only an absolute majority of votes to win their constituency, abolishing the second requirement of receiving the votes of at least one-sixth of registered voters.[3]

Parties and leaders

PartyIdeologyLeader
Historical LeftLiberalismGiovanni Giolitti
Italian Socialist PartySocialismFilippo Turati
Italian Radical PartyRadicalismEttore Sacchi
Historical RightConservatismSydney Sonnino
Italian Republican PartyRepublicanismNapoleone Colajanni
Catholic Electoral UnionChristian democracyOttorino Gentiloni

Results

Leading party by region

RegionFirst party Second party Third party
Abruzzo-MoliseLeftPSIPR
ApuliaLeftPSIPR
BasilicataLeftPSIPR
CalabriaLeftPRPSI
CampaniaLeftPRPSI
Emilia-RomagnaPSILeftPR
LazioLeftPSIPR
LiguriaLeftPSIPR
LombardyLeftPSIPR
MarcheLeftPSIPR
PiedmontLeftPSIPR
SardiniaLeftPSIPR
SicilyLeftPRPSI
TuscanyPSILeftPR
UmbriaPSILeftPR
VenetoLeftPSIPR

Notes and References

  1. [Dieter Nohlen]
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p1083
  3. Nohlen & Stöver, p1039