1909 Italian general election

1909 Italian general election

7 March 1909 (first round) 14 March 1909 (second round)
All 508 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 255 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Giovanni Giolitti Filippo Turati Ettore Sacchi Party Historical Left PSI Radical Party Seats won 336 41 48 Seat change 3 12 8 Popular vote 995,290 347,615 181,242 Percentage 54.45% 19.02% 9.92% Swing 3.55pp 2.33pp 1.54pp
Prime Minister before election Giovanni Giolitti Historical Left Elected Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti Historical Left

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

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.

Parties and leaders

Party		Ideology	Leader
	Historical Left	Liberalism	Giovanni Giolitti
	Italian Socialist Party	Socialism	Filippo Turati
	Italian Radical Party	Radicalism	Ettore Sacchi
	Historical Right	Conservatism	Sydney Sonnino
	Italian Republican Party	Republicanism	Napoleone Colajanni
	Catholic Electoral Union	Christian democracy	Ottorino Gentiloni

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Historical Left	995,290	54.45	336	−3
	Italian Socialist Party	347,615	19.02	41	+12
	Italian Radical Party	181,242	9.92	45	+8
	Historical Right	108,029	5.91	36	−40
	Italian Republican Party	81,461	4.46	24	0
	Catholic Electoral Union	73,015	3.99	16	+13
	Constitutional Independents	41,213	2.25	10	New
Total		1,827,865	100.00	508	0
Valid votes		1,827,865	96.74
Invalid/blank votes		61,500	3.26
Total votes		1,889,365	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,930,473	64.47
Source: National Institute of Statistics

Leading party by region

Region	First party		Second party		Third party
Abruzzo-Molise		Left		PSI		PR
Apulia		Left		PSI		PR
Basilicata		Left		PSI		PR
Calabria		Left		PR		PSI
Campania		Left		PR		PSI
Emilia-Romagna		PSI		Left		PR
Lazio		Left		PSI		PR
Liguria		Left		PSI		PR
Lombardy		Left		PSI		PR
Marche		Left		PSI		PR
Piedmont		Left		PSI		PR
Sardinia		Left		PSI		PR
Sicily		Left		PR		PSI
Tuscany		PSI		Left		PR
Umbria		PSI		Left		PR
Veneto		Left		PSI		PR