View source for 1979 Italian general election

{{Short description|none}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name      = 1979 Italian general election
| country            = Italy
| type               = legislative
| ongoing            = no
| previous_election  = 1976 Italian general election
| previous_year      = 1976
| outgoing_members   = Legislature VII of Italy
| next_election      = 1983 Italian general election
| next_year          = 1983
| elected_members    = Legislature VIII of Italy
| seats_for_election = All 630 seats in the [[Chamber of Deputies (Italy)|Chamber of Deputies]]{{br}}316 seats needed for a majority{{br}}All 315 elective seats in the [[Senate of the Republic (Italy)|Senate]]{{br}}162 seats needed for a majority{{efn|taking into account the [[Senators for life in Italy|Senators for life]], which accounted for 7 seats at the time the election took place}} 
| election_date      = 3 June 1979
| registered         = 42,203,354 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}){{dot}}36,362,037	({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| turnout            = 38,242,918 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}){{dot}}90.6%  ({{decrease}}2.8 [[percentage point|pp]]) <br /> 32,976,304 ({{abbr|S|Senate}}){{dot}}90.7%  ({{decrease}}2.7 [[percentage point|pp]])

| image1             = {{CSS image crop|Image=Benigno Zaccagnini.jpg|bSize=120|cWidth=120|cHeight=160}}
| leader1            = [[Benigno Zaccagnini]]
| leader_since1      = 21 July 1975
| party1             = Christian Democracy (Italy)
| leaders_seat1      = [[List of Italian constituencies (1946–1994)#Bologna–Ferrara–Ravenna–Forlì|Bologna]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})
| seats1             = 262 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / 138 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| seat_change1       = {{decrease}}1 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / {{increase}}3 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| popular_vote1      = 14,046,290 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />12,010,716 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| percentage1        = 38.3% ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />38.3% ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| swing1             = {{decrease}}0.4 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />{{decrease}}0.5 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|S|Senate}})

| image2             = {{CSS image crop|Image=Enrico Berlinguer 1976.jpg|bSize=120|cWidth=120|cHeight=160}}
| leader2            = [[Enrico Berlinguer]]
| leader_since2      = 17 March 1972
| party2             = Italian Communist Party
| leaders_seat2      = [[List of Italian constituencies (1946–1994)#Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone|Rome]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})
| seats2             = 201 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / 109 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| seat_change2       = {{decrease}}26 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / {{decrease}}7 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| popular_vote2      = 11,139,231 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />9,855,951 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| percentage2        = 30.4% ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />31.5% ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| swing2             = {{decrease}}4.0 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />{{decrease}}2.3 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|S|Senate}})

| image3             = {{CSS image crop|Image=Craxi_1972.jpg|bSize=120|cWidth=120|cHeight=160}}
| leader3            = [[Bettino Craxi]]
| leader_since3      = 15 July 1976
| party3             = Italian Socialist Party
| leaders_seat3      = [[List of Italian constituencies (1946–1994)#Milan–Pavia|Milan]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})
| seats3             = 62 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / 32 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| seat_change3       = {{increase}}5 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / {{increase}}3 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| popular_vote3      = 3,630,052 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />3,252,410 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| percentage3        = 9.9% ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />10.4% ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| swing3             = {{increase}}0.3 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />{{increase}}0.2 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|S|Senate}})

| image4             = {{CSS image crop|Image=Giorgio Almirante 1979.jpg|bSize=120|cWidth=120|cHeight=160}}
| leader4            = [[Giorgio Almirante]]
| leader_since4      = 29 June 1969{{efn|Almirante also served as secretary from 1948 to 1950.}}
| party4             = Italian Social Movement
| leaders_seat4      = [[List of Italian constituencies (1946–1994)#Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone|Rome]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})
| seats4             = 30 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / 13 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| seat_change4       = {{decrease}}5 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / {{decrease}}2 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| popular_vote4      = 1,930,639 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />1,780,950 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| percentage4        = 5.3% ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})<br />5.7% ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| swing4             = {{decrease}}0.8 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})<br />{{decrease}}0.9 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|S|Senate}})

| image5             = {{CSS image crop|Image=Pietro Longo IX Legislatura.jpg|bSize=120|cWidth=120|cHeight=160}}
| leader5            = [[Pietro Longo]]
| leader_since5      = 20 October 1978
| party5             = Italian Democratic Socialist Party
| leaders_seat5      = [[List of Italian constituencies (1946–1994)#Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone|Rome]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})
| seats5             = 20 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / 9 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| seat_change5       = {{increase}}5 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / {{increase}}3 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| popular_vote5      = 1,407,535 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />1,320,729 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| percentage5        = 3.8% ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />4.2% ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| swing5             = {{increase}}0.4 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})<br />{{increase}}1.1 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|S|Senate}})

| image6             = {{CSS image crop|Image=Marco Pannella 1979.jpg|bSize=120|cWidth=120|cHeight=160}}
| leader6            = [[Marco Pannella]]
| leader_since6      = 18 July 1976{{efn|Pannella also served as president from 1967 to 1975.}}
| party6             = [[Radical Party (Italy)|PR]]
| leaders_seat6      = [[List of Italian constituencies (1946–1994)#Naples–Caserta|Naples]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})
| seats6             = 18 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / 2 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| seat_change6       = {{increase}}14 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / {{increase}}2 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| popular_vote6      = 1,264,870 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />413,444 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| percentage6        = 3.5% ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br />1.3% ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| swing6             = {{increase}}2.4 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})<br />{{increase}}0.4 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|S|Senate}})

| map_image          = 1979 Italian general election - Results.svg
| map_size           = 450px
| map_caption        = Results of the election in the Chamber and Senate.

| title              = [[Prime Minister of Italy|Prime Minister]]
| posttitle          = [[Prime Minister of Italy|Prime Minister]] after the election
| before_election    = [[Giulio Andreotti]]
| before_party       = Christian Democracy (Italy)
| after_election     = [[Francesco Cossiga]] 
| after_party        = Christian Democracy (Italy)
}}
The '''1979 Italian general election''' was held in [[Italy]] on 3 June 1979.<ref name=NS>[[Dieter Nohlen]] & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 1048. {{ISBN|978-3-8329-5609-7}}</ref> This election was called just a week before the [[1979 European Parliament election in Italy|European elections]].

Terrorist attacks by the [[Red Brigades]] led to a reversal of the results of the previous election [[1976 Italian general election|three years before]]: for the first time the [[Italian Communist Party]] lost significant numbers of seats, delaying the government change that had seemed imminent in 1976. The Communist defeat gave new strength to minor parties, as tactical voting for [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]] seemed less necessary to prevent a communist victory. The Christian Democrats remained stable nonetheless, while the neo-fascist [[Italian Social Movement]] was weakened by the success of its spin-off [[National Democracy (Italy)|National Democracy]].

==Electoral system==
The pure [[party-list proportional representation]] had traditionally become the electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies. [[Italian province]]s were united in 32 constituencies, each electing a group of candidates. At constituency level, seats were divided between [[open list]]s using the [[largest remainder method]] with [[Imperiali quota]]. Remaining votes and seats were transferred at national level, where they were divided using the [[Hare quota]], and automatically distributed to best losers into the local lists.

For the Senate, 237 single-seat constituencies were established, even if the assembly had risen to 315 members. The candidates needed a landslide victory of two thirds of votes to be elected, a goal which could be reached only by the German minorities in South Tirol. All remained votes and seats were grouped in party lists and regional constituencies, where a [[D'Hondt method]] was used: inside the lists, candidates with the best percentages were elected.

==Historical background==
[[File:Aldo Moro br.jpg|thumb|left|160px|Moro, photographed during his kidnapping by the [[Red Brigades]].]]
On 16 July 1976, [[Bettino Craxi]] was elected to the vacant [[Italian Socialist Party]] chairman position, ending years of factional fighting within the party. Ironically, the "old guard" saw him as short-lived leader, allowing each faction time to regroup. However, he was able to hold on to power and implement his policies. In particular, he sought and managed to distance his party away from the communists bringing it into an alliance with [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]] and other centrist parties, but maintaining a leftist and reformist profile.

On 16 March 1978, former Prime Minister and Christian Democratic leader [[Aldo Moro]] was kidnapped by the [[Red Brigades]], and five of his bodyguards killed. The Red Brigades were a militant leftist group, then led by [[Mario Moretti]]. Aldo Moro was a left-leaning [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democrat]] who served several times as Prime Minister. Before his murder he was trying to include the [[Italian Communist Party]] (PCI), headed by [[Enrico Berlinguer]], in the government through a deal called the ''[[Historic Compromise]]''. The PCI was the largest communist party in western Europe. This was largely because of its non-extremist and pragmatic stance, its growing independence from Moscow and its [[Eurocommunism|eurocommunist]] doctrine. The PCI was especially strong in areas such as [[Emilia Romagna]], where it had stable government positions and mature practical experience, which may have contributed to a more pragmatic approach to politics. The Red Brigades were fiercely opposed by the Communist Party and [[trade union]]s, a few left-wing politicians even used the condescending expression "comrades who do wrong" (''Compagni che sbagliano''). The circumstances surrounding Aldo Moro's murder have never been made clear, but the consequences included the fact that PCI did not gain executive power.

Investigative journalist [[Carmine Pecorelli]] was assassinated on March 20, 1979. In a May 1978 article, he had drawn connections between Aldo Moro's kidnapping and [[Operation Gladio|Gladio]].<ref name="Pecorelli">[https://www.theguardian.com/print/0,,4665179-105806,00.html Moro's ghost haunts political life], ''[[The Guardian]]'', May 9, 2003</ref>

In the period of terror attacks of the late 1970s and early 1980s, the parliamentary majority was composed by the parties of the "''Arco costituzionale''", i.e. all parties supporting the Constitution, including the [[Italian Communist Party|Communists]] (who in fact took a very strong stance against the Red Brigades and other terrorist groups). However, the Communists never took part in the Government itself, which was composed by the "[[Pentapartito]]" (Christian Democrats, Socialists, Social Democrats, Liberals, Republicans).

==Parties and leaders==

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:left"
|-
!colspan=2  rowspan="2" |Party
!rowspan="2"| Ideology
!rowspan="2"| Leader
!colspan="3"|Seats in 1976
|-
!{{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}
!{{abbr|S|Senate of the Republic}}
!{{nowrap|Total}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Christian Democracy (Italy)}}" |
| [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]] (DC)
| [[Christian democracy]]
| [[Benigno Zaccagnini]]
| {{center|262}}
| {{center|135}}
| {{center|397}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Communist Party}}" |
| [[Italian Communist Party]] (PCI)
| [[Eurocommunism]]
| [[Enrico Berlinguer]]
| {{center|229}}
| {{center|116}}
| {{center|345}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Socialist Party}}" |
| [[Italian Socialist Party]] (PSI)
| [[Social democracy]]
| [[Bettino Craxi]]
| {{center|57}}
| {{center|30}}
| {{center|87}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Social Movement}}" |
| [[Italian Social Movement]] (MSI)
| [[Neo-fascism]]
| [[Giorgio Almirante]]
| {{center|35}}
| {{center|15}}
| {{center|50}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Democratic Socialist Party}}" |
| [[Italian Democratic Socialist Party]] (PSDI)
| [[Social democracy]]
| [[Pietro Longo]]
| {{center|15}}
| {{center|7}}
| {{center|22}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}" |
| [[Italian Republican Party]] (PRI)
| [[Social liberalism]]
| [[Giovanni Spadolini]]
| {{center|14}}
| {{center|7}}
| {{center|21}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Liberal Party}}" |
| [[Italian Liberal Party]] (PLI)
| [[Conservative liberalism]]
| [[Valerio Zanone]]
| {{center|5}}
| {{center|2}}
| {{center|7}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Radical Party (Italy)}}" |
| [[Radical Party (Italy)|Radical Party]] (PR)
| [[Radicalism (politics)|Radicalism]]
| [[Marco Pannella]]
| {{center|4}}
| {{center|0}}
| {{center|4}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Proletarian Unity Party (Italy)}}" |
| [[Proletarian Unity Party (Italy)|Proletarian Unity Party]] (PdUP)
| [[Communism]]
| [[Vittorio Foa]]
| colspan=3|{{center|New}}
|}

==Results==
Even this eighth legislature of the Italian Republic was a period of great instability. After the election, the Christian-Democratic leadership instructed moderate [[Francesco Cossiga]] to form a [[centrism|centrist]] minority government with the PSDI and the PLI, which accepted an official engagement into the government for the first time since 1973; however, when in 1980 [[Benigno Zaccagnini]] was fired as Secretary of the DC and socialist leader [[Bettino Craxi]] offered his help, Cossiga suddenly resigned and formed a new [[centre-left]] government with the PSI and the PRI, underling that the Catholic leaders had no more problems to choose their allies from anywhere. However, Cossiga later fell on a budget project, and a traditional centre-left government led by [[Arnaldo Forlani]] was formed. The great scandal of the [[masonic lodge]] [[Propaganda Due|P2]] sank Forlani in 1981.

This deep political crisis marked the birth of a new political formula which ruled Italy during the 80's: the ''[[Pentapartito]]'' (or ''five parties''), which was no more than the fusion of the two main alliances that DC had used to rule Italy since 1947, the ''centrism'' and the ''centre-left''. This formula became possible because [[Bettino Craxi]]'s [[Italian Socialist Party]] and [[Valerio Zanone]]'s [[Italian Liberal Party]] accepted to form their first republican government together, moderating their positions and passing the opposition that had always divided them. But the ''Pentapartito'' pact had another important condition: the DC accepted to recognize a pair role with the other four parties, alternating into the government leadership. The Secretary of the [[Italian Republican Party]], [[Giovanni Spadolini]], so became the first non-DC [[Prime Minister of Italy]] since 1945. However, his little party was unable to stop the quarrels between their great allies, and after a little crisis during summer 1982, Spadolini resigned in autumn of the same year. Former-PM [[Amintore Fanfani]] formed a new government without the offended republicans, but the PSI, which had good surveys, imposed the final crisis in 1983 and a new general election.

===Chamber of Deputies===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+ {{nowrap|[[1976 Italian general election#Chamber of Deputies|←]] Summary of the 3 June 1979 [[Italian Chamber of Deputies|Chamber of Deputies]] election results [[1983 Italian general election#Chamber of Deputies|→]]}}
|-
| colspan="6"| [[File:Italian Chamber of Deputies 1979.svg|center|300px]]
|-
!colspan=2|Party
!Votes
!%
!Seats
!+/−
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Christian Democracy (Italy)}}"|
|align=left|[[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]] (DC)||14,046,290||38.30||262||±0
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Communist Party}}"|
|align=left|[[Italian Communist Party]] (PCI)||11,139,231||30.38||201||<span style="color:red">−26</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Socialist Party}}"|
|align=left|[[Italian Socialist Party]] (PSI)||3,596,802||9.81||62||<span style="color:green">+5</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Social Movement}}"|
|align=left|[[Italian Social Movement]] (MSI)||1,930,639||5.26||30||<span style="color:red">−5</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Democratic Socialist Party}}"|
|align=left|[[Italian Democratic Socialist Party]] (PSDI)||1,407,535||3.84||20||<span style="color:green">+5</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Radical Party (Italy)}}"|
|align=left|[[Radical Party (Italy)|Radical Party]] (PR)||1,264,870||3.45||18||<span style="color:green">+14</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}"|
|align=left|[[Italian Republican Party]]||1,110,209||3.03||16||<span style="color:green">+2</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Liberal Party}}"|
|align=left|[[Italian Liberal Party]] (PLI)||712,646||1.94||9||<span style="color:green">+4</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Proletarian Unity Party (Italy)}}"|
|align=left|[[Proletarian Unity Party (Italy)|Proletarian Unity Party]] (PdUP)||502,247||1.37||6||±0
|-
|style="background-color:#F0002D"|
|align=left|New United Left (NSU)||294,462||0.80||0||''New''
|-
|style="background-color:#0045AA"|
|align=left|[[National Democracy (Italy)|National Democracy]] (DN)||229,205||0.63||0||''New''
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|South Tyrolean People's Party}}"|
|align=left|[[South Tyrolean People's Party]] (SVP)||204,899||0.56||4||<span style="color:green">+1</span>
|-
|style="background-color:green"|
|align=left|[[List for Trieste]] (LpT)||65,505||0.18||1||''New''
|-
|style="background-color:gold"|
|align=left|[[Friuli Movement]] (MF)||35,254||0.10||0||''New''
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Valdostan Union}}"|
|align=left|[[Valdostan Union]] (UV)||33,250||0.09||1||<span style="color:green">+1</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Other}}"|
|align=left|Others||98,264||0.30||0||±0
|-
|align=left colspan=2|Invalid/blank votes||1,571,610||–||–||–
|-
|align=left colspan=2|'''Total'''||'''38,242,918'''||'''100'''||'''630'''||'''±0'''
|-
|align=left colspan=2|Registered voters/turnout||42,203,354||90.62||–||–
|-
|align=left colspan=6|Source: [http://elezionistorico.interno.it/index.php?tpel=C&dtel=03/06/1979&tpa=I&tpe=A&lev0=0&levsut0=0&es0=S&ms=S Ministry of the Interior]
|}

{{Bar box
|title=Popular vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=550px
|barwidth=500px
|bars=
{{Bar percent|[[Christian Democracy (Italy)|DC]]|{{party color|Christian Democracy (Italy)}}|38.30}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Communist Party|PCI]]|{{party color|Italian Communist Party}}|30.38}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Socialist Party|PSI]]|{{party color|Italian Socialist Party}}|9.81}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Social Movement|MSI]]|{{party color|Italian Social Movement}}|5.26}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Democratic Socialist Party|PSDI]]|{{party color|Italian Democratic Socialist Party}}|3.84}}
{{Bar percent|[[Radical Party (Italy)|PR]]|{{party color|Radical Party (Italy)}}|3.45}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Republican Party|PRI]]|{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}|3.03}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Liberal Party|PLI]]|{{party color|Italian Liberal Party}}|1.94}}
{{Bar percent|[[Proletarian Unity Party (Italy)|PdUP]]|red|1.37}}
{{Bar percent|Others|{{party color|Other}}|2.62}}
}}
{{Bar box
|title=Seats
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=550px
|barwidth=500px
|bars=
{{Bar percent|[[Christian Democracy (Italy)|DC]]|{{party color|Christian Democracy (Italy)}}|41.59}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Communist Party|PCI]]|{{party color|Italian Communist Party}}|31.90}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Socialist Party|PSI]]|{{party color|Italian Socialist Party}}|9.84}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Social Movement|MSI]]|{{party color|Italian Social Movement}}|4.76}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Democratic Socialist Party|PSDI]]|{{party color|Italian Democratic Socialist Party}}|3.17}}
{{Bar percent|[[Radical Party (Italy)|PR]]|{{party color|Radical Party (Italy)}}|2.86}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Republican Party|PRI]]|{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}|2.54}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Liberal Party|PLI]]|{{party color|Italian Liberal Party}}|1.43}}
{{Bar percent|[[Proletarian Unity Party (Italy)|PdUP]]|red|0.95}}
{{Bar percent|Others|{{party color|Other}}|0.95}}
}}

==== Results by constituency ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 0.9em"
! rowspan="3" |Constituency
! rowspan="3" |Total<br>seats
! colspan="10" |Seats won
|-
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Christian Democracy (Italy)|DC]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Italian Communist Party|PCI]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Italian Socialist Party|PSI]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Italian Social Movement|MSI]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Italian Democratic Socialist Party|PSDI]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Radical Party (Italy)|PR]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Italian Republican Party|PRI]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Italian Liberal Party|PLI]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Proletarian Unity Party (Italy)|PdUP]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |Others
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Christian Democracy (Italy)}};" |
! style="background:{{party color|Italian Communist Party}};" |
! style="background:{{party color|Italian Socialist Party}};" |
! style="background:{{party color|Italian Social Movement}};;" |
! style="background:{{party color|Italian Democratic Socialist Party}};" |
! style="background:{{party color|Radical Party (Italy)}};;" |
! style="background:{{party color|Italian Republican Party}};;" |
! style="background:{{party color|Italian Liberal Party}};;" |
! style="background:{{party color|Proletarian Unity Party}};;" |
! style="background:{{party color|Others}};;" |
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Turin|Turin]]
!39
|12
|13
|4
|1
|2
|2
|2
|2
|1
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Cuneo|Cuneo]]
!15
|7
|4
|1
|
|1
|
|1
|1
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Genoa|Genoa]]
!23
|8
|8
|3
|1
|
|1
|1
|1
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Milan|Milan]]
!52
|18
|17
|6
|2
|2
|2
|2
|2
|1
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Como|Como]]
!20
|9
|5
|2
|
|1
|1
|1
|1
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Brescia|Brescia]]
!23
|12
|5
|2
|1
|1
|1
|
|
|1
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Mantua|Mantua]]
!8
|4
|3
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Trentino]]
!10
|4
|1
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|4
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Verona|Verona]]
!29
|16
|6
|2
|1
|1
|1
|1
|1
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Venice|Venice]]
!17
|8
|5
|2
|
|1
|1
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Udine|Udine]]
!11
|6
|3
|1
|
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Bologna|Bologna]]
!27
|7
|13
|2
|1
|1
|1
|2
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Parma|Parma]]
!19
|6
|10
|2
|
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Florence|Florence]]
!15
|5
|9
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Pisa|Pisa]]
!14
|5
|7
|2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Siena|Siena]]
!9
|3
|5
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Ancona|Ancona]]
!17
|7
|7
|1
|1
|
|
|1
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Perugia|Perugia]]
!10
|4
|5
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Rome|Rome]]
!54
|20
|16
|5
|4
|2
|3
|2
|1
|1
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of L'Aquila|L'Aquila]]
!14
|7
|5
|1
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Campobasso|Campobasso]]
!4
|3
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!  style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Naples|Naples]]
!38
|16
|11
|3
|4
|1
|1
|1
|
|1
|
|-
!  style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Benevento|Benevento]]
!18
|10
|4
|2
|1
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!  style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Bari|Bari]]
!23
|10
|7
|2
|2
|1
|1
|
|
|
|
|-
!  style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Lecce|Lecce]]
!18
|9
|5
|2
|2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!  style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Potenza|Potenza]]
!7
|4
|2
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!  style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Catanzaro|Catanzaro]]
!23
|10
|6
|3
|2
|1
|
|
|
|1
|
|-
!  style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Catania|Catania]]
!27
|12
|6
|3
|3
|1
|1
|1
|
|
|
|-
!  style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Palermo|Palermo]]
!25
|12
|5
|3
|2
|1
|1
|1
|
|
|
|-
!  style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Cagliari|Cagliari]]
!17
|7
|6
|2
|1
|
|1
|
|
|
|
|-
!  style="text-align: left;" |[[Aosta Valley]]
!1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|1
|-
!  style="text-align: left;" |[[Province of Trieste|Trieste]]
!3
|1
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|1
|-
!  style="text-align: left;" |Total
!630
!262
!201
!62
!30
!20
!18
!16
!9
!6
!6
|}

===Senate of the Republic===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+ {{nowrap|[[1976 Italian general election#Senate of the Republic|←]] Summary of the 3 June 1979 [[Italian Senate|Senate of the Republic]] election results [[1983 Italian general election#Senate of the Republic|→]]}}
|-
| colspan="6"| [[File:Italian Senate 1979.svg|center|300px]]
|-
!colspan=2|Party
!Votes
!%
!Seats
!+/−
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Christian Democracy (Italy)}}"|
|align=left|[[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]] (DC)||12,010,716||38.34||138||<span style="color:green">+3</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Communist Party}}"|
|align=left|[[Italian Communist Party]] (PCI)||9,855,951||31.46||109||<span style="color:red">−7</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Socialist Party}}"|
|align=left|[[Italian Socialist Party]] (PSI)||3,252,410||10.38||32||<span style="color:green">+3</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Social Movement}}"|
|align=left|[[Italian Social Movement]] (MSI)||1,780,950||5.68||13||<span style="color:red">−2</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Democratic Socialist Party}}"|
|align=left|[[Italian Democratic Socialist Party]] (PSDI)||1,320,729||4.22||9||<span style="color:green">+3</span>
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}"|
|align=left|[[Italian Republican Party]] (PRI)||1,053,251||3.36||6||±0
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Liberal Party}}"|
|align=left|[[Italian Liberal Party]] (PLI)||691,718||2.21||2||±0
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Radical Party (Italy)}}"|
|align=left|[[Radical Party (Italy)|Radical Party]] (PR)||413,444||1.32||2||<span style="color:green">+2</span>
|-
|style="background-color:pink"|
|align=left|[[Radical Party (Italy)|Radical Party]]–New United Left (PR–NSU)||365,954||1.17||0||''New''
|-
|style="background-color:#0045AA"|
|align=left|[[National Democracy (Italy)|National Democracy]] (DN)||176,966||0.56||0||''New''
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|South Tyrolean People's Party}}"|
|align=left|[[South Tyrolean People's Party]] (SVP)||172,582||0.55||3||<span style="color:green">+1</span>
|-
|style="background-color:green"|
|align=left|[[List for Trieste]] (LpT)||61,911||0.20||0||''New''
|-
|style="background-color:#F0002D"|
|align=left|New United Left (NSU)||44,094||0.14||0||''New''
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Valdostan Union}}"|
|align=left|[[Valdostan Union]] (UV)||37,082||0.12||1||±0
|-
|style="background-color:gold"|
|align=left|[[Friuli Movement]] (MF)||31,490||0.10||0||''New''
|-
|style="background-color:{{party color|Other}}"|
|align=left|Others||61,547||0.19||0||±0
|-
|align=left colspan=2|Invalid/blank votes||1,645,509||–||–||–
|-
|align=left colspan=2|'''Total'''||'''32,976,304'''||'''100'''||'''315'''||'''±0'''
|-
|align=left colspan=2|Registered voters/turnout||36,362,037||90.69||–||–
|-
|align=left colspan=6|Source: [http://elezionistorico.interno.it/index.php?tpel=S&dtel=03/06/1979&tpa=I&tpe=A&lev0=0&levsut0=0&es0=S&ms=S Ministry of the Interior]
|}
{{Bar box
|title=Popular vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=550px
|barwidth=500px
|bars=
{{Bar percent|[[Christian Democracy (Italy)|DC]]|{{party color|Christian Democracy (Italy)}}|38.34}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Communist Party|PCI]]|{{party color|Italian Communist Party}}|31.46}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Socialist Party|PSI]]|{{party color|Italian Socialist Party}}|10.38}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Social Movement|MSI]]|{{party color|Italian Social Movement}}|5.68}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Democratic Socialist Party|PSDI]]|{{party color|Italian Democratic Socialist Party}}|4.22}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Republican Party|PRI]]|{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}|3.36}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Liberal Party|PLI]]|{{party color|Italian Liberal Party}}|2.21}}
{{Bar percent|[[Radical Party (Italy)|PR]]|{{party color|Radical Party (Italy)}}|1.32}}
{{Bar percent|Others|{{party color|Other}}|3.03}}
}}
{{Bar box
|title=Seats
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=550px
|barwidth=500px
|bars=
{{Bar percent|[[Christian Democracy (Italy)|DC]]|{{party color|Christian Democracy (Italy)}}|43.81}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Communist Party|PCI]]|{{party color|Italian Communist Party}}|34.60}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Socialist Party|PSI]]|{{party color|Italian Socialist Party}}|10.16}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Social Movement|MSI]]|{{party color|Italian Social Movement}}|4.13}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Democratic Socialist Party|PSDI]]|{{party color|Italian Democratic Socialist Party}}|2.86}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Republican Party|PRI]]|{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}|1.90}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italian Liberal Party|PLI]]|{{party color|Italian Liberal Party}}|0.63}}
{{Bar percent|[[Radical Party (Italy)|PR]]|{{party color|Radical Party (Italy)}}|0.63}}
{{Bar percent|Others|{{party color|Other}}|1.27}}
}}

==== Results by constituency ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 0.9em"
! rowspan="3" |Constituency
! rowspan="3" |Total<br>seats
! colspan="9" |Seats won
|-
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Christian Democracy (Italy)|DC]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Italian Communist Party|PCI]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Italian Socialist Party|PSI]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Italian Social Movement|MSI]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Italian Democratic Socialist Party|PSDI]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Italian Republican Party|PRI]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Italian Liberal Party|PLI]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |[[Radical Party (Italy)|PR]]
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |Others
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Christian Democracy (Italy)}};" |
! style="background:{{party color|Italian Communist Party}};" |
! style="background:{{party color|Italian Socialist Party}};" |
! style="background:{{party color|Italian Social Movement}};" |
! style="background:{{party color|Italian Democratic Socialist Party}};;" |
! style="background:{{party color|Italian Republican Party}};;" |
! style="background:{{party color|Italian Liberal Party}};;" |
! style="background:{{party color|Radical Party (Italy)}};;" |
! style="background:{{party color|Others}};;" |
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Piedmont]]
!25
|9
|9
|3
|1
|1
|1
|1
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Aosta Valley]]
!1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|1
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Lombardy]]
!48
|21
|15
|6
|1
|2
|1
|1
|1
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol|Trentino-Alto Adige]]
!7
|3
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|3
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Veneto]]
!23
|14
|6
|2
|
|1
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Friuli Venezia Giulia|Friuli-Venezia Giulia]]
!7
|4
|2
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Liguria]]
!10
|4
|5
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Emilia-Romagna]]
!22
|6
|12
|2
|
|1
|1
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Tuscany]]
!20
|7
|11
|2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Umbria]]
!7
|2
|4
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Marche]]
!8
|4
|4
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Lazio]]
!27
|11
|9
|2
|2
|1
|1
|
|1
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Abruzzo]]
!7
|4
|3
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Molise]]
!2
|2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Campania]]
!29
|13
|8
|3
|3
|1
|1
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Apulia]]
!20
|9
|6
|2
|2
|1
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Basilicata]]
!7
|4
|2
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Calabria]]
!11
|5
|3
|2
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Sicily]]
!26
|12
|6
|3
|3
|1
|1
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |[[Sardinia]]
!8
|4
|3
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Total
!315
!138
!109
!32
!13
!9
!6
!2
!2
!4
|}

==Maps==
[[File:1979 Italian general election - Seat Distribution.svg|550px|center]]{{center|{{small|Seat distribution by constituency for the Chamber of Deputies (left) and Senate (right).}}}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{notelist}}


{{Italian elections}}

[[Category:General elections in Italy|1979]]
[[Category:1979 elections in Italy|General election]]
[[Category:June 1979 in Europe|Italy]]