1946 Italian general election

General elections were held in Italy on Sunday 2 and also on Monday 3 June (but until noon) 1946. They were the first after World War II and elected 556 deputies to the Constituent Assembly. Theoretically, a total of 573 deputies were to be elected, but the election did not take place in the Julian March and in South Tyrol, which were under military occupation by the United Nations.

For the first time, Italian women were allowed to vote in a national election and run for a seat in the Constituent Assembly.

This election was held concurrently with the 1946 Italian institutional referendum on the abolition of the monarchy.

Electoral system

To emphasise the restoration of democracy after the fascist era, a pure party-list proportional representation was chosen. Italian provinces were united in 31 constituencies, each electing a group of candidates. At constituency level, seats were divided between open lists using the largest remainder method with the Imperiali quota. Remaining votes and seats were transferred at national level, where special closed lists of national leaders received the last seats using the Hare quota.

Campaign

At the end of World War II, Italy was governed under transitional laws as a result of agreements between the National Liberation Committee (CLN) and the royal Lieutenant General of the Realm Umberto II of Italy. As no democratic elections had taken place for more than 20 years, legislative power was given to the government but, after the first election, the Italian Council of Ministers would have to receive a vote of confidence by the new Constituent Assembly.

The three main contestants were Christian Democracy and the Italian Socialist Party, which had both received popular support before the fascist era, and the Italian Communist Party, which had strengthened itself with the armed struggle against Nazism and fascism during the war. The Italian Liberal Party, heir of the pre-fascist and conservative ruling class, proposed an alliance called National Democratic Union. Monarchists groups created the National Bloc of Freedom, while the liberal socialist Action Party and Labour Democratic Party hoped to maximize the positive image of the governments that they ruled in the National Liberation Committee.

Parties and leaders

Party		Ideology	Leader
bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	Christian Democracy (DC)	Christian democracy	Alcide De Gasperi
bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity (PSIUP)	Socialism	Pietro Nenni
bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	Italian Communist Party (PCI)	Communism	Palmiro Togliatti
bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	National Democratic Union (UDN)	Liberalism	Luigi Einaudi
	Common Man's Front (FUQ)	Populism	Guglielmo Giannini
bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	Italian Republican Party (PRI)	Republicanism	Randolfo Pacciardi
	National Bloc of Freedom (BNL)	Monarchism	Alfredo Covelli
bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	Action Party (PdA)	Liberal socialism	Ugo La Malfa

Results

The election gave a large majority to the government formed by the three leaders of the CLN, which was briefly joined by the Republican Party after the exile of Umberto II. The alliance lasted for a year.

Popular vote DC   35.21% PSIUP   20.68% PCI   18.93% UDN   6.78% FUQ   5.27% PRI   4.36% BNL   2.77% PdA   1.45% Others   4.53%

Parliamentary seats DC   37.23% PSIUP   20.68% PCI   18.71% UDN   7.37% FUQ   5.40% PRI   4.14% BNL   2.88% PdA   1.26% Others   2.34%

By constituency

Constituency	Total seats	Seats won
		DC	PSIUP	PCI	UDN	FUQ	PRI	BNL	PdA	Others
		style="background:Template:Party color;" |	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	style="background:Template:Party color;" |		style="background:Template:Party color;;" |		style="background:Template:Party color;;" |	style="background:Template:Party color;;" |
Turin	25	9	9	6	1
Cuneo	16	7	4	3	1					1
Genoa	16	6	5	5
Milan	34	12	12	9		1
Como	12	6	5	1
Brescia	15	9	4	2
Mantua	8	3	3	2
Trentino	4	3	1
Verona	27	15	8	4
Venice	13	7	4	2
Udine	11	6	4	1
Bologna	22	4	7	9			2
Parma	19	6	6	7
Florence	12	4	3	5
Pisa	13	5	3	4			1
Siena	8	2	2	4
Ancona	13	5	3	3			2
Perugia	9	3	2	3			1
Rome	29	11	3	4	2	2	5	2
L'Aquila	12	7	2	1	1		1
Benevento	7	4			2	1
Naples	27	11	2	2	6	4		2
Avellino	12	4	1	1	3	1		1		1
Bari	18	7	2	4	1	4
Lecce	12	5	1	1	2			3
Potenza	5	2	1	1	1
Catanzaro	21	8	2	3	3	2	1	2
Catania	23	10	3	1	4	2		1		2
Palermo	21	8	3	2	3	2	1			2
Cagliari	11	6	1	1		1				2
Aosta Valley	1									1
National	80	12	9	13	11	10	9	5	7	4
Total	556	207	115	104	41	30	23	16	7	13

Referendum

Together with the election, a constitutional referendum took place. Italian electors chose whether to continue the reign of Umberto II of Italy or turn Italy into a republic. While all regions of northern Italy as far as Tuscany and Marches gave a majority to the republic, all regions of southern Italy to Lazio and Abruzzo voted to maintain the monarchy.