Italian general election, 1882

Italian general election, 1882

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 71 24 new party Percentage 56.8% 28.9% 8.6% Swing 16.1% 9.0% new party

Prime Minister before election Agostino Depretis Historical Left Elected 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

Results

← Summary of November 1882 Chamber of Deputies election results →

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/−
	Historical Left			289	+71
	Historical Right			147	−24
	The Extreme			44	New
	Dissident left-wing			19	−100
	Others			9	+9
Invalid/blank votes		62,646	–	–	–
Total		1,223,851	100	508	±0
Registered voters/turnout		2,017,829	60.7	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

Elections and referendums in Italy
General elections	1861 1865 1867 1870 1874 1876 1880 1882 1886 1890 1892 1895 1897 1900 1904 1909 1913 1919 1921 1924 1929 1934 1946 1948 1953 1958 1963 1968 1972 1976 1979 1983 1987 1992 1994 1996 2001 2006 2008 2013 next
European elections	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014
Regional elections	1947 1949 1951 1953 1954 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 1964 1965 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1981 1983 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Local elections	1946 1951 1956 1960 1964 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Referendums	1946 1974 1978 1981 1985 1987 1989 1990 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2000 2001 2003 2005 2006 2009 2011 2016 (Apr) 2016 (Dec)
See also: Elections in Abruzzo Aosta Valley Apulia Basilicata Calabria Campania Emilia-Romagna Friuli-Venezia Giulia Lazio Liguria Lombardy Marche Molise Piedmont Sardinia Sicily Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Tuscany Umbria Veneto