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]
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All 508 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 255 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Constituencies used for the elections | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Electoral system
editShortly 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]
Campaign
editThe 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 Historical Far-Left, a far-left organization led by Agostino Bertani, an Italian revolutionary.
Parties and leaders
editResults
editThe "Ministerial" left-wing bloc emerged as the largest in Parliament, winning 289 of the 508 seats; the Right arrived second with 147 seats.[2] Depretis was confirmed Prime Minister by king Umberto I.
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| Party | Votes | % | Seats | /– | |
| Historical Left | 289 | 71 | |||
| Historical Right | 147 | −24 | |||
| Historical Far Left | 44 | New | |||
| Dissident Left | 19 | −100 | |||
| Others | 9 | 9 | |||
| Total | 508 | 0 | |||
| Valid votes | 1,161,205 | 94.88 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 62,646 | 5.12 | |||
| Total votes | 1,223,851 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,017,829 | 60.65 | |||
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver | |||||