1861 Italian general election
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All 443 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 222 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||
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Constituencies used for the elections | |||||||||||||
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General elections were held in
The elections were carried out according to the 1848 electoral law of the Kingdom of Sardinia, in which only literate men over the age of 25 and paying a certain level of taxation were allowed to vote.[1] Candidates were elected in single member constituencies, with a second round required in cases when no candidates received over 50% of the vote or the equivalent of one-third of the registered voters in the constituency.[3] The Pope demanded that Catholics did not take part in the elections.[3]
Campaign
The
On the other hand, the
In opposition to the two main blocs there were a third party known as The Extreme, a far-left coalition, under the leadership of Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian revolutionary and a key figure of the Unification.
Only 418,696 men of a total population of around 22 million were entitled to vote.[4]
Parties and leaders
Party | Ideology | Leader | |
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Historical Right | Conservatism | Camillo Benso di Cavour
| |
Historical Left | Liberalism | Urbano Rattazzi | |
Historical Far Left | Radicalism
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Giuseppe Mazzini |
Results
Right-wing candidates emerged as the largest bloc in Parliament with around 43% of the 443 seats.
Party | Votes | % | % of seats | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Historical Right | 42.5 | |||
Historical Left | 27.6 | |||
Historical Far Left | 4.4 | |||
Others | 25.5 | |||
Total | 100 | |||
Total votes | 239,583 | – | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 418,696 | 57.22 | ||
Source: Nohlen & Stöver |