European Parliament election, 1979 (Italy)
Encyclopedia
The first elections for the European Parliament
in Italy
were held on 10 June 1979.
A week before Italy had voted for its general election
: the lack of matching between the two elections caused much controversy for wasting public money.
was the traditional electoral system of the Italian Republic since its foundation in 1946, so it was naturally adopted to elect the Italian representatives to the European Parliament. Two levels were used: a national level to divide seats between parties, and a constituency level to distribute them between candidates. Italian regions were united in 5 constituencies, each electing a group of deputies. At national level, seats were divided between party lists using the largest remainder method
with Hare quota
. All seats gained by each party were automatically distributed to their local open list
s and their most voted candidates.
. Especially little Italian Liberal Party
had a breath of fresh air from this vote, quite doubling its percentage than seven days before.
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
were held on 10 June 1979.
A week before Italy had voted for its general election
Italian general election, 1979
The Italian election of 1979 was held on June 3. The eighth Parliament of republican Italy was selected. This election was called just a week before the European vote: the lack of matching between the two elections caused much controversy for wasting public money.Terroristic attacks by the Red...
: the lack of matching between the two elections caused much controversy for wasting public money.
Electoral system
The pure party-list proportional representationParty-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems emphasizing proportional representation in elections in which multiple candidates are elected...
was the traditional electoral system of the Italian Republic since its foundation in 1946, so it was naturally adopted to elect the Italian representatives to the European Parliament. Two levels were used: a national level to divide seats between parties, and a constituency level to distribute them between candidates. Italian regions were united in 5 constituencies, each electing a group of deputies. At national level, seats were divided between party lists using the largest remainder method
Largest remainder method
The largest remainder method is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems...
with Hare quota
Hare quota
The Hare quota is a formula used under some forms of the Single Transferable Vote system and the largest remainder method of party-list proportional representation...
. All seats gained by each party were automatically distributed to their local open list
Open list
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected...
s and their most voted candidates.
Results
This election taking place just a week after the general election, it obviously gave a similar result. However, the minor importance of the European ballot caused a smaller turnout, which particularly punished the two major parties, the Christian Democracy and the Italian Communist PartyItalian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
. Especially little Italian Liberal Party
Italian Liberal Party
The Italian Liberal Party was a liberal political party in Italy.-Origins:The origins of liberalism in Italy came from the so-called "Historical Right", a parliamentary group formed by Camillo Benso di Cavour in the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia following the 1848 revolution...
had a breath of fresh air from this vote, quite doubling its percentage than seven days before.
| Christian Democracy Christian Democracy (Italy) Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield .... |
12,774,320 | 36.5% | 29 | |
| Italian Communist Party Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played... |
10,361,344 | 29.6% | 24 | |
| Italian Socialist Party Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II... |
3,866,946 | 11.0% | 9 | |
| Italian Social Movement Italian Social Movement The Italian Social Movement , and later the Italian Social Movement–National Right , was a neo-fascist and post-fascist political party in Italy. Formed in 1946 by supporters of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the party became the fourth largest party in Italy by the early 1960s... |
1,909,055 | 5.5% | 4 | |
| Italian Democratic Socialist Party | 1,514,272 | 4.3% | 4 | |
| Radical Party | 1,285,065 | 3.7% | 3 | |
| Italian Liberal Party Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party was a liberal political party in Italy.-Origins:The origins of liberalism in Italy came from the so-called "Historical Right", a parliamentary group formed by Camillo Benso di Cavour in the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia following the 1848 revolution... |
1,271,159 | 3.6% | 3 | |
| Italian Republican Party Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party is a liberal political party in Italy.The PRI is party with old roots that originally took a left-wing position, claiming descent from the political position of Giuseppe Mazzini... |
896,139 | 2.6% | 2 | |
| Proletarian Unity Party | 406,656 | 1.2% | 1 | |
| Proletarian Democracy Proletarian Democracy Proletarian Democracy was a political party in Italy.-1970s:DP was founded in 1975 as a joint electoral front of the Proletarian Unity Party , Workers Vanguard and the Workers Movement for Socialism... |
252,342 | 0.7% | 1 | |
| South Tyrolean People's Party South Tyrolean People's Party The South Tyrolean People's Party is a regionalist Christian democratic political party active in the Italian province of South Tyrol.Founded in 1945, the SVP represents the German-speaking population of the province, as well as Ladin speakers. Since the first election of the Provincial Council in... |
196,373 | 0.6% | 1 | |
| Others | 308,930 | 0.9% | = |