1904 Italian general election

none Kingdom of Italy legislative 1900 Italian general election 1900 1909 Italian general election 1909 All 508 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 255 6 November 1904 (first round)13 November 1904 (second round) 130x130px Giovanni Giolitti 2.jpg Giovanni Giolitti Ministerials 339 43 777,345 50.90% 1.38 pp Sidney sonnino.jpg Sidney Sonnino Constitutional opposition 76 40 212,584 13.92% 7.49 pp Filippo Turati 3.jpg Filippo Turati Italian Socialist Party 29 4 326,016 21.35% 8.35 pp Prime Minister Elected Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti Giovanni Giolitti Ministerials Ministerials General elections were held in Italy on 6 November 1904, with a second round of voting on 13 November.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1047 978-3-8329-5609-7 The "ministerial" left-wing bloc remained the largest in Parliament, winning 339 of the 508 seats.Nohlen & Stöver, p1083 The papal ban on Catholics voting was relaxed for the first time, and three Catholics were elected.Nohlen & Stöver, p1031 Background After Giuseppe Saracco resignation as Prime Minister, Giuseppe Zanardelli was appointed as new head of the government; but he was unable to achieve much during his last term of office, as his health was greatly impaired. His Divorce Bill, although voted in the Chamber of Deputies, had to be withdrawn on account of the strong opposition of the country. He retired from the administration on 3 November 1903 and died on 26 December 1903. The long-time liberal leader Giovanni Giolitti succeeded to Zanardelli. He courted the left and labour unions with social legislation, including subsidies for low-income housing, preferential government contracts for worker cooperatives, and old age and disability pensions. However, he, too, had to resort to strong measures in repressing some serious disorders in various parts of Italy, and thus he lost the favour of the Socialists. Electoral system The election was held using 508 single-member constituencies. However, prior to the election the electoral law was amended so that candidates needed only an absolute majority of votes to win their constituency, abolishing the second requirement of receiving the votes of at least one-sixth of registered voters.Nohlen & Stöver, p1039 Parties and leaders PartyIdeologyLeaderMinisterialsLiberalismGiovanni GiolittiItalian Socialist PartySocialismFilippo TuratiConstitutional oppositionConservatismSidney SonninoItalian Radical PartyRadicalismEttore SacchiItalian Republican PartyRepublicanismNapoleone ColajanniItalian Catholic Electoral UnionChristian democracyOttorino Gentiloni Results File:Italian Parliament 1904.svg Ministerials 777345 339 +43 Italian Socialist Party 326016 29 −4 Constitutional opposition 212584 76 −40 Italian Radical Party 128002 37 +3 Italian Republican Party 75225 24 −5 Italian Catholic Electoral Union 8008 3 New 66706 0 2541327 National Institute of Statistics References Category:General elections in Italy General Italy