electionstracker

Italy 1948 parliamentary election

What was the result of the 1948 parliamentary election in Italy?

Christian Democracy won 305 of 574 seats with 48.5% of the vote. 92.2% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Italy
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Christian Democracy won 305 of 574 seats with 48.5% of the vote; 92.2% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 3.2 points on 1946.

  • Christian Democracy 305 +98 seats 48.5% +13.3 points
  • Italian Communist Party 131 +27 seats 31.0% +12.1 points
  • Italian Democratic Socialist Party 33 7.1%
  • Italian Liberal Party 19 −23 seats 3.8% −3.0 points
  • Monarchist National Party 14 −2 seats 2.8% 0.0 points
  • Italian Republican Party 9 −14 seats 2.5% −1.9 points
  • Italian Social Movement 6 2.0%
  • South Tyrolean People's Party 3 0.5%
  • Agrarian Party 1 0 seats 0.4% −0.1 points
  • Sardinian Action Party 1 −1 seat 0.2% −0.1 points
  • Italian Socialist Party 52 −63 seats
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Italy 1946 parliamentary election, party by party.

288 of 574 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 48.5%

    Share of the vote won by Christian Democracy

    Christian Democracy won 305 of 574 seats. A majority needs 288.

  2. +98 seats

    Seats gained by Christian Democracy

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1946. Italian Socialist Party lost 63 seats.

  3. 92.2%

    Voter turnout

    Up 3.2 points on 1946.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Christian Democracy305+9848.5+13.312,740,042
Italian Communist Party131+2731.0+12.18,136,637
Italian Democratic Socialist Party337.11,858,116
Italian Liberal Partywith Common Man's Front19−233.8−3.01,003,727
Monarchist National Party14−22.80.0729,078
Italian Republican Party9−142.5−1.9651,875
Italian Social Movement62.0526,882
South Tyrolean People's Party30.5124,243
Agrarian Party100.4−0.195,914
Sardinian Action Party1−10.2−0.161,928
Movement for the Independence of Sicily0−40.2−0.552,655
Italian Socialist Party52−63

± is the change against the Italy 1946 parliamentary election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Christian Democracy 12,740,042
  • Italian Communist Party 8,136,637
  • Italian Democratic Socialist Party 1,858,116
  • Italian Liberal Party 1,003,727
  • Monarchist National Party 729,078
  • Italian Republican Party 651,875
  • Italian Social Movement 526,882
  • South Tyrolean People's Party 124,243
  • Agrarian Party 95,914
  • Sardinian Action Party 61,928
  • Movement for the Independence of Sicily 52,655
  • Italian Socialist Party

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

ParlGov counts an alliance's votes and seats under its first party: such a row names the allies it counts.

How many people voted?

92.2% of the 29,117,270 registered voters cast a ballot (26,855,741 ballots), up 3.2 points on 1946. 26,264,458 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Christian Democracy48.5% of votes53.1% of seats
  • Italian Communist Party31.0% of votes22.8% of seats
  • Italian Democratic Socialist Party7.1% of votes5.7% of seats
  • Italian Liberal Party3.8% of votes3.3% of seats
  • Monarchist National Party2.8% of votes2.4% of seats
  • Italian Republican Party2.5% of votes1.6% of seats
  • Italian Social Movement2.0% of votes1.0% of seats
  • South Tyrolean People's Party0.5% of votes0.5% of seats
  • Agrarian Party0.4% of votes0.2% of seats
  • Sardinian Action Party0.2% of votes0.2% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 9.3 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 2.9 by votes and 2.9 by seats; Christian Democracy led Italian Communist Party by 17.5 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of