electionstracker

Italy 1976 parliamentary election

What was the result of the 1976 parliamentary election in Italy?

Christian Democracy won 262 of 630 seats with 38.7% of the vote. 93.4% 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 262 of 630 seats with 38.7% of the vote; 93.4% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 0.2 points on 1972.

  • Christian Democracy 262 −4 seats 38.7% 0.0 points
  • Italian Communist Party 228 +49 seats 34.4% +7.2 points
  • Italian Socialist Party 57 −4 seats 9.6% 0.0 points
  • Italian Social Movement 35 −21 seats 6.1% −2.6 points
  • Italian Democratic Socialist Party 15 −14 seats 3.4% −1.7 points
  • Italian Republican Party 14 −1 seat 3.1% +0.2 points
  • Proletarian Democracy 6 1.5%
  • Italian Liberal Party 5 −15 seats 1.3% −2.6 points
  • Radical Party 4 1.1%
  • South Tyrolean People's Party 3 0 seats 0.5% 0.0 points
  • 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 1972 parliamentary election, party by party.

316 of 630 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 38.7%

    Share of the vote won by Christian Democracy

    Christian Democracy won 262 of 630 seats. A majority needs 316.

  2. +49 seats

    Seats gained by Italian Communist Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1972. Italian Social Movement lost 21 seats.

  3. 93.4%

    Voter turnout

    Up 0.2 points on 1972.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Christian Democracy262−438.70.014,209,519
Italian Communist Party228+4934.4+7.212,616,650
Italian Socialist Party57−49.60.03,540,309
Italian Social Movement35−216.1−2.62,238,339
Italian Democratic Socialist Party15−143.4−1.71,239,492
Italian Republican Party14−13.1+0.21,135,546
Proletarian Democracywith Proletarian Unity Party61.5557,025
Italian Liberal Party5−151.3−2.6480,122
Radical Party41.1394,439
South Tyrolean People's Party300.50.0184,375
Other parties (seats only)10.126,748
Largest party without seats00.124,091

± is the change against the Italy 1972 parliamentary election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Christian Democracy 14,209,519
  • Italian Communist Party 12,616,650
  • Italian Socialist Party 3,540,309
  • Italian Social Movement 2,238,339
  • Italian Democratic Socialist Party 1,239,492
  • Italian Republican Party 1,135,546
  • Proletarian Democracy 557,025
  • Italian Liberal Party 480,122
  • Radical Party 394,439
  • South Tyrolean People's Party 184,375
  • Other parties (seats only) 26,748
  • Largest party without seats 24,091

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?

93.4% of the 40,426,658 registered voters cast a ballot (37,755,083 ballots), up 0.2 points on 1972. 36,709,578 of them were valid votes. The highest turnout since 1958 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Christian Democracy38.7% of votes41.6% of seats
  • Italian Communist Party34.4% of votes36.2% of seats
  • Italian Socialist Party9.6% of votes9.0% of seats
  • Italian Social Movement6.1% of votes5.6% of seats
  • Italian Democratic Socialist Party3.4% of votes2.4% of seats
  • Italian Republican Party3.1% of votes2.2% of seats
  • Proletarian Democracy1.5% of votes1.0% of seats
  • Italian Liberal Party1.3% of votes0.8% of seats
  • Radical Party1.1% of votes0.6% of seats
  • South Tyrolean People's Party0.5% of votes0.5% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 2.7 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.5 by votes and 3.2 by seats; Christian Democracy led Italian Communist Party by 4.3 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of