electionstracker

Italy 1979 parliamentary election

What was the result of the 1979 parliamentary election in Italy?

Christian Democracy won 262 of 630 seats with 38.3% of the vote. 90.6% 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 38.3% of the vote; 90.6% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 2.8 points on 1976.

  • Christian Democracy 262 0 seats 38.3% −0.4 points
  • Italian Communist Party 201 −27 seats 30.4% −4.0 points
  • Italian Socialist Party 62 +5 seats 9.8% +0.2 points
  • Italian Social Movement 30 −5 seats 5.3% −0.8 points
  • Italian Democratic Socialist Party 20 +5 seats 3.8% +0.4 points
  • Radical Party 18 +14 seats 3.5% +2.4 points
  • Italian Republican Party 16 +2 seats 3.0% −0.1 points
  • Italian Liberal Party 9 +4 seats 1.9% +0.6 points
  • Proletarian Unity Party 6 1.4%
  • South Tyrolean People's Party 4 +1 seat 0.6% +0.1 points
  • List for Trieste 1 0.2%
  • Valdostan Union 1 0.1%
  • 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 1976 parliamentary election, party by party.

316 of 630 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 38.3%

    Share of the vote won by Christian Democracy

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

  2. +14 seats

    Seats gained by Radical Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1976. Italian Communist Party lost 27 seats.

  3. 90.6%

    Voter turnout

    Down 2.8 points on 1976.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Christian Democracy262038.3−0.414,046,291
Italian Communist Party201−2730.4−4.011,139,231
Italian Socialist Party62+59.8+0.23,596,802
Italian Social Movement30−55.3−0.81,930,639
Italian Democratic Socialist Party20+53.8+0.41,407,535
Radical Party18+143.5+2.41,264,870
Italian Republican Party16+23.0−0.11,110,209
Italian Liberal Party9+41.9+0.6712,646
Proletarian Unity Party61.4502,247
Largest party without seats000.8+0.7294,462
South Tyrolean People's Party4+10.6+0.1204,899
List for Trieste10.265,505
Valdostan Union10.133,250

± is the change against the Italy 1976 parliamentary election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Christian Democracy 14,046,291
  • Italian Communist Party 11,139,231
  • Italian Socialist Party 3,596,802
  • Italian Social Movement 1,930,639
  • Italian Democratic Socialist Party 1,407,535
  • Radical Party 1,264,870
  • Italian Republican Party 1,110,209
  • Italian Liberal Party 712,646
  • Proletarian Unity Party 502,247
  • Largest party without seats 294,462
  • South Tyrolean People's Party 204,899
  • List for Trieste 65,505
  • Valdostan Union 33,250

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.

How many people voted?

90.6% of the 42,203,354 registered voters cast a ballot (38,242,918 ballots), down 2.8 points on 1976. 36,671,309 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1946 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Christian Democracy38.3% of votes41.6% of seats
  • Italian Communist Party30.4% of votes31.9% of seats
  • Italian Socialist Party9.8% of votes9.8% of seats
  • Italian Social Movement5.3% of votes4.8% of seats
  • Italian Democratic Socialist Party3.8% of votes3.2% of seats
  • Radical Party3.5% of votes2.9% of seats
  • Italian Republican Party3.0% of votes2.5% of seats
  • Italian Liberal Party1.9% of votes1.4% of seats
  • Proletarian Unity Party1.4% of votes1.0% of seats
  • South Tyrolean People's Party0.6% of votes0.6% of seats
  • List for Trieste0.2% of votes0.2% of seats
  • Valdostan Union0.1% of votes0.2% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 2.8 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.9 by votes and 3.5 by seats; Christian Democracy led Italian Communist Party by 7.9 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of