Elections in Veneto - Electoral History

Electoral History

Veneto has always been deeply Catholic, but was also an early stronghold of the Radical Party and the Italian Socialist Party. In 1919, in the first election with male universal suffrage, the Catholic Italian People's Party won 42.6% of the vote and the Italian Socialist Party 36.2%. After World War II, Veneto was a stronghold of Christian Democracy, which was by far the largest party, successively won all the elections from 1946 to 1992 and continuously held the helm of the Regional Government from its establishment in 1970 to 1993. In 1994 the party was disbanded and its main successor, the new Italian People's Party, was much weaker.

In the 1980s Veneto saw the rise of Venetian nationalism and Liga Veneta, a regionalist party which was a founding member of Lega Nord in 1991. Liga Veneta almost replaced Christian Democracy in its heartlands, but was not able to gain regional power. In fact, since 1995, Christian Democracy's hegemony was replaced by that of the centre-right Pole/House of Freedoms coalition and especially Forza Italia, whose regional leader Giancarlo Galan was President of the Region for 15 years. After a decline in term of votes, in 2010 Liga Veneta gained control of the Regional Government with Luca Zaia as President and the support of The People of Freedom, a broad centre-right party resulted from the merger of Forza Italia and National Alliance.

The provincial breakdown of selected election results is shown in the tables below.

1946 general election

The 1946 general election was the first after the return of democracy. Christian Democracy (DC) was by far the largest party (49.5%) and was especially strong in the provinces of Vicenza (61.1%), Padua (55.7%) and Treviso (53.5%). The Italian Socialist Party (PSI) came second (26.7%) and was stronger in the provinces of Rovigo (35.7%), Verona (33.3%) and Belluno (28.7%). The Italian Communist Party (PCI) was a distant third (13.6%), but came second in Rovigo (28.5%), where the parties of the left gained a large majority (56.5%). Rovigo, the southernmost province, was influenced by nearby "red" Emilia-Romagna.

Province	DC	PSI	PCI
Verona	48.8	33.3	10.5
Vicenza	61.1	24.1	8.1
Padua	55.7	23.2	12.8
Treviso	53.5	21.1	8.5
Belluno	51.7	28.7	10.1
Venice	40.3	26.2	21.1
Rovigo	28.0	35.7	28.5
Veneto	49.5	26.7	13.6

1948 general election

The 1948 general election was a triumph for DC, which won a thumping 60.5% throughout Veneto. The party did better in its traditional strongholds, Vicenza (71.8%), Padua (65.4%) and Treviso (64.9%). The PSI and the PCI, which formed a joint list named Popular Democratic Front (FDP), won just 23.9% of the vote. Apart from Rovigo, where the FDP gained 48.2%, many Socialist votes went to DC and the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI), an outfit formed by those Socialists who had been opposed to the alliance with the Communists. The PSDI garnered 10.1% of the vote at the regional level and was stronger in Belluno (15.9%), Treviso (12.6%) and Verona (10.1%).

Province	DC	PSDI	FDP
Verona	62.4	10.1	22.3
Vicenza	71.8	9.0	13.9
Padua	65.4	7.6	21.9
Treviso	64.9	12.6	15.2
Belluno	61.1	15.9	15.7
Venice	50.6	9.8	34.4
Rovigo	38.4	9.6	48.2
Veneto	60.5	10.1	23.9

1953 general election

In the 1953 general election DC lost some ground, however gaining a convincing 53.4% of the vote (62.2% in Vicenza, 59.9% in Treviso and 59.6% in Padua). The PSI and the PCI ran separate lists, gaining 14.6 and 14.2% of the vote. Veneto was thus one of the few regions of Italy where the Socialists were stronger than the PCI, even without counting the PSDI (5.6%). The PSI got its best results in the provinces of Venice (21.6%), Rovigo (19.8%) and Verona (18.2%), but not in the traditional Socialist stronghold of Belluno, where it was passed by the PSDI (12.3 against 11.0%). The PCI was stronger in Rovigo (28.2%) and Venice (19.7%).

Province	DC	PSDI	PSI	PCI
Verona	53.4	4.7	18.2	10.8
Vicenza	62.2	4.4	9.2	9.4
Padua	59.6	4.0	11.1	14.2
Treviso	59.9	8.0	11.9	8.6
Belluno	53.7	12.3	11.3	11.6
Venice	43.2	6.0	21.6	19.7
Rovigo	39.6	4.6	19.8	28.2
Veneto	53.4	5.6	14.6	14.2

1970 regional election

Election results were quite stable for four decades. In the 1970 regional election, the first after the establishment of Veneto as a Region, DC was by far the largest party with 51.8%. As usual, its strongholds included the provinces of Vicenza (64.2%), Padua (56.3%) and Treviso (56.0%). Up to that time the PCI had passed the PSI as second largest party: in 1970 the former garnered 16.8%, the second 10.4% and the PSDI 7.6%. Rovigo was the most left-wing province (the sum of PCI and PSI was 42.3%), followed by Venice (39.2%), and Belluno the most Socialist one (the sum of PSDI and PSI was 27.9%), followed by Treviso (20.6%).

Province	DC	PSDI	PSI	PCI
Verona	52.7	7.4	11.7	14.0
Vicenza	64.2	6.4	8.4	9.1
Padua	56.3	6.3	7.2	16.3
Treviso	56.0	10.0	10.6	11.3
Belluno	46.9	13.9	14.0	13.0
Venice	38.4	6.7	12.6	26.6
Rovigo	41.0	6.9	10.5	31.8
Veneto	51.8	7.6	10.4	16.8

1990 regional election

Since 1980 DC experienced a steady decline in term of votes, largely due to the rise of Liga Veneta (LV) and other Venetist parties. In the 1990 regional election DC was still the largest party of Veneto (42.4%), but suffered the competition of LV in its heartlands. Venetist parties were fairly strong in Vicenza (11.4%) and Verona (10.8%), while the PSI and the PCI retained their strongholds (Belluno with 23.8% and Rovigo with 29.0%, respectively). Both Rovigo and Venice had PCI–PSI majorities.

Province	DC	LV*	PSI	PCI
Verona	44.3	10.8	14.2	11.5
Vicenza	49.1	11.4	10.1	8.6
Padua	46.1	6.4	10.7	16.3
Treviso	44.5	7.8	14.1	12.1
Belluno	39.3	7.0	23.8	13.1
Venice	31.7	4.9	15.9	24.2
Rovigo	35.2	3.3	15.5	29.0
Veneto	42.3	7.8	13.7	15.5

1992 general election

The 1992 general election was a realigning one in Italy, due to the rise of Lega Nord, a federation of northern regionalist parties of which LV was a founding member. The realignment was especially visible in Veneto, where DC, though still being the largest party, lost almost a third of its voters between 1990 and 1992, stopping at 31.5%. LV gained ground in the Pedemontana, that is to say the provinces at the feet of the mountains, most of which had long been Christian Democratic heartlands: 21.5% in Treviso, 20.6% in Verona and 19.5% in Vicenza. In Belluno LV became the largest party with 27.8%, by reducing the vote of DC and halving that of the PSI. The total score of Venetist parties was 31.8% in Vicenza, 29.3% in Treviso, 27.2% in Verona and 22.9% in Padua. The PDS got just 9.9% regionally, fairly less than the PCI in 1990.

Province	DC	LV	Ven.	PSI	PDS
Verona	34.0	20.6	6.6	11.1	7.1
Vicenza	34.3	19.5	12.3	7.9	5.6
Padua	34.5	14.8	8.1	9.3	10.5
Treviso	32.9	21.5	7.8	9.7	7.5
Belluno	27.4	27.8	-	14.3	8.0
Venice	23.8	13.4	6.6	13.0	16.2
Rovigo	29.5	8.5	6.1	14.1	18.1
Veneto	31.5	17.8	7.7	10.6	9.9

1994 general election

The 1994 general election marked a full-scale realignment in Venetian electoral politics. In 1993–1994 the Tangentopoli scandals led to the disappearance of the main government parties, including DC and the PSI, while the PCI was transformed into the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS). The DC successor, the Italian People's Party (PPI), was not able to retain the votes of its predecessor, which were largely absorbed by LV and Forza Italia, the new party launched by entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi.

In a highly fragmented party system, FI came first with 23.6%, LV second with 21.6% and the PPI (along with Patto Segni, a small centrist ally) third with 20.2%. Curiously enough FI was stronger in a centre-left province, Venice (26.7%), while LV did better in Belluno (32.4%) and in formerly Christian Democratic heartlands, Treviso (28.5%) and Vicenza (28.1%). In Padua the PPI and Patto Segni got 23.7% together, slightly behind FI (24.1%), making it the most Christian-democratic province of Veneto. The PCI slightly improved its performance to 12.1%. Under the new voting system, the FI–LV coalition won 37 seats out of 50 for the Chamber (36 out of 37 in single-seat districts).

Province	AN	FI	LV	PPI*	PDS
Verona	10.2	23.6	20.7	22.4	9.1
Vicenza	6.4	21.6	28.1	23.6	7.2
Padua	8.2	24.1	17.2	23.7	12.7
Treviso	6.8	22.2	28.5	18.3	9.7
Belluno	7.1	21.6	32.4	15.7	9.3
Venice	6.8	26.7	15.4	14.4	19.2
Rovigo	8.6	23.2	10.4	20.6	20.9
Veneto	7.7	23.6	21.6	20.2	12.1

1996 general election

The 1996 general election saw a huge success of LV, which was by far the largest party with 29.2%. As usual, the party was especially strong in the mountains and the Pedemontana: Belluno (41.4%), Treviso (41.4%), Vicenza (36.1%) and Verona (25.7%). FI was a distant second with 17.1%, the PDS third with 11.8%, National Alliance (AN) fourth with 11.7% and the PPI fifth with 8.1%. The PDS was the largest party in Rovigo (21.3%), while AN proved particularly strong in Verona (14.7%), Padua (13.7%) and Rovigo (13.7%). Padua was the province where the PPI scored better (9.6%).

Province	AN	FI	LV	PPI	PDS
Verona	14.7	17.3	25.7	8.7	9.8
Vicenza	10.0	14.1	36.1	9.0	7.3
Padua	13.7	16.5	23.6	9.6	12.4
Treviso	9.1	16.7	41.9	7.5	8.7
Belluno	7.9	18.9	41.4	6.0	7.8
Venice	10.9	19.8	22.2	6.2	18.3
Rovigo	13.7	17.6	13.2	8.2	21.3
Veneto	11.7	17.1	29.2	8.1	11.8

2000 regional election

The 2000 regional election was the heyday for FI, which replaced LV as Veneto's largest party with 30.4% and did particularly well in Vicenza (31.8%), Belluno (31.7%) and Verona (31.4%). The LV got a poor 12.0%, due to some damaging splits and a big swing of Venetist votes to FI. A centrist federation, including the PPI, gained 13.6%, the Democrats of the Left (DS) 12.3%, AN 9.8% and the Christian democrats (CDU and CCD) 6.8%.

Province	AN	FI	CDU*	LV	IpV	DS
Verona	11.6	31.4	8.7	12.2	12.5	9.6
Vicenza	9.4	31.8	6.2	15.5	14.8	8.4
Padua	10.2	30.9	8.8	8.6	14.0	13.8
Treviso	8.7	27.9	6.2	19.5	15.0	8.7
Belluno	7.9	31.7	-	11.6	21.2	10.3
Venice	8.7	30.2	5.7	7.1	11.4	18.8
Rovigo	12.4	27.8	6.1	4.7	9.3	21.1
Veneto	9.8	30.4	6.8	12.0	13.6	12.3

2005 regional election

The 2005 regional election saw a comeback of Venetist parties: LV won 14.7% of the vote, while brand new North-East Project got 5.5%. Both were especially strong in Treviso, which proved again to be a Venetist stronghold: 23.1 and 15.6%, respectively. FI was reduced to 22.7% and was no longer Veneto's largest party, as it was passed by The Olive Tree (including the DS and the successor of the PPI, DL) and its allies, which got 29.0% regionally. AN gained 8.1% and the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC), resulted from the merger of CDU and CCD, 6.4%. Padua was again the province were post-DC parties did better: FI 25.3% and UDC 9.2%.

Province	AN	FI	LV	PNE	UDC	Uli.*
Verona	10.7	23.1	16.9	0.8	8.3	27.2
Vicenza	8.7	23.7	17.9	4.3	6.9	26.8
Padua	7.9	25.3	10.3	3.6	9.2	30.9
Treviso	4.9	18.3	23.1	15.6	3.8	24.6
Belluno	5.9	19.4	11.8	7.2	3.8	36.7
Venice	7.0	24.0	8.4	4.2	4.6	30.7
Rovigo	12.5	22.1	6.1	1.2	5.2	37.6
Veneto	8.1	22.7	14.7	5.5	6.4	29.0

2010 regional election

The 2010 regional election concluded a realignment started with the 2008 general election, under which LV returned to be Veneto's largest party. With 35.2% of the votes it was also the first party in two decades to gain more than 30%. The party got a thumping 48.5% in Treviso, 38.1% in Vicenza, 36.1% in Verona, 32.8% in Belluno and 31.4% in Padua. In all these five provinces LV was by far the largest party. The People of Freedom (PdL), result of the merger of FI with AN, came second with 24.7% and the Democratic Party (PD), result of the merger of the DS with DL, third with 20.3%. The PdL was the largest party in Rovigo (32.9%), while the PD came first in Venice (26.7%).

Province	PdL	LV	PD
Verona	27.6	36.1	16.9
Vicenza	25.3	38.1	17.8
Padua	25.7	31.4	20.4
Treviso	15.6	48.5	18.2
Belluno	26.6	32.8	23.5
Venice	26.3	26.1	26.7
Rovigo	32.9	22.7	25.4
Veneto	24.7	35.2	20.3