Elections in Naples

Democratic elections have been held in Naples, Italy, since the collapse of Benito Mussolini's fascist regime. Today, all residents of Naples who are at least 18 years old and hold an EU citizenship are eligible to vote for the mayor and the 48 members of the city council.^[1] They also vote for the president and the 30 or 40 members of the municipal council in which they reside.^{[citation needed]}

Since 1993, Italian mayors are elected directly. In the cities with a population higher than 15,000, voters can choose for a candidate for mayor and/or for a party or civic list that is not necessarily linked to the same mayor-candidate (panachage or voto disgiunto). If no candidate receives an absolute majority, the top two candidates go to a runoff election (ballottaggio) after two weeks. The city council and municipal council elections are based on a proportional system with preferences: for each list, the candidates with the most preferences are elected proportionally to the seats assigned to the list, with the lists supporting the elected mayor being granted around 60% of the total seats to guarantee stability.

Elections are normally scheduled every five years, usually between 15 April and 15 June. The last election was held in June 2016.

The first democratic election after the fall of fascism took place on 10 November 1946.

After the Liberation of Naples in August 1943, Independent lawyer Giuseppe Solimene had been appointed as Provisional Mayor by the National Liberation Committee under approval of the United Nations military government. Between 1943 and 1946 the office had been filled by politicians from centre-left minor parties such as the liberal-socialist Action Party and the social-democratic Labour Democratic Party.

When the authority of the Italian government was restored in 1946, local elections in the whole country were called. Proportional representation and the Westminster system were the principles chosen for the restoration of municipal democracy in Italy.

For the first time, the inhabitants of the city, including men and women, without distinction, could vote for their representatives in the city council. The conservative and right-wing parties, such as the Monarchist National Party and Common Man's Front, received the combined majority of the votes and extensive representation in the city council, while the leftist alliance Popular Democratic Bloc, an alliance between the Communists, Socialists and centre-left minor parties, received just the 31% of the votes.^[2] However, the turnout of the election remains noted as extremely low.

Parties			Votes	%	Seats
	Popular Democratic Bloc[a]		73,617	31.2	25
	Common Man's Front	UQ	46,851	19.8	16
	Monarchist National Party	PNM	44,484	18.8	15
	Italian Liberal Party	PLI	35,323	15.0	12
	Christian Democracy	DC	32,169	13.6	11
	National Reconstruction Union	URN	3,827	1.6	1
Total			236,271	100.0	80

Sunday 10 November 1946. Sources: La Stampa , 1946–1955 Local Elections (Italian), Electoral Archives of Naples (Italian)

Notes

The incumbent city council's mandate expired in November 1951; however, a new election was postponed to next spring. During the maintenance of the previous council, the national political situation had deeply changed during the previous six years. In 1951, Alcide De Gasperi's government changed the local electoral law to a block voting system, to ensure the leadership of its local administrations. Two thirds of the seats would be assigned to the winning coalition, abolishing proportional representation.

The election took place on 25 May 1952, resulting in the unexpected defeat of the Centrist Coalition, with a right-wing coalition formed by monarchists and neo-fascists obtaining the majority of votes. The monarchist and former fascist businessman Achille Lauro, who had received almost 140,000 preference votes, higher than any number of votes received by any candidate in a local election up to that point, was elected mayor on 9 July and formed a far-right executive composed by members of PNM and MSI.^[3]

Coalitions and parties	Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-	Seats by party — Seats by coalition
Rightist Coalition	213,384	42.6		53
Monarchist National Party	147,814	29.5	10.7	37	22
Italian Social Movement	59,117	11.8	11.8	15	15
National Monarchist Front	6,453	1.3	1.3	1	1
Centrist Coalition	149,841	29.8		14
Christian Democracy	119,679	23.8	10.2	11
Italian Liberal Party	20,531	4.1	10.9	2	10
Italian Democratic Socialist Party	7,648	1.5	1.5	1	1
Italian Republican Party	1,983	0.4		0
Leftist Coalition	135,273	27.0		13
Italian Communist Party	107,916	21.5		11
Italian Socialist Party	15,075	3.0		1
Pine List (Leftist Independents)	12,282	2.5	2.5	1	1
Others	2,988	0.6	0.6	0
Total	501,426	100.0		80

Sunday 25 May 1952. Sources: La Stampa , 1946–1955 Local Elections (Italian), Electoral Archives of Naples (Italian)

The occurrence of the 1956 election was anticipated by the effect of a new law which ordered a new legislature for a term of 4 years. A varying electoral system was additionally implemented; after Alcide De Gasperi's government had retired in 1953, the 1951 electoral law, based on a block voting system was restored.

In June 1953 the incumbent mayor Achille Lauro ran both as deputy and senator in the national election. Being elected in both the Chamber and the Senate, and despite having received more than 180,000 preference votes in the election for the Chamber of Deputies, he opted to remain in the Senate.^[3] However, in 1954, his election was invalidated, since he could not hold the offices of mayor and senator at the same time.

Due to his expulsion from the Senate and to his increasing popularity across Naples, in June 1954 Lauro founded a new monarchist party (People's Monarchist Party, PMP), breaking with the PNM's leader Alfredo Covelli. The new PMP party characterized itself for being closer to Christian Democracy, the support of which was necessary for Lauro to expand and enforce his political strength across the city.^[4]

The election, which took place on 27 May 1956, resulted in a landslide victory for Lauro's new monarchist party, with the Mayor himself obtaining more than 260,000 preference votes.

In 1958, after an inquiry sponsored by the national government, several administrative irregularities emerged and Lauro was ousted from the office, after the Zoli Cabinet nominated a special commissioner to rule the city.^[3]

Parties			Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	People's Monarchist Party	PMP	276,599	51.2	51.2	44	44
	Italian Communist Party	PCI	102,307	19.1	2.4	16	5
	Christian Democracy	DC	87,630	16.4	7.4	11	2
	Italian Socialist Party	PSI	23,765	4.4	1.3	3	2
	Italian Social Movement	MSI	16,936	3.2	8.6	2	13
	Monarchist National Party	PNM	10,306	1.9	27.6	1	36
	Italian Liberal Party	PLI	9,042	1.7	2.4	1	1
	Italian Democratic Socialist Party	PSDI	4,375	0.8	0.7	0	1
	Others		3,405	0.6		0
Total			534,365	100.0		80

Sunday 27 May 1956. Source: La Stampa , Electoral Archives of Naples (Italian)

In 1959 the two main monarchist parties (the PMP and PNM) merged into the new Italian Democratic Party, later the Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity (PDIUM). Despite the political scandal that led to a long period of suspension of the democratic institutions of the city, the election, which occurred upon 6 November 1950, resulted in a new political success for the monarchists; their leader, Achille Lauro, was again elected mayor in January 1961, thanks to the support of the Christian Democracy party. However he was forced to resign after 11 months, due to a political crisis that again led to the suspension of the city council and to a snap election in June 1962.

Parties			Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity	PDIUM	201,522	36.0	36.0	29	29
	Christian Democracy	DC	146,661	26.2	9.8	22	11
	Italian Communist Party	PCI	130,908	23.4	4.3	19	3
	Italian Socialist Party	PSI	34,152	6.1	1.7	5	2
	Italian Social Movement	MSI	23,226	4.1	0.9	3	1
	Italian Liberal Party	PLI	11,854	2.1	0.4	1
	Italian Democratic Socialist Party	PSDI	11,181	2.0	1.2	1	1
	Others		907	0.2	0.4	0
Total			560,441	100.0		80

Sunday 6 November 1960. Source: La Stampa , Electoral Archives of Naples (Italian)

The snap election, which took place on 10 June 1962, resulted within PDIUM obtaining the largest number of votes, despite considerable losses. For the first time the Christian Democracy party emerged as a possible challenger for Lauro's political dominance. After the election, a new alliance between PDIUM and DC was formed. However, in 1964 another political crisis between the two coalition partners occurred and another snap election was called.

Parties			Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity	PDIUM	176,780	31.0	5.0	25	4
	Christian Democracy	DC	158,828	27.8	1.6	23	1
	Italian Communist Party	PCI	119,594	20.9	2.5	17	2
	Italian Socialist Party	PSI	47,841	8.4	2.3	7	2
	Italian Social Movement	MSI	31,715	5.5	1.4	4	1
	Italian Democratic Socialist Party	PSDI	18,258	3.2	1.2	2	1
	Italian Liberal Party	PLI	15,421	2.7	0.6	2	1
	Others		2,571	0.5	0.3	0
Total			571,008	100.0		80

Sunday 10 June 1962. Source: La Stampa , Electoral Archives of Naples (Italian)

The snap election took place on 22 November 1964, with the Christian Democracy party becoming the largest party; the monarchists obtained their worst result ever in a local election in Naples during the election. On 27 January 1965, the first Neapolitan centre-left executive was formed and the Christian democrat Ferdinando Clemente di San Luca was elected mayor by an alliance that comprehended DC, PSI and PSDI.

Parties			Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Christian Democracy	DC	200,601	34.7	6.9	29	6
	Italian Communist Party	PCI	142,349	24.6	3.7	20	3
	Italian Social Movement	MSI	59,544	10.3	4.8	8	4
	Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity	PDIUM	48,337	8.7	22.3	7	18
	Italian Liberal Party	PLI	46,307	8.0	5.3	6	4
	Italian Socialist Party	PSI	37,850	6.5	1.9	5	2
	Italian Democratic Socialist Party	PSDI	33,021	5.7	2.5	4	2
	Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity	PSIUP	9,396	1.6	1.6	1	1
	Others		1,073	0.2	0.3	0
Total			578,478	100.0		80

Sunday 22 November 1964. Source: La Stampa , Electoral Archives of Naples (Italian)

The election took place on 7 June 1970; this election, six years after the last, took place simultaneously with the first regional elections of Campania. The centre-left alliance was easily reconfirmed as the major political alliance in the city council.

Parties			Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Christian Democracy	DC	209,153	33.8	0.9	28	1
	Italian Communist Party	PCI	161,547	26.1	1.5	22	2
	Italian Social Movement	MSI	74,720	12.1	1.8	10	2
	Italian Socialist Party	PSI	45,655	7.4	0.9	6	1
	Italian Democratic Socialist Party	PSDI	43,326	7.0	1.3	5	1
	Italian Liberal Party	PLI	28,270	4.6	3.4	3	3
	Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity	PDIUM	23,220	3.8	4.8	3	4
	Italian Republican Party	PRI	16,245	2.6	2.6	2	2
	Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity	PSIUP	11,160	1.8	0.2	1
	Others		4,723	0.8	0.6	0
Total			618,019	100.0		80

Sunday 7 June 1970. Source: La Stampa , Electoral Archives of Naples (Italian)

The election took place on 15 June 1975.

Reflecting the national vote, the Italian Communist Party became, for the first time in history, the largest party within the city council, with 32% of electorate support. This extraordinary result led to the birth of the first red-giunta in the history of the city: a new coalition was formed by the leftist Socialist, Democratic-Socialist and Communist Party, while Maurizio Valenzi (PCI) was elected mayor on 27 September.

A notable fact in the election was the surge of the post-fascist Italian Social Movement.

Parties			Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Italian Communist Party	PCI	228,385	32.3	6.2	27	5
	Christian Democracy	DC	200,507	28.4	5.4	24	4
	Italian Social Movement	MSI	130,992	18.5	6.4	15	5
	Italian Democratic Socialist Party	PSDI	49,019	6.9	0.1	5
	Italian Socialist Party	PSI	48,978	6.9	0.5	4	2
	Italian Republican Party	PRI	21,908	3.1	0.5	2
	Italian Liberal Party	PLI	14,099	2.0	2.6	2	1
	Proletarian Democracy	DP	10,381	1.5	1.5	1	1
	Others		2,746	0.4	0.4	0
Total			707,015	100.0		80

Sunday 15 June 1975. Source: La Stampa , Electoral Archives of Naples (Italian)

The election took place on 8 June 1980 and the Italian Communist Party was confirmed again as the largest party. However, the ruling left-wing coalition was not able to win more seats in the city council and assure a more stable majority. After a political crisis, a snap election was called in 1983.

Parties			Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Italian Communist Party	PCI	223,726	31.7	0.6	27
	Christian Democracy	DC	178,854	25.4	3.0	21	3
	Italian Social Movement	MSI	157,167	22.3	3.8	18	3
	Italian Socialist Party	PSI	54,013	7.7	0.8	5	1
	Italian Democratic Socialist Party	PSDI	45,565	6.5	0.4	4	1
	Italian Republican Party	PRI	20,937	3.0	0.1	2
	Italian Liberal Party	PLI	12,950	1.8	0.2	2
	Proletarian Democracy	DP	7,054	1.0	0.5	1
	Others		5,179	0.8	0.4	0
Total			705,445	100.0		80

Sunday 8 June 1980. Source: La Stampa , Electoral Archives of Naples (Italian)

The snap election took place on 20 November 1983. Despite notable losses, the Italian Communist Party was confirmed again as the largest party. However, the Christian Democracy party managed to form a transitional centre-left coalition with socialists and social-democrats. In November 1984 a Pentapartito coalition was finally formed and the socialist Carlo D'Amato was elected mayor.

Parties			Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Italian Communist Party	PCI	181,745	27.0	4.7	23	4
	Christian Democracy	DC	163,777	24.3	1.1	20	1
	Italian Social Movement	MSI	140,542	20.8	1.5	17	1
	Italian Socialist Party	PSI	70,615	10.5	2.8	9	4
	Italian Democratic Socialist Party	PSDI	44,967	6.6	0.1	5	1
	Italian Republican Party	PRI	33,333	4.9	1.9	4	2
	Italian Liberal Party	PLI	14,818	2.2	0.4	1	1
	Radical Party	PR	8,981	1.3	1.3	1	1
	Proletarian Democracy	DP	6,416	0.9	0.1	0	1
	Others		8,850	1.4	0.6	0
Total			674,044	100.0		80

Sunday 20 November 1983. Source: La Stampa , Electoral Archives of Naples (Italian)

Another snap election took place on 14 June 1987.

Despite a high degree of fragmentation and instability during the previous years, the Pentapartito coalition managed to obtain again the majority of the seats in the city council. Christian Democracy became the largest party.

Parties			Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Christian Democracy	DC	212,082	30.4	6.1	26	6
	Italian Communist Party	PCI	160,362	23.0	4.0	19	4
	Italian Socialist Party	PSI	106,772	15.3	4.8	14	5
	Italian Social Movement	MSI	70,723	10.2	10.6	8	9
	Italian Democratic Socialist Party	PSDI	45,671	6.6		5
	Italian Republican Party	PRI	38,188	5.6	0.7	4
	Radical Party	PR	19,793	2.8	1.5	2	1
	Italian Liberal Party	PLI	18,071	2.6	0.4	1
	Proletarian Democracy	DP	10,130	1.4	0.5	1	1
	Others		15,260	2.1	0.7	0
Total			697,092	100.0		80

Sunday 14 June 1987. Source: La Stampa , Electoral Archives of Naples (Italian)

The election took place on 7 June 1992, resulting within a Christian democracy victory.

Parties			Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Christian Democracy	DC	178,096	29.8	0.6	25	1
	Italian Socialist Party	PSI	116,904	19.5	4.2	16	2
	Democratic Party of the Left	PDS	75,972	12.7	9.3	10	9
	Italian Social Movement	MSI	55,256	9.2	1.0	7	1
	Italian Republican Party	PRI	37,567	6.3	0.7	5	1
	Italian Liberal Party	PLI	36,099	6.3	3.7	5	4
	Italian Democratic Socialist Party	PSDI	35,533	5.9	0.7	5
	Communist Refoundation Party	PRC	24,346	4.1	4.1	3	3
	Federation of the Greens	FdV	15,317	2.6	2.6	2	2
	The Network	LR	11,579	1.9	1.9	1	1
	Pannella List	LP	9,525	1.6	1.6	1	1
	Others		2,016	0.3	1.8	0
Total			598,210	100.0		80

Sunday 7 June 1992. Source: La Stampa , Electoral Archives of Naples (Italian)

The election took place on two rounds, the first on 21 November and the second on 5 December 1993.

Summary of the 1993 Naples city council election results Parties and coalitions Votes % Seats Democratic Party of the Left (Partito Democratico della Sinistra) PDS 92,475 19.76% 20 Communist Refoundation Party (Rifondazione Comunista) PRC 41,453 8.86% 8 Federation of the Greens (Federazione dei Verdi) FdV 18,049 3.86% 3 Socialist Rebirth (Rinascita Socialista) RS 12,563 2.68% 2 The Network (La Rete) LR 9,763 2.09% 2 Others 6,497 1.39% 1 Bassolino coalition (Left-wing) 180,800 38.62% 36 Italian Social Movement (Movimento Sociale Italiano) MSI 145,873 31.16% 13 Christian Democracy (Democrazia Cristiana) DC 46,730 9.98% 6 Italian Socialist Party (Partito Socialista Italiano) PSI 18,371 3.92% 1 Italian Democratic Socialist Party (Partito Socialdemocratico Italiano) PSDI 13,882 2.97% 1 Italian Liberal Party (Partito Liberale Italiano) PLI 6,333 1.35% 0 Caprara coalition (Quadripartito) 85,316 18.23% 8 Naples Alliance (Alleanza Napoli) AN 31,818 6.80% 3 Others 24,295 5.19% 0 Total 468,102 100% 60 Votes cast / turnout 589,311 67.03% Registered voters 879,237 Source: Ministry of the Interior

Candidate Party Coalition First round Second round Votes % Votes % Antonio Bassolino PDS PDS-PRC-RS-FdV-LR 229,649 41.62 300,964 55.65 Alessandra Mussolini MSI 171,315 31.05 239,867 44.35 Massimo Caprara DC DC-PSI-PSDI-PLI 77,643 14.07 Angelo Sabatino Ind 47,648 8.64 Others 25,450 4.61 Eligible voters 879,237 100.00 879,237 100.00 Voted 589,311 67.03 559,696 63.66 Blank or invalid ballots 37,596 18,865 Total valid votes 551,715 540,831

The election took place on 16 November 1997.

Summary of the 1997 Naples city council election results Parties and coalitions Votes % Seats Democratic Party of the Left (Partito Democratico della Sinistra) PDS 164,644 33.28% 22 Italian People's Party (Partito Popolare Italiano) PPI 44,438 8.98% 5 Communist Refoundation Party (Rifondazione Comunista) PRC 31,769 6.42% 4 Italian Renewal (Rinnovamento Italiano) RI 22,765 4.60% 3 The Network (La Rete) LR 18,698 3.78% 2 Others 57,063 11.53% 6 Bassolino coalition (Centre-left) 339,377 68.61% 42 National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale) AN 56,094 11.34% 7 Forza Italia FI 55,144 11.15% 7 Christian Democratic Centre (Centro Cristiano Democratico) CCD 25,480 5.15% 3 Others 9,295 1.88% 1 Novi coalition (Centre-right) 146,013 29.52% 18 Tricolour Flame (Fiamma Tricolore) MS-FT 5,207 1.05% 0 Others 4,058 0.82% 0 Total 494,655 100% 60 Votes cast / turnout 587,285 68.17% Registered voters 861,455 Source: Ministry of the Interior

Candidate Party Coalition First round Votes % Antonio Bassolino PDS The Olive Tree 399,454 72.92 Emiddio Novi FI Pole for Freedoms 138,406 25.26 Others 9,906 1.81 Eligible voters 861,455 100.00 Voted 587,285 68.17 Blank or invalid ballots 39,464 Total valid votes 547,821

The election took place in two rounds: the first on 13 May, the second on 27 May 2001.

The election took place on 28–29 May 2006.

The election took place in two rounds: the first on 15–16 May, the second on 29–30 May 2011.

The election took place in two rounds, the first on 5 June and the second on 19 June 2016.