The Italian regional elections of 1985 were held on 12 and 13 May. The fifteen ordinary regions, created in 1970, elected their fourth assemblies.

Electoral system

The pure party-list proportional representation had traditionally become the electoral system of Italy, and it was adopted for the regional vote too. Each Italian province corresponded to a constituency electing a group of candidates. At constituency level, seats were divided between open lists using the largest remainder method with

Droop quota The Droop quota is the quota most commonly used in elections held under the single transferable vote (STV) system. It is also sometimes used in elections held under the largest remainder method of party-list proportional representation (list PR). ...

. Remaining votes and seats were transferred at regional level, where they were divided using the

Hare quota The Hare quota (also known as the simple quota) is a formula used under some forms of proportional representation. In these voting systems the quota is the number of votes that guarantees a candidate, or a party in some cases, captures a seat. Th ...

, and automatically distributed to best losers into the local lists.

Results summary

The most relevant result of these elections was the switch of Piedmont, which returned to the Christian Democracy after ten year of leftist administration. If the vote weakened both two major parties, the DC could compensate its loss with the reinforcement of its national allies, while the Communists became increasingly isolated, with Craxi's Socialists looking definitely at their right. Twelve Regional Councils elected a centrist administration, with the PSI rewarded by four presidencies, while the PCI was confined to its traditional strongholds: Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Umbria. The results strengthened Craxi's government after the alarming results of the 1984 European election, and they underlined the decline of the Communist party into a progressively post-industrial Italy.

Results by region

1985 Abruzzo regional election The Abruzzo regional election of 1985 took place on 12 May 1985. Events Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Ca ...

* 1985 Apulian regional election * 1985 Basilicata regional election *

1985 Calabrian regional election The 1985 Calabrian regional election took place on 12 May 1985. Events Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy was by far the largest party, despite a moderate decline in term of votes, while the Italian Socialist Party made further ga ...

1985 Campania regional election The Campania regional election of 1985 took place on 12 May 1985. Events Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy was by far the largest party, while the Italian Communist Party came distantly second. After the election Antonio Fantini, ...

1985 Emilia-Romagna regional election The Emilia-Romagna regional election of 1985 took place on 12 May 1985. The Italian Communist Party was by far the largest party, with almost twice the votes of Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy. After the election Lanfranco Turci ...

1985 Lazio regional election The Lazio regional election of 1985 took place on 12 May 1985. Events Christian Democracy resulted the largest party, ahead of the Italian Communist Party. After the election Sebastiano Montali, a Socialist Socialism is a left-wing eco ...

1985 Ligurian regional election The Ligurian regional election of 1985 took place on 12 May 1985. Events The Italian Communist Party was again the largest party, ahead of Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideo ...

* 1985 Lombard regional election * 1985 Marche regional election *

1985 Molise regional election The Molise regional election of 1985 took place on 12 May 1985. Events Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Cath ...

1985 Piedmontese regional election The 1985 Piedmontese regional election took place on 12 May 1985. Events In the Regional Council of Piedmont, Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy resulted narrowly ahead of the Italian Communist Party, which had been ousted from ...

1985 Tuscan regional election Tuscan regional election of 1985 took place on 12 May 1985. Electoral law Election was held under proportional representation with provincial constituencies where the largest remainder method with a Droop quota was used. To ensure more proportio ...

1985 Umbrian regional election The Umbrian regional election of 1985 took place on 12 May 1985. Events The Italian Communist Party was by far the largest party. After the election, Germano Marri, the incumbent Communist President, continued to govern the Region at the head ...

1985 Venetian regional election The Venetian regional election of 1985 took place on 12 May 1985. Events Christian Democracy was by far the largest party, but for the first time since 1970 it was not able to secure an outright majority. The Venetian League, which would have ...

External links

* {{Elections in Italy 1985 elections in Italy Elections in Italian regions May 1985 events in Europe