General elections were held in

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

on 14 November 1920 to elect the sixth term of the

Grand and General Council The Grand and General Council ( it, Consiglio Grande e Generale) is the parliament of San Marino. The council has 60 members elected for a five-year term. History From the fifth century San Marino was ruled by an assembly composed by all t ...

. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1678 It was the country's first

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

, and the first election to use a form of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. The result was a victory for the Sammarinese People's Party, which won 29 of the 60 seats.Nohlen & Stöver, p1690

Electoral system

Following Italy,

adopted a

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...

electoral system on 15 October 1920. The three-class division was eliminated, and councillors' terms limited to four years. Voters had to be citizens of San Marino, male, the head of the family and 24 years old.

Campaign

The Sammarinese People's Party made its debut, after Pope Benedict's abolition of the ''

non expedit (Latin for "It is not expedient") were the words with which the Holy See enjoined upon Italian Catholics the policy of boycott from the polls in parliamentary elections. History The phrase, "it is not expedient," has long been used by the Roman ...

'' had allowed the foundation of its twin, the Italian People's Party. By their part, landowners created a conservative party, the Sammarinese Democratic Union, campaigning for the return to pre-1906 institutions to restore order against strikes and political violence.

Results

Aftermath

The Socialists refused to join the newly elected council, following a revolutionary political strategy. On 11 January 1921, all Socialist seats were declared vacant due to absence and a by-election was held on 10 April, in which ten Christian democrats and eight conservatives were elected.

References

{{Sammarinese elections

General elections in San Marino

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...