Italian divorce referendum, 1974
| Referendum on the Abrogation of the Divorce Law 12 May 1974 |
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| Do you want the Law of 1 December 1970, No. 898, on the regulation of cases of dissolution of marriage, to be abrogated? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Yes
NoA referendum on the divorce law was held in Italy on 12 May 1974. Voters were asked whether they wanted to repeal a government law passed three years earlier allowing divorce for the first time in modern Italian history. Those voting "yes" wanted to outlaw divorce as had been the case before the law came into effect, and those voting "no" wanted to retain the law and their newly gained right to divorce. The referendum was defeated by margin of 59.26% to 40.74% on a voter turnout of 87.72% out of 37 million eligible voters, thus allowing the divorce laws to remain in force.
This vote was the first of its kind in the country, being the first regular legislative referendum held by the Italian Republic 27 years after the Italian constitution, which allowed such referendums, was approved. It was considered a major victory for the civil rights and anti-clericalism movements, and for the Italian Radical Party.
Signatures and petitions for the referendum were collected by Christian groups led by Gabrio Lombardo with very strong support from the Catholic church.
The Christian Democrats and the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement intensely campaigned for a yes vote to abolish the law and make divorce illegal again. Their main themes were the safeguarding of the traditional nuclear family model and the Roman Catechism.
Most left-wing political forces, the main ones being the Italian Socialist Party and the Italian Communist Party, supported the no faction.
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