April 18, 1948 is a fundamental date for the Italian Republic, as it was the day when the first elections were held to renew the two branches of Parliament, just 108 days after the Constitution came into force.

It was a turning point that marked the concrete beginning of democratic life in our country.

Citizens went to the polls to decide the future of their government: men and women finally gave voice to their ideas freely, exercising a right that is both an achievement and a responsibility.

Remembering this day is not something to take for granted. On the contrary, it is essential to reflect on the importance of the right to vote, on democracy, and on civic participation—both a right and a duty.

It is in this context that the first truly decisive elections for the Italian Republic took place.

The general elections of April 18, 1948 represent the first real electoral test of Republican Italy after the Constitution came into force. They took place in an international context shaped by the beginning of the Cold War, which opposed the Western bloc led by the United States to the Eastern bloc led by the Soviet Union.

In these elections, two main political forces faced each other: on one side, the Christian Democracy party, led by Alcide De Gasperi; on the other, the Popular Democratic Front, formed by the Italian Communist Party and the Italian Socialist Party. The electoral campaign was particularly intense and strongly ideological, as the vote was seen as a choice about Italy’s future international alignment.

The result was a clear victory for Christian Democracy, which obtained a relative majority with around 48% of the vote, while the Popular Democratic Front remained significantly behind. This outcome allowed De Gasperi to consolidate a stable government and to firmly align Italy with the Western bloc.

The 1948 elections therefore hold fundamental historical importance: not only did they mark the effective beginning of Republican democracy, but they also determined Italy’s international position during the Cold War, encouraging integration with Western countries and paving the way for the country’s political and economic development.

However, to fully understand this crucial moment in history, it is also necessary to consider the legal and institutional framework that made it legitimate and stable.

From a more strictly constitutional law perspective, the institutional referendum represents a particularly interesting case, especially in how the disputes related to it were handled.

While awaiting the election of the Constituent Assembly, in the extremely difficult political climate of the immediate post-war period, the Court of Cassation proved capable of responding effectively to the gravity of the situation. Even in a transitional phase, within a politically fragile legal system, the Court asserted - and was recognized as having - the authority needed to prevent an institutional crisis that could have led to very serious consequences.

In fact, immediately after the official proclamation of the referendum results by the United Sections of the Supreme Court, pursuant to Legislative Decree no. 98 of 1946, on June 10, the Court itself was faced with a large number of appeals.

These were brought at the same time by a group of professors from the University of Padua, by local sections of the monarchist party, and, most notably, by Vincenzo Selvaggi of the Common Man’s Front. They aimed to have the referendum declared invalid based on Article 2 of the decree, which referred to the “majority of voters,” whereas the Court had declared the result based on valid votes only, without considering blank and invalid ballots.

In truth, the issue had limited political impact, since even if all blank and invalid ballots had been counted in favor of the monarchy, the result would not have changed. For this reason, in its decision of June 18 - delayed in part due to logistical difficulties in collecting polling station records - the Court confirmed its previous position.

In this way, the will expressed at the polls was concretely transformed into a stable institutional order, completing the birth of Italian democracy.