The election took place just six days after the death of Italian Communist Party (PCI) leader Enrico Berlinguer; this fact greatly influenced the vote, producing a historic result.

At national level, seats were divided between party lists using the largest remainder method with Hare quota.

All seats gained by each party were automatically distributed to their local open lists and their most voted candidates.

The public emotion caused by Berlinguer's tragic death resulted in an extraordinary strength for the PCI;[1] for the first time in Western Europe since the 1956 French legislative election and the first time ever in Italian history, a Communist party received a plurality by a democratic vote.

The Italian Socialist Party of Prime Minister Bettino Craxi had maintained its vote, and its major ally, the defeated Christian Democracy, did not want to take any chances of a political crisis that could lead to dangerous general election.