Why were the 1924 Italian elections considered fraudulent?

The 1924 Italian elections were considered fraudulent because they were conducted in a climate of pervasive violence and intimidation orchestrated by the Fascists.1

Prior to the election, the electoral law had been manipulated to ensure that a group of parties—specifically the Fascist-dominated "national alliance"—would receive an absolute majority of parliamentary seats if they secured at least 25 percent of the total vote. This system, combined with the systematic use of threats and physical force by Fascist squads against political opponents, allowed the Fascist-led bloc to win 64 percent of the votes and 374 seats.1

The integrity of these elections was a central point of contention; shortly after the vote, Socialist deputy Giacomo Matteotti delivered a speech in the Chamber of Deputies denouncing the Fascist use of violence during the campaign. His subsequent assassination by Fascist thugs triggered the Matteotti Crisis, which ultimately enabled Benito Mussolini to abandon constitutional pretenses and establish himself as an absolute dictator.23