Description of Electoral System:

(courtesy of IFES election guide)

The President is elected by electoral college to serve a 7-year term. In the Senate (Senato della Repubblica), 83 members are elected by popular vote via proportional representation to serve 5-year terms and 232 members are elected by direct popular vote to serve 5-year terms. In the Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati), 475 members are elected by direct vote to serve 5-year terms and 155 members are elected by proportional representation to serve 5-year terms. In addition, there are a small number of senators-for-life including former presidents of the republic.

Electoral Systems Snapshot

(Courtesy of International IDEA)

*Click on links for definitions

WANT MORE ELECTION RELATED STATS FOR ITALY? Go to "election databases" on the left-hand menu of this page OR comparative data on the right-hand menu and choose your area of interest.

Recent Election

(courtesy of wikipedia)

A snap general election was held in Italy on 13 April and 14 April 2008. The election came after President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved parliament on 6 February 2008 following the defeat of the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi in a January 2008 Senate vote, and the unsuccessful tentative appointment of Franco Marini with the aim to change the current electoral law. Under Italian law, elections must be held within 70 days of the dissolution. The voting determined the leader of Italy's 62nd government since the end of World War II. The coalition led by ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from the People of Freedom party defeated that of former Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni of the Democratic Party.

Previous Election

(courtesy of wikipedia)

DID YOU KNOW?

In Italy, electors attaining 100 years of age are deprived of their voting rights.

In the Italian general election, 2006 for the renewal of the two Chambers of the Parliament of Italy held on April 9 and April 10, 2006 the incumbent prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the center-right House of Freedoms, was narrowly defeated by Romano Prodi, leader of the center-left The Union.

Initial exit polls suggested a victory for Prodi, but the results narrowed as the count progressed. On April 11, Prodi declared victory; Berlusconi never conceded defeat explicitly but this is not required by the Italian law.

Preliminary results showed The Union leading the House of Freedoms in the Chamber of Deputies, with 340 seats to 277, thanks to obtaining a majority bonus (actual votes were distributed 49.81% to 49.74%). One more seat is allied with the Union (Valle d'Aosta) and 7 more seats in the foreign constituency. The House of Freedoms had secured a slight majority of Senate seats elected within Italy (155 seats to 154), but The Union won 4 of the 6 seats allocated to voters outside Italy, giving them control of both chambers. On April 19, Italy's court of last resort (Corte di Cassazione) ruled that Prodi had indeed won the election, winning control of the Chamber of Deputies by only 24,755 votes out of more than 38 million votes cast, and winning 158 seats in the Senate to 156 for Berlusconi's coalition.