2020 Emilia-Romagna regional election

The 2020 Emilia-Romagna regional election took place in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, on 26 January 2020.[1] The result was the victory of the centre-left coalition and the confirmation of Stefano Bonaccini as President of Emilia-Romagna, with more than 51% of votes,[2] nearly doubling the number of votes received in 2014.[3]

2020 Emilia-Romagna regional election
26 January 2020
All 50 seats to the Regional Council of Emilia-Romagna
Turnout67.7% (29.9%)
  Majority party Minority party
 
Candidate Stefano Bonaccini Lucia Borgonzoni
Party Democratic Party League
Alliance Centre-left coalition Centre-right coalition
Seats won 29 19
Seat change 3 7
Popular vote 1,195,742 1,014,672
Percentage 51.4% 43.7%
Swing 2.4% 11.1%
Maps of the election result
President before election

Stefano Bonaccini
Democratic Party

 President

Stefano Bonaccini
Democratic Party

Emilia-Romagna
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Emilia-Romagna

The election was held concurrently with a regional election in Calabria.

Electoral law

The Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna (Assemblea Legislativa dell'Emilia-Romagna) is composed of 50 members. Forty councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a 3% quorum, Droop quota and open lists, while ten councillors (elected in bloc) come from a "regional list", including the President-elect. The 3% quota does not apply to parties tied to a candidate who gathers more than 5% of votes. One seat is reserved for the candidate who comes second. If a coalition wins more than 50% of the total seats in the Council with PR, only five candidates from the regional list will be picked, and the number of those elected in provincial constituencies will be forty-five. If the winning coalition receives less than 40% of the seats, special seats are added to the Council to ensure a large majority for the President's coalition.[4]

Background

Despite Emilia-Romagna having always been considered one of the "red regions" – a stronghold of left-wing parties since the end of the World War II – in the 2018 general election the centre-right coalition became the largest political force in the region. The 2020 regional election has been considered as the first competitive one in the history of the region.[5]

The centre-left nominated incumbent governor Stefano Bonaccini at the head of a coalition including the Democratic Party (PD) and its left-wing allies of Free and Equal (LeU) and Green Europe (EV), as well as More Europe (+Eu).[6][7] Bonaccini also launched a personal civic list, named "Bonaccini for President", which included, among others, members from Matteo Renzi's Italia Viva (IV), Carlo Calenda's Action and Federico Pizzarotti's Italy in Common (IiC).[8] The centre-right proposed Senator Lucia Borgonzoni, member of the League (Lega) and former undersecretary to cultural activities in Giuseppe Conte's first government.[9] The centre-right coalition included also Brothers of Italy (FdI), Forza Italia (FI) and Cambiamo! (C!).[10]

Campaign
Almost 15,000 people gathering Piazza Maggiore in Bologna to protest against Matteo Salvini, November 2019

The official election campaign was opened on 14 November by the League, which organized a rally at the PalaDozza, the sport arena of Bologna. On that occasion Matteo Salvini presented the centre-right candidate Lucia Borgonzoni.[11] At the same time, a flash mob named "6000 Sardines against Salvini" was organized in Piazza Maggiore, to peacefully protest against Salvini's campaign in Emilia-Romagna. On the following day, Nicola Zingaretti's Democratic Party held a three-day convention in Bologna, known as Tutta un'altra storia ("A whole different story").[12]

On 19 November, Bonaccini and Borgonzoni had their first television debate, hosted by the talk show #Cartabianca by Bianca Berlinguer on Rai 3. The debate was followed by about 1.6 million viewers (6% share).[13]

After a period of uncertainty regarding its participation in the regional elections, and after a decline in opinion polls and poor election results in 2019 Umbrian election, on 21 November the Five Star Movement launched a survey on its on-line platform "Rousseau", to ask its members if they should participate in the following regional elections. Almost 70% of members voted to run in the elections, and therefore M5S leader Luigi Di Maio announced the presentation of M5S electoral lists and a M5S candidate for the regional presidency, without party alliances.[14]

On 7 December, more than 10,000 people gathered Piazza Maggiore in Bologna for the launch of Bonaccini's electoral campaign.[15]

Electoral programmes
  • Stefano Bonaccini, being the outgoing regional president, claimed the results achieved by his administration (including the "Pact for Labour" of 2015),[16] and proposed four priority points summed up into the slogan "A step forward": to create free kindergartens for all children in the region, to break down the waiting lists for health interventions and access times to first aid, to carry out preventive maintenance and safety of the regional territory, and to reduce the phenomenon of NEET.[17]
  • The League of Lucia Borgonzoni proposed the introduction of some practices already existing in the other regions governed by the centre-right (in particular Lombardy and Veneto), including the opening of hospitals during public holidays and at night to carry out medical exams and laboratory tests, and the reduction of the regional IRPEF with introduction of 1.23% flat rate.
  • The Five Star Movement of Simone Benini focused its programme on social, infrastructural and environmental issues, including the repeal of the regional legislation on urban planning, the rethinking of the Cispadana regional motorway project in favour of a fast road without toll, the reduction of waste to shut down incinerators and landfills, and generally introducing new environmental sustainability policies in the region.[18]
  • Stefano Lugli (The Other Emilia-Romagna) proposed a "safe" region in the sense of "fair, public and sustainable", i.e. based on social equality, the fight against the privatization of services and the relaunch of environmental policies.
  • Marta Collot (Power to the People) presented a "rupture programme" based on equality, in particular proposing a guaranteed minimum wage of 9 euros per hour, redesigning the regional urban planning policies, and withdrawing the request for differentiated regional autonomy already presented by Emilia-Romagna in 2019.[19]
  • The Communist Party put poverty, social justice and equality at the centre of its programme.
  • The 3V Movement "Vaccines We Want Truth" called for the lift of mandatory vaccinations recently enforced by the government for the access of children and infants to public schools and kindergartens.

Newspapers and magazines

Stefano Bonaccini:

Lucia Borgonzoni:

Parties and candidates
Political party or alliance Constituent lists Previous result Candidate
Votes (%) Seats
Centre-left coalition Democratic Party 44.5 29
Stefano Bonaccini
Bonaccini for President (incl. IV, A, IiC, CD, Pos and CpE) N/A N/A
Brave Emilia-Romagna (incl. Art.1, SI and ÈViva) N/A N/A
More Europe–PSI–PRI N/A N/A
Green Europe N/A N/A
Volt Emilia-Romagna N/A N/A
Centre-right coalition League Emilia–Romagna 19.4 8
Lucia Borgonzoni
Forza Italia (incl. UdC) 8.4 2
Brothers of Italy 1.9 1
Cambiamo!–The People of Family (incl. IdeA) N/A N/A
Borgonzoni for President N/A N/A
Youths for the Environment (formed by Youth League) N/A N/A
Five Star Movement 13.3 5
Simone Benini
Power to the People N/A N/A
Marta Collot
The Other Emilia-Romagna (incl. PRC, PCI, PdS, PU) 3.7 1
Stefano Lugli
Communist Party N/A N/A
Laura Bergamini
3V Movement N/A N/A
Domenico Battaglia

Opinion polls

Candidates

Parties
  1. This poll was commissioned by a political party.
  2. with CSX

Results
26 January 2020 Emilia-Romagna regional election results
Candidates Votes % Seats Parties Votes % Seats
Stefano Bonaccini 1,195,742 51.42 1 Democratic Party 749,976 34.69 22
Bonaccini for President 124,591 5.76 3
Brave Emilia-Romagna 81,419 3.77 2
Green Europe 42,156 1.95 1
More Europe–PSI–PRI 33,087 1.53 –
Volt Emilia-Romagna 9.253 0.43 –
Total 1,040,482 48.12 28
Lucia Borgonzoni 1,014,672 43.63 1 League 690,864 31.95 14
Brothers of Italy 185,796 8.59 3
Forza Italia 55,317 2.56 1
Borgonzoni for President 37,462 1.73 –
Cambiamo!–The People of Family 6,341 0.29 –
Youths for the Environment 6,007 0.28 –
Total 981,787 45.41 18
Simone Benini 80,823 3.48 – Five Star Movement 102,595 4.74 2
Domenico Battaglia 10,979 0.47 – 3V Movement 11,187 0.52 –
Laura Bergamini 10,269 0.44 – Communist Party 10,287 0.48 –
Marta Collot 7,029 0.30 – Power to the People 8,048 0.37 –
Stefano Lugli 5,983 0.26 – The Other Emilia-Romagna 7,830 0.36 –
Blank and invalid votes 48,477 2.04
Total candidates 2,325,497 100.00 2 Total parties 2,162,216 100.00 48
Registered voters/turnout 3,508,179 67.67
Source: Ministry of the Interior – Election in Emilia-Romagna
Popular vote
PD
 
 34.69%
Lega
 
 31.95%
FdI
 
 8.59%
Bonaccini
 
 5.76%
M5S
 
 4.74%
ERC
 
 3.77%
FI
 
 2.56%
EV
 
 1.95%
Borgonzoni
 
 1.73%
+Eu
 
 1.53%
Others
 
 2.73%
President
Bonaccini
 
 51.42%
Borgonzoni
 
 43.63%
Benini
 
 3.48%
Battaglia
 
 0.47%
Bergamini
 
 0.44%
Collot
 
 0.30%
Lugli
 
 0.26%
Seats summary
Centre-left
 
 58.00%
Centre-right
 
 38.00%
M5S
 
 4.00%

Results by province and capital city

Turnout
Region Time
12:00 19:00 23:00
Emilia-Romagna 23.44% 58.82% 67.68%
Province Time
12:00 19:00 23:00
Bologna 24.97% 61.88% 70.98%
Ferrara 23.63% 57.94% 65.59%
Forlì-Cesena 23.55% 59.39% 67.54%
Modena 23.96% 59.89% 69.11%
Parma 21.98% 55.12% 64.07%
Piacenza 22.55% 54.38% 62.91%
Ravenna 23.67% 60.67% 69.71%
Reggio Emilia 23.54% 58.83% 67.97%
Rimini 19.87% 54.57% 63.54%
Source: Ministry of the Interior – Turnout

Map
Seat totals by Province. As this is a PR election, seat totals are determined by popular vote in each province.

Elected councillors
  1. As President of the Region.
  2. Borgonzoni renounced to her Regional Council seat, keeping her seat in the Senate. Mastacchi, of the list "Borgonzoni for President", took over the empty seat.
  3. Schlein was elected both in Bologna and Reggio Emilia. Taruffi took over her seat in Bologna.
  4. Sgarbi renounced to his Regional Council seat, keeping his seat in the Chamber of Deputies. Castaldini took over the empty seat.

See also

References
  1. "Elezioni regionali Emilia Romagna, data. Si vota il 26 gennaio 2020". il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 23 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  2. Giuffrida, Angela (27 January 2020). "Salvini suffers setback in leftwing stronghold during Italy regional elections". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  3. Johnson, Miles (27 January 2020). "Matteo Salvini's attempt to win key Emilia-Romagna region fails". Financial Times. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  4. "Speciale elezioni 2005". www.repubblica.it.
  5. GIACOMIN, PAOLO (3 November 2019). "L'Emilia contendibile. Ma i grillini saranno l'ago della bilancia". QuotidianoNet.
  6. "Bonaccini si candida per secondo mandato". 24Emilia. 28 June 2018.
  7. "I passi di Bonaccini". www.ilfoglio.it.
  8. Regionali, Italia Viva presenta i suoi candidati a sostegno di Bonaccini
  9. PRETE, FEDERICO DEL (7 October 2019). "Elezioni Emilia Romagna 2020, Borgonzoni candidata unica del centrodestra". il Resto del Carlino.
  10. "Regionali, Borgonzoni: la leghista verso l'appoggio del centrodestra". BolognaToday.
  11. "Emilia Romagna, Salvini lancia la campagna elettorale: "Prima liberiamo Bologna e poi Firenze"". 14 November 2019. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  12. "Tutta un'altra storia".
  13. "Curve ascolti Tv 19 novembre: Il Volo fa il picco". TvZoom. 20 November 2019.
  14. "M5S, su Rousseau vince il no: presenterà liste regionali. E Di Maio: "Andremo da soli"". Repubblica.it. 21 November 2019.
  15. "Bologna, in 10mila per Bonaccini: "Se l'Italia somigliasse di più all'Emilia-Romagna sarebbe un Paese migliore"". Repubblica.it. 7 December 2019.
  16. "Cosa ho fatto". Comitato per Stefano Bonaccini Presidente. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  17. "Un passo avanti, anzi 4". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  18. "Intervista a Simone Benini candidato M5S in Emilia-Romagna".
  19. "Il programma per l'Emilia-Romagna". Potere al Popolo!. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  20. "Turarsi il naso". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  21. admin. "Un voto determinante per consentire al Governo di far ripartire il Paese". LA NOTIZIA (in Italian). Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  22. "Per Bonaccini". L'HuffPost (in Italian). 25 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  23. Alessandro Sallusti (25 January 2020). "Mandiamoli a casa nel nome di Tortora". ilGiornale.it (in Italian). Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  24. "Lucia Borgonzoni, ecco perché vincerà. La campagna blasfema della sinistra / Guarda". www.liberoquotidiano.it. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  25. "Il centrodestra sente aria di vittoria e serra le fila per sfrattare la Ditta". La Verità. 25 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  26. "Elezioni in Emilia Romagna, votare centrodestra contro la "piattaforma Cirinnà"". l'Occidentale (in Italian). 22 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  27. "Un voto per la famiglia in Emilia Romagna". La Croce Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  28. "Pd-Lega, è guerra di sondaggi. Per i dem Bonaccini è al 48%" (in Italian). Corriere di Bologna. 21 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
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