Elections in Italy

National-level elections in Italy are called periodically to form a parliament consisting of two houses: the Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) with 630 members; and the Senate of the Republic (Senato della Repubblica) with 315 elected members, plus a few appointed senators for life. Italy is a parliamentary republic: the President of the Republic is elected for a seven-year term by the two houses of Parliament in joint session, together with special electors appointed by the Regional Councils.

During its history, Italy has had many political parties, both national and regional, with different party systems.

The most recent Italian general election was held on 4 March 2018.

2018 election

The last general election was held on 4 March 2018.

The centre-right alliance, in which Matteo Salvini's League emerged as the main political force, won a plurality of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate of the Republic. The anti-establishment Five Star Movement led by Luigi Di Maio became the party with the largest number of votes, and the centre-left coalition, led by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, came third.[1][2] However, no political group or party won an outright majority, resulting in a hung parliament.

After three months of negotiation, a coalition was finally formed on 1 June between the M5S and the League, whose leaders both became Deputy Prime Ministers in a government led by the M5S-linked independent Giuseppe Conte as Prime Minister.

Chamber of Deputies

← Summary of the 4 March 2018 Chamber of Deputies election results

Coalition		Party		Proportional			First-past-the-post			Italians abroad			Total seats	±
				Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Centre-right coalition		League (Lega)	5,698,687	17.35	73	12,152,345	37.00	49	240,072	21.43	2	125	+109
			Forza Italia (FI)	4,596,956	14.00	59			46			1	104	+1
			Brothers of Italy (FdI)	1,429,550	4.35	19			12			0	32	+25
			Us with Italy–UdC (NcI–UdC)	427,152	1.30	0			4	11,845	1.09	0	4	New
		Total seats				151			111			3	265	+140
	Five Star Movement (M5S)			10,732,066	32.68	133	10,732,066	32.68	93	197,346	17.57	1	227	+119
	Centre-left coalition		Democratic Party (PD)	6,161,896	18.76	86	7,506,723	22.85	21	297,153	26.45	5	112	−180
			More Europe (+Eu)	841,468	2.56	0			2	64,350	5.73	1	3	New
			Together (IEI)	190,601	0.58	0			1	N/A	N/A	0	1	New
			Popular Civic List (CP)	178,107	0.54	0			2	32.071	2.85	0	2	New
			SVP–PATT	134,651	0.41	2			2	N/A	N/A	0	4	−1
		Total seats				88			28			6	122	−223
	Free and Equal (LeU)			1,114,799	3.38	14	1,114,799	3.39	0	64,523	5.74	0	14	New
	Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE)			N/A	N/A	0	N/A	N/A	0	107,236	9.55	1	1	−1
	South American Union Italian Emigrants (USEI)			N/A	N/A	0	N/A	N/A	0	68,291	6.08	1	1	±0
Total													630	–

Senate of the Republic

← Summary of the 4 March 2018 Senate of the Republic election results

Coalition		Party		Proportional			First-past-the-post			Italians abroad			Total seats	±
				Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Centre-right coalition		League (Lega)	5,321,537	17.61	37	11,327,549	37.50	21	226,885	21.98	0	58	+39
			Forza Italia (FI)	4,358,004	14.43	33			23			2	57	–41
			Brothers of Italy (FdI)	1,286,606	4.26	7			9			0	18	+18
			Us with Italy–UdC (NcI–UdC)	361,402	1.20	0			4	10,404	1.04	0	4	New
		Total seats				77			58			2	137	+20
	Five Star Movement (M5S)			9,733,928	32.22	68	9,733,928	32.22	44	174,948	17.64	0	112	+58
	Centre-left coalition		Democratic Party (PD)	5,783,360	19.14	43	6,947,199	23.00	8	279,489	27.08	2	53	–57
			More Europe (+Eu)	714,821	2.37	0			1	55,625	5.39	0	1	New
			Together (IEI)	163,454	0.54	0			1	N/A	N/A	N/A	1	New
			Popular Civic List (CP)	157,282	0.52	0			1	31,293	3.15	0	1	New
			SVP–PATT	128,282	0.42	1			2	N/A	N/A	N/A	3	–1
			Aosta Valley (VdA)	N/A	N/A	N/A			1	N/A	N/A	N/A	1	±0
		Total seats				44			14			2	60	–63
	Free and Equal (LeU)			991,159	3.28	4	991,159	3.28	0	55,279	5.57	0	4	New
	Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE)			N/A	N/A	0	N/A	N/A	0	110,879	10.74	1	1	±0
	South American Union Italian Emigrants (USEI)			N/A	N/A	0	N/A	N/A	0	68,233	6.61	1	1	±0
Total													315	–

Voter turnout

Year	Voter turnout	Voters	Registered voters	Population	Invalid votes
1946	89.08%	24,947,187	28,005,449	44,994,000	7.70%
1948	92.23%	26,854,203	29,117,554	45,706,000	2.20%
1953	93.87%	28,410,851	30,267,080	47,756,000	4.30%
1958	93.72%	30,399,708	32,436,022	49,041,000	2.80%
1963	92.88%	31,766,058	34,201,660	50,498,000	3.20%
1968	92.79%	33,003,249	35,566,681	52,910,000	3.60%
1972	93.18%	34,524,106	37,049,654	54,410,000	3.20%
1976	93.37%	37,741,404	40,423,131	55,701,000	2.70%
1979	90.35%	38,112,228	42,181,664	56,292,000	3.90%
1983	89.02%	39,114,321	43,936,534	56,836,000	5.70%
1987	88.86%	40,599,490	45,689,829	57,345,000	4.90%
1992	87.44%	41,479,764	47,435,964	56,859,000	5.40%
1994	86.14%	41,461,260	48,135,041	57,049,000	5.90%
1996	82.91%	40,496,438	48,846,238	57,239,000	7.80%
2001	81.44%	40,195,500	49,358,947	57,684,294	7.20%
2006	83.62%	39,298,497	46,997,601	58,103,033	2.90%
2008	80.54%	37,954,253	47,126,326	58,147,733	5.10%
2013	75.19%	35,271,541	46,905,154	61,482,297	3.59%
2018	72.93%	33,923,321	46,505,499	60,589,445	4.33%

Graph of general election results

This graph shows the results of elections held in Italy from 1946 to today, with the percentages of consensus gathered by the various parties and movements displayed by color. Passing your mouse over the different colored sections will display the name of the grouping and the percentage in the corresponding election. Clicking on a region will direct you to the article on the party or election selected.

Referendums

The constitution of Italy provides for two kinds of binding referendums.

A legislative referendum can be called in order to abrogate a law totally or partially, if requested by 500,000 electors or five regional councils. This kind of referendum is valid only if at least a majority of electors goes to the polling station. It is forbidden to call a referendum regarding financial laws or laws relating to pardons or the ratification of international treaties.

A constitutional referendum can be called in order to approve a constitutional law or amendment only when it has been approved by the Houses (Chamber of Deputies and Senate of the Republic) with a majority of less than two thirds in both or either House, and only at the request of one fifth of the members of either House, or 500,000 electors or five Regional Councils. A constitutional referendum is valid no matter how many electors go to the polling station. Any citizen entitled to vote in an election to the Chamber of Deputies may participate in a referendum.

See also

• Electoral calendar
• Italian electoral law of 2017 for the Parliament of Italy
• Primary elections in Italy

References

1. "Elezioni politiche: vincono M5s e Lega. Crollo del Partito democratico. Centrodestra prima coalizione. Il Carroccio sorpassa Forza Italia". 4 March 2018.
2. Sala, Alessandro. "Elezioni 2018: M5S primo partito, nel centrodestra la Lega supera FI".

External links

• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• Parties and elections
• Ministry of Internal Affairs of Italy - Page on Elections
• NSD: European Election Database - Italy publishes regional level election data
• Italy Election Data, European Journal of Political Research-Political Data Yearbook: Interactive