Final approval in the lower house

Italy's lower house gave final approval on Thursday to an electoral reform championed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with 227 votes in favour and 164 against in a secret ballot. The law introduces a fully proportional system with a seat bonus that guarantees a parliamentary majority to any alliance winning more than 42% of the vote. According to ANSA, the bonus is a fixed 70 deputies and 35 senators, applied only if the 42% threshold is passed in both chambers. Under the previous rules, around two-thirds of lawmakers were elected by proportional representation, with the rest chosen in first-past-the-post constituencies that analysts said may have favoured the opposition. The text also requires each coalition, or party running alone, to name its prime ministerial candidate before the election. Final approval required four parliamentary votes.

Preferences and candidate lists

The reform reintroduces preferences through a mixed system. Each party list shows a block of six names with the head of the list blocked, and voters may express up to three preferences with gender alternation required. Nobody may stand in more than five multi-member constituencies. In single-member constituencies, neither gender may account for more than 60% of a list's or coalition's candidacies. The opposition says the preferences are 'fake' because the list heads are fixed. Giuseppe Conte, former prime minister and 5-Star Movement leader, said:

It is a sham; let's not kid the Italian people.

Conte also said that more than 80% of the members of the next Parliament will be decided by party leaders.

Government and opposition positions

When the reform was drawn up, Meloni's coalition led in the polls. Since the emergence in February of the far-right National Future party, polls now show the coalition trailing the centre-left, and some analysts say the reform may backfire. Meloni posted on X after the vote:

Whoever wins must be able to govern.

PD leader Elly Schlein responded in parliament with a defiant message:

Go ahead and change the electoral law, we will win in any case under any voting system.

Opposition politicians called the law wrong and unconstitutional. They argue that the bonus seats are unconstitutional and say they are ready to appeal to the Constitutional Court.

Primaries and the Constitutional Court

The requirement to name a prime ministerial candidate has exposed a rift between the Democratic Party and the 5-Star Movement. Schlein said that the leadership belongs to the party that gets one vote more and that primaries will be held if others do not accept that principle. Conte is pushing for primaries. Piero Ignazi, a professor of comparative politics at the University of Bologna, said:

Primaries will probably make life worse for the left, because they are a contest in which one person says, 'I'm better than the other,' and that doesn't make cooperation any easier.

Il Sole 24 ORE reports that a group of jurists led by Roberto Zaccaria and Enrico Grosso will file appeals in all 29 Courts of Appeal once the law takes effect, after President Sergio Mattarella signs it and 15 days after publication in the Gazzetta ufficiale, expected around the end of the month. Judges are expected to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court, which is expected to rule by January or at the latest the first half of February. The PD does not intend to hold its primaries before February.

Valle d'Aosta

The Valle d'Aosta regional vote will now count toward the national result. Franco Manes, a deputy from the region, said:

With this electoral reform autonomy is sacrificed in the name of governability, but it is not even ensured that someone wins.

Fratelli d'Italia's regional commissioner Walter Musso said the change gives Valle d'Aosta voters equal democratic weight with other regions.