Electoral law: Senate gives the go-ahead with 113 votes in favour. Opposition MPs protest in the Chamber: ‘A rigged law’

During the Senate’s deliberations, the method for electing candidates in multi-member constituencies was amended. The lists will no longer be ‘fixed’ but will consist of a fixed lead candidate and a list of six candidates from whom voters may choose up to three preferences by ticking the appropriate boxes. As regards the allocation of the bonus, however, parties will have to submit lists at constituency level; in the case of a coalition of lists, these will be the same across the entire coalition. The composition of the so-called ‘listone’ – which is allocated en bloc in the event of winning the majority bonus – is left to internal agreements within the coalitions.

The gender alternation for lead candidates, as provided for under the current electoral law, the Rosatellum, has been abolished. Only a formal alternation is provided for: candidates, including the lead candidate, are placed in an alternating order by gender. However, as the lists are not fixed, this is a minor adjustment that does not guarantee gender quotas, as the election still takes place in the order of preferences received. The other provision, which stipulates that, across all candidates put forward by each list, neither gender may account for more than 60 per cent, is similarly of a formal nature.

The electoral threshold remains at 10 per cent for coalitions of lists and at 3 per cent for individual lists or coalitions of lists, subject to the inclusion, for each coalition of lists, of the first list within the coalition that fell below that threshold.

Political parties must state in their election manifesto the first name and surname of the person nominated for the post of Prime Minister. In the case of a coalition, the nominated person must be the same for all the political parties in the coalition. However, the Prime Minister’s first name and surname do not appear on the ballot paper. Failure to provide the name results, as is already the case for failure to submit a manifesto, in the lists being declared ineligible.

During the Senate’s scrutiny, the so-called ‘anti-fragmentation’ rule was abolished; this rule had stipulated that votes cast for affiliated lists which had not passed the 3 per cent threshold and which were not the ‘best loser’ list would not count towards the determination of the national coalition electoral total. For the purposes of allocating the majority bonus, therefore, votes for lists that obtain a result of zero point will also be counted. However, the same amendment stipulates that parties not currently represented in Parliament which intend to stand in the next general election must collect at least 6,000 signatures in each constituency to submit their lists, amounting to approximately 450,000 in total. The transitional provision remains in the text, exempting from the signature collection requirement those parties that form a parliamentary group in at least one of the two chambers as at 31 December 2025, such as Azione, Avs and Noi Moderati. This provision constitutes a derogation from the current law, which, by contrast, exempts only those parties that have had groups in both Houses since the start of the parliamentary term. For those, however, who have a group or a faction in at least one of the two chambers at the time the election is called – for example, Più Europa or Futuro Nazionale with Vannacci – the obligation to collect at least 1,500 signatures per constituency remains.

A candidate on the constituency lists submitted for the allocation of the governability bonus must stand as the lead candidate in at least one of the multi-member constituencies. Candidates may stand in multiple constituencies, subject to a maximum limit of five constituency candidacies.

The number of geographical constituencies for the election of the Chamber of Deputies has been reduced from four to two (Europe and the Americas–Asia–Oceania–Antarctica), and the number for the Senate has been reduced from four to one, known as the Overseas Constituency.

Despite the size of the constituencies – resulting from the consolidation of four into two in the Chamber of Deputies and of two into one in the Senate – the requirement for at least 500 signatures, as laid down by the Tremaglia Law, remains unchanged for each of the sub-districts into which the Overseas Constituency is divided. No signatures are required for parties constituted as parliamentary groups, even if only in one of the two Houses, during the current parliamentary term at the time of the announcement of the elections, nor for political parties and groups which, in the last election, fielded candidates under their own banner and secured at least one seat in one of the two Houses.

A register of voters residing away from their usual place of residence who are entitled to vote in the municipality of their temporary residence in elections to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, to the European Parliament and in referendums shall be drawn up at the electoral office of each municipality. By 31 December of each year, voters who, for reasons of study or work, are temporarily resident in a municipality situated in a region other than that in which their municipality of electoral registration is located, may apply to be included on the register in order to vote in the elections scheduled for the following year in their municipality of temporary residence, provided that the expected duration of their stay there is at least 9 months. Voters who have completed the 9-month period after 31 December may, within thirty days of the date on which the requirements for off-register voting are met and in any event no later than the forty-fifth day preceding the date of the elections, apply to be included on the off-register electoral roll where they are resident. Separate rules apply to voters who are away from their municipality of residence for health reasons. If they are receiving healthcare, therapy or medical treatment in a region other than their region of residence for a period of at least three months, during which the election date falls, they may apply, no later than the 45th day prior to the vote, to be included on the register of voters away from their place of residence in order to vote in the municipality where they are temporarily resident. During the Senate’s scrutiny of the bill, the provisions for sick people were extended to include family carers and the parents or family members living with a minor who is undergoing treatment away from their place of residence.