Electoral law: here’s what’s changing following the agreement on preferential voting and gender alternation
The agreement between the sherpas was endorsed by the leaders gathered at Meloni’s residence. The Prime Minister is closing ranks with her allies on the recovery agenda
Key points
- The mini-compromise on electoral reform
- The second name on the list, of a different gender
- The 60/40 rule applies only to premium price lists
- The possibility of a run-off has been reconsidered and ruled out
- The new amendment signed by all the parties
- The ‘Autumn Pact’
- Shielding the centre-right from Vannacci’s attacks
- Setting the priorities for the budget
And so an agreement was reached. The centre-right has reached a consensus on the new electoral law: a ‘yes’ to the preferential voting system favoured by Fdi and Noi Moderati, with the addition of gender alternation as called for by female MPs, primarily from Forza Italia. Following yesterday’s lunch in Via della Scrofa with the sherpas, it was the leaders’ turn to meet: the final summit before the summer recess between Giorgia Meloni, Antonio Tajani, Matteo Salvini and Maurizio Lupi ratified the truce on the Stabilicum, took stock of measures due to expire and set out the priorities for the resumption of work and the run-in to the end of the parliamentary term. One priority above all: closing ranks ahead of the budget bill.
The mini-compromise on electoral reform
The compromise reached yesterday on the electoral law – the technical meeting lasted about an hour and a half – essentially provides for the adoption of the Fdi-Nm amendment that was rejected on 14 July by a single vote in a secret ballot: Following the model used in Tuscany, therefore, the lists for the election of MPs under the proportional representation system will feature a fixed lead candidate on the ballot paper and six other names listed, with voters able to express a maximum of three preferences by ticking boxes (at least one in three must be of a different gender).
The second name on the list, of a different gender
The new provision is that gender alternation must also apply to the top candidates on the list, in the sense that the second name on the list must be of a different gender, whereas the original version of the amendment required alternation only from the third candidate onwards.
The 60/40 rule applies only to premium schedules
The 60/40 rule applies (60 per cent as the cap for the over-represented gender) applies only to the other closed lists – the constituency lists submitted for the purposes of the majority bonus for the 70 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and the 35 in the Senate to be allocated to the coalition that exceeds 42 per cent of the votes by the widest margin. Furthermore, the requirement introduced in the Chamber of Deputies remains in place, whereby candidates on lists linked to the bonus must also be lead candidates on the proportional representation lists.
The possibility of a run-off has been reconsidered and ruled out
During the debate, the possibility of a run-off vote was reconsidered in the event that no candidate reaches the 42 per cent threshold – as a safeguard to avoid the risk of a return to the proportional representation system of the First Republic. This proposal was championed by ‘reformist’ experts who are not opposed to a system with a bonus, such as Stefano Ceccanti, Francesco Clementi and Roberto D’Alimonte. However, it was, once again, rejected. According to the MPs present – including Giovanni Donzelli and Angelo Rossi for Fdi, Roberto Rosso for Fi, Alessandro Battilocchio and Stefano Benigni; for the Lega, Minister Roberto Calderoli and Andrea Paganella; and for NM, Alessandro Colucci – to introduce it without running into ‘paradoxical outcomes’ that could risk unconstitutionality.
