Italy’s parliament has approved a fiercely contested electoral reform championed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, replacing a mixed voting system with a fully proportional model that awards bonus seats to any coalition winning more than 42 percent of the national vote ahead of elections due by the end of next year.
The Mechanics of the 42 Percent Threshold
The new rules scrap the mixed voting model in place since 2017, known as the Rosatellum, under which about a third of members of parliament were chosen through first-past-the-post constituencies and the remainder through proportional representation.
Under the freshly enacted framework, any party or coalition that secures more than 42 percent of the vote across both chambers will be awarded a decisive seat bonus. This mechanism grants an additional 70 seats in the 400-member Chamber of Deputies and 35 seats in the 200-member Senate.
Where no single party or alliance clears the 42 percent threshold, seats will be distributed purely proportionally among parties taking at least 3 percent of the vote, with a 10 percent floor required for coalitions. Competing lists and coalitions must officially put forward their joint candidate for prime minister and declare their governing programme before any general election.
| Electoral Feature | Previous System (Rosatellum) | New Electoral Reform |
|---|---|---|
| Voting Structure | Mixed (~36% first-past-the-post, rest proportional) | Fully proportional with majority bonus |
| Majority Bonus | None | 70 lower house / 35 Senate seats if >42% vote share achieved |
| Candidate Designation | Not legally required prior to vote | Mandatory joint candidate for PM and platform registration |
| Signature Requirements | 1,500 signatures per constituency for non-parliamentary parties | Raised to 6,000 signatures per constituency |
Political Stability Versus Democratic Accusations
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended the overhaul by arguing that the mechanism is designed to produce stable and coherent majorities, ensuring that whoever wins an election possesses the functional power to govern. Meloni’s coalition has overseen a rare period of political stability, and on September 4, her government officially became the country’s longest-running since the foundation of the Republic in 1946.
Opposition parties vehemently rejected the changes, frequently dubbing the legislation the “Melonellum” and accusing the right-wing coalition of drafting the rules specifically to retain power. During heated parliamentary debates, opposition members claimed the legislation distorts the true weight of voter ballots.
Centre-left figures, including Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein, struck a defiant tone ahead of the ballot.
Polling Leads Meloni as Opposition Parties Clash over Alliances
Recent polling aggregators place Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party leading nationally at approximately 28 percent, followed by the Democratic Party at roughly 20 percent, and the Five Star Movement at 12.5 percent. However, the 42 percent threshold remains a formidable hurdle for any single faction, forcing parties to weigh the necessity of broad alliances.
The new rules have already laid bare persistent friction within the opposition. While PD leader Elly Schlein argues that leadership of an alliance should belong to the party that secures the highest vote share, Five Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte insists that voters should choose a coalition’s prime ministerial candidate through an open primary system. Despite these internal disagreements, an Ipsos Doxa survey indicated that an united opposition front could realistically cross the 42 percent threshold if smaller parties are successfully brought into a common coalition.
Legal challenges are already taking shape. Opposition parties have confirmed plans to challenge the new electoral law in the Italian Constitutional Court. Critics point out that the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission actively advises against altering core elements of an electoral system less than a year before scheduled polling. Italian media reports indicate that the government is preparing potential adjustments in case the court intervenes, particularly regarding the Senate bonus given that the upper house is elected on a regional basis. General elections must take place by December 22, 2027, leaving all political forces to operate under newly redrawn rules.
