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• On 25 September, voters go to the polls to elect the 19th legislature
• How the Rosato electoral law (the so-called Rosatellum) works
• The Rosatellum is a mixed electoral system: first-past-the-post and proportional
• Who is standing in the 2022 general election
• The election for Italians abroad and those voting away from home

Sunday 25 September, from 7:00 to 23:00, Italian voters are called to the polls to renew parliament following the crisis that led to the fall of the government led by Mario Draghi and supported by a "broad coalition" stretching from the Partito democratico to the Lega. President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, faced with the impossibility of finding another parliamentary majority, decided to dissolve the Chambers and call the 2022 general election.

On 25 September, voters go to the polls to elect the 19th legislature

The legislature that will enter into the exercise of its functions will be the 19th in the history of the Republic, the second time that voting will take place under the Rosato electoral law (the so-called "Rosatellum") and the first time that members of parliament will be elected following the 2020 reform. The latter amended articles 56, 57 and 59 of the Constitution, reducing the number of members of the Chamber of Deputies from 630 to 400 (with those reserved for the overseas constituency falling from 12 to 8) and of the Senate from 315 to 200 (from 6 to 4 for the overseas constituency).

The new members of parliament will remain in office for five years. This is barring early elections, which are not, however, a rare occurrence in Italy: in many cases, given the impossibility of forming a majority capable of supporting a government, presidents of the Republic have found themselves forced to dissolve the Chambers and call new elections.

Added to this is the limitation on the number of life senators appointed by the president, who may in no case number more than five. The previous constitutional provision was open to interpretation, as it stated that the president of the Republic could appoint "up to a maximum of five senators", without specifying whether this was an absolute limit or one valid for each term of each head of state.

How the Rosato electoral law (the so-called Rosatellum) works

Another important change concerns active voting rights: a constitutional law has in fact repealed the provision requiring voters to have reached the age of 25 in order to participate in Senate elections. From this year, being of legal age will therefore be sufficient to cast one's vote for both chambers of parliament.

Polling stations will be open for the 2022 general election for one day only, Sunday 25 September, unlike in some previous electoral rounds. The Rosato law provides for votes to be cast through a mixed electoral system (partly first-past-the-post, partly proportional). In both the Chamber and the Senate, 61 per cent of members will be allocated by proportional representation: this means that this share of seats will be distributed on the basis of the percentage of votes obtained by each party. This amounts to 244 seats in the Chamber and 122 in the Senate. Candidacies are in this case presented in multi-member constituencies, each of which elects a predetermined number of seats in the two chambers of parliament. It will be possible to vote for the list, but not to express preferences for the candidates on it.

The Rosatellum is a mixed electoral system: first-past-the-post and proportional

The remaining 37 per cent (since 2 per cent is reserved for the overseas constituency) will instead be allocated on the basis of a single-round single-member majority system. This provides for the various candidates to stand in each constituency, with the winner being, simply, the one who obtains the most votes. It is a mechanism that has been criticised because it rewards winners equally (i.e. with the winning of a seat), regardless of the number of votes received.

Agenzia ANSA ✓ @Agenzia_Ansa

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ELEZIONI 2022 | Il ministero dell'Interno ha ammesso 70 dei 101 contrassegni depositati. Sono 14 quelli che non hanno passato il vaglio, mentre per 17 servono altri documenti #ANSA
ansa.it/sito/notizie/p…

♥ 18💬 1 16 ago 2022 · Apri su X →

In other words, in a constituency with, for example, four candidates, one can be elected with as little as 30 per cent of the vote, if the other candidates have hypothetically obtained 27, 25 and 18 per cent. Just the same as a candidate who has obtained 90 per cent, with the others on 5, 3 and 2. The risk is therefore that the composition of parliament may not reflect the real "political picture" of the country.

What electoral thresholds are and how they work

In order to gain access to parliament, in the proportional share, it will also be necessary to exceed various electoral thresholds. The Rosatellum provides for one at national level, set at 3 per cent (with an exception for linguistic minorities, for whom the threshold is 20 per cent but at regional level).

To the first macro-threshold is added a 10 per cent threshold for coalitions, but with certain specificities: the first is that access to seat allocation will only be granted if at least one of the lists making up the coalition itself has exceeded 3 per cent (or has obtained 20 per cent in a special-statute region, for lists representing linguistic minorities; or 20 per cent at regional level tout court, but with regard to the Senate; or has elected at least two candidates in the single-member majority constituencies). Furthermore, in the event that a list belonging to a coalition has exceeded 3 per cent, it will be able to obtain seats even if the coalition to which it belongs, as a whole, has not reached 10 per cent.

Il Viminale ✓ @Viminale

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#ElezioniPolitiche2022: depositati 101 #contrassegni. L’ordine dei simboli sulle schede elettorali sarà stabilito dopo la presentazione delle liste tramite sorteggio.
#14agosto
➡️interno.gov.it/it/node/35954

♥ 14💬 6 14 ago 2022 · Apri su X →

As clarified by the Ministry of the Interior, "elected in the proportional share are the candidates on the list in the multi-member constituency in order of presentation, up to the number of seats to which the list is entitled. In the majority share, the most voted candidate in each single-member constituency is declared elected".

Who is standing in the 2022 general election

A number of parties and coalitions will be standing in the 25 September contest. There are four main groupings. On the left, Unione popolare (leader Luigi De Magistris) will be standing, a list made up of Democrazia e Autonomia, Potere al Popolo!, Rifondazione Comunista, the parliamentary component ManifestA and other organisations. A centre-left coalition is instead formed by a joint list of Sinistra Italiana and Verdi (leaders Nicola Fratoianni and Angelo Bonelli), the Partito democratico (Enrico Letta) and +Europa (Emma Bonino), together with Impegno Civico (Luigi Di Maio). Then there is the Movimento 5 stelle led by former prime minister Giuseppe Conte. The centre is made up of a list comprising Azione (Carlo Calenda) and Italia Viva (Matteo Renzi). Meanwhile, the centre-right is represented by a coalition composed of Forza Italia (Silvio Berlusconi), Lega (Matteo Salvini) and Fratelli d'Italia (Giorgia Meloni). All party programmes are published on a dedicated website of the Ministry of the Interior.

When the polling stations close, the first exit polls will be published, followed by projections published by the Ministry of the Interior and based on the first real results from the counting of ballots at polling stations. The new members of Parliament will then take their seats, and President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella will need to charge a person (most likely, though not necessarily, the leader of the list that has won the most votes) with forming a new government. The prime minister designate will then verify the possibility of obtaining the support of a parliamentary majority and return to the Quirinale to resolve the mandate: positively, if they are able to form a government, or negatively, should they have failed to secure the backing of a sufficient number of deputies and senators. In the first case, the list of ministers will be presented and the new government will be sworn in, before appearing before parliament to set out its programme and seek a vote of confidence. In the second case, the President of the Republic may charge another person or assign an exploratory mandate. We offer two analyses to help make an informed choice: one is on the subject of rights, the other covers the environment, energy and climate.

The election for Italians abroad and those living away from home

For Italians abroad, a specific set of rules applies: the 4 senators and 8 deputies are elected by proportional method in a dedicated constituency. Voters will be able to cast their choices by post, and this also applies to those who are temporarily outside national borders for reasons of study, work, or to receive medical treatment. In the same way, military personnel engaged in international missions will also be able to send their ballots by post and thus take part in the election.

For citizens resident abroad — approximately 5.5 million people — registration in the dedicated register (Aire) is required: only in this way will consulates be able to send them their ballots by post. Those who are instead in an Italian municipality other than their municipality of residence — starting with students living away from home — are obliged to return home in order to vote. This could persuade many people, also owing to the cost of travel, to give up going to the polls.

Finally, all voters will need to cast their vote on a single ballot paper, on which the name of the candidate in the single-member constituency appears, along with the symbol of the linked list or, in the case of a coalition, the symbols of all linked lists, with the names of the candidates in the multi-member constituency (between two and four) alongside them. A single cross on the symbol of the chosen party or coalition will therefore be sufficient to cast one's vote.