Parliamentary elections have started in Italy. Some 61,000 polling stations have been opened since 7 a.m. 50 million eligible voters are being called upon to re-elect more than 400 deputies and 200 senators. The polls will be open until 11 p.m. on Sunday. Information about the turnout is published in between. Post-election polls will be published after the election. A result is not expected until Monday morning.
Italians are voting for the second time under a complicated electoral law known as the ‘rosatellum’. One third of the mandates in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are granted by majority vote, two thirds by proportional representation. The approximately 4.8 million Italians who are allowed to vote abroad elect 12 parliamentarians.
Right slip expected in Italy
The centre-right alliance around right-wing populist Giorgia Meloni leads in the polls. She could become Italy’s first female prime minister. In addition to Meloni’s post-fascist brothers in Italy (Fratelli d’Italia/FdI), the alliance also includes the right-wing Lega around ex-Interior Minister Matteo Salvini and the right-wing conservative Forza Italia around ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
The center-left forces compete separately. The Social Democrats (Partito Democratico/PD) who have ruled so far have not entered into an electoral alliance with the left-populist Five Star Movement.
Italians vote using an electoral system called “Rosatellum,” which has the same rules for both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. It is a mixture of majority and proportional representation. As a result of a constitutional reform, the number of parliamentary seats is shrinking this time from 945 to 600. Against this background, the election campaign ran faster than before.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
