Meloni secures final approval for contested Italian electoral reform

Italy’s Chamber of Deputies gave final approval on Thursday to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s electoral reform, voting 227 to 164 in a secret ballot, Reuters reported.

The bill introduces a fully proportional system, replacing the previous hybrid. A bonus gives any coalition winning more than 42% of the vote 70 extra seats in the 400-seat Chamber and 35 in the 200-member Senate, capped at 220 and 113, with the top-voted coalition taking it if more than one passes the threshold.

Coalitions must name a prime ministerial candidate before an election, not legally binding, since Italy’s president formally chooses the premier.

Meloni says the rules are meant to increase the prospect of stable government; her administration last month became Italy’s longest-serving since the Second World War. The opposition says the reform favours her coalition, accusing the government of flouting democracy by forcing through new voting rules before an election. PD leader Elly Schlein retorted: “Go ahead and change the electoral law, we will win in any case under any voting system.”

The bill cleared confidence votes in the lower house on Tuesday and the Senate on 15 September, 113 to 71. An election is due by the end of next year, possibly in May 2027. Reuters analysis notes the reform rewards broad alliances and could benefit the centre-left if they unite — but the PM-candidate rule has split Schlein, who said “The leadership belongs to the party that gets one vote more,” from 5-Star leader Giuseppe Conte, who wants voters, not party rankings, to choose the candidate.