Electoral Law Debate Begins in Italian Chamber of Deputies; PD Assembly Convenes

The Italian Chamber of Deputies has commenced a joint assembly of the Democratic Party (PD) groups, with Secretary Elly Schlein delivering the opening report. The meeting, held in Sala Salvatori, aims to assess the proposed electoral law.

The draft legislation introduces a proportional system with a majority bonus. Coalitions achieving at least 42% of the vote would receive 70 additional seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 35 in the Senate, capped at 220 and 113 elected members respectively. If no coalition reaches the 42% threshold, or if the Chamber and Senate yield different electoral outcomes, the system reverts to a pure proportional representation.

The proposed system features blocked lists within multi-member constituencies. The majority bonus is to be distributed through constituency-based lists. This framework, agreed upon by the center-right coalition, faces internal disagreements regarding the implementation of preferential voting mechanisms, a long-standing demand of the Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, which is met with skepticism by allied parties.

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From preferences to the indication of the prime minister up to the reduction of the geographical areas of the overseas constituency, there are many open issues on the electoral law.