Italy Approves Electoral Reform With Coalition Seat Bonus

Italy’s lower house gave final approval on Thursday, October 8, to a sweeping electoral reform championed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, replacing the country’s hybrid voting system with proportional representation and adding seat bonuses intended to secure a parliamentary majority for a winning coalition. The bill passed by 227 votes to 164, according to one report, completing a months-long legislative process ahead of a general election due next year. The sources describe the central change as awarding seats proportionally, rather than dividing representation between proportional voting and first-past-the-post races as under the previous system. The reform provides a bonus to a coalition that exceeds 42% of the vote. One account says the threshold must be passed by the same coalition or party in both houses; another describes the threshold without that condition. The supplied reports do not resolve the discrepancy. Under the detailed account of the law, a qualifying coalition would receive 70 additional seats in the 400-member Chamber of Deputies and 35 in the 200-member Senate.