The lower-house vote moves Italy closer to a new electoral system that supporters call stabilising and opponents describe as a power-preserving redesign.
Italy’s lower house has approved a contested electoral reform that would replace the current mixed voting system with proportional representation and award bonus seats to any coalition that crosses 42 per cent of the vote.
The bill passed on 16 July by 217 votes to 152, with two abstentions, and now moves to the Senate. Reuters reported that opponents denounced the measure as an attempt to improve Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s prospects before the 2027 general election.
Under the proposal, a coalition passing the 42 per cent threshold would receive 70 extra seats in the 400-member lower house and 35 in the 200-member Senate. The total representation would be capped to avoid very large majorities.
The reform would remove first-past-the-post constituencies, which analysts say can favour the centre-left in some areas, including parts of southern Italy. It would also reward pre-election coalitions, an area where Meloni’s right-wing bloc has traditionally been more organised than its opponents.
The government argues that the change would produce stability in a country known for short-lived governments. Opposition parties argue that changing the rules before an election risks distorting competition and entrenching the incumbent coalition.
The vote follows an earlier embarrassment for the government, when lawmakers rejected a proposal to allow voters to express preference votes for candidates on party lists. That defeat exposed tensions inside the ruling alliance, even as the broader bill moved forward.
For Brussels, the reform is not an EU-law case in the way Spain’s Catalan amnesty was. Its relevance is political. Italy is a major EU member state, a central actor in migration, budget and industrial-policy negotiations, and a country whose domestic stability affects wider European decision-making.
The Senate stage will determine whether the bill becomes the framework for the next election. If it does, Italy’s 2027 vote will take place under rules designed to favour coalition discipline and parliamentary governability. Whether voters see that as stability or manipulation will shape the campaign.
