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Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been accused of trying to manipulate Italy’s next general election in 2027 through a controversial overhaul of the electoral system.
Her conservative government wants to introduce a new law that would guarantee a parliamentary majority to any party or coalition winning more than 40% of the vote.
Italy’s main opposition force, the centre-left Democratic Party, says the move is politically motivated, accusing the government of “fearing defeat under the current electoral system” and “changing the rules of the game without any real debate with the opposition”.
Euronews’ fact-checking team, The Cube, took a look at the proposal to see exactly how it would affect Italy’s elections.
How the current system works
Italy currently uses a mixed electoral system known as the “Rosatellum”, in which about one-third of Italy’s 600 MPs are elected in single-member constituencies, where the candidate with the most votes wins.
The remaining two-thirds of seats are distributed proportionally, based on the share of votes each party receives nationally for the lower Chamber of Deputies and regionally for the Senate, with parties required to pass a 3% threshold to enter parliament.
At the 2022 general election, this system worked to Meloni’s advantage: the main opposition parties — the Democratic Party and the left-wing Five Star Movement — failed to form an electoral alliance, allowing Meloni’s right-wing bloc to secure a clear majority.
This time, a broad left-wing alliance appears more likely at the 2027 election. Even if opinion polls suggest it could win fewer votes nationally than the right, it might still prevent the governing coalition from securing a working majority by winning more seats in southern Italy.
What the reform would change
Under the proposed law, Italy would move to a fully proportional system with a majority bonus. Any coalition winning more than 40% of the vote would automatically be guaranteed a parliamentary majority.
If no coalition reaches 40%, a run-off would be held between the top two blocs, provided both exceed 35%. The 3% electoral threshold would remain.
Experts warn the reform could produce unexpected results — including different majorities in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
Nicola Lupo, a public law professor at Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome, told The Cube the law could give a majority bonus to the centre-right in one chamber and the centre-left in the other, undermining its aim of ensuring stable government.
He explained that the reform is tailored to the current political landscape, which limits its effectiveness in the long term.
Other concerns include the removal of preference votes, meaning voters could no longer choose individual candidates.
The prime minister’s name would appear only alongside party lists, rather than separately on the ballot — a change that contradicts Meloni’s previous support for voter choice within party lists.
Since 1993, Italy has used “blocked lists”, where parties determine the order of candidates. The Constitutional Court has flagged this as a potential problem.
Shorter lists or single-member constituencies have been proposed as alternatives. Even in the new system, lists would remain effectively blocked, though lawmakers from Brothers of Italy have indicated they may propose amendments during parliamentary debate.
The proposal has now been presented to both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, where lawmakers are set to begin debating the reform.
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