2020 Italian constitutional referendum

A constitutional referendum about the reduction of the size of the Italian Parliament was held in Italy on 20 and 21 September 2020.[1] Initially scheduled to be held on 29 March, the referendum was postponed following the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Italy and subsequent lockdown.[2][3][4]

2020 Italian constitutional referendum
20–21 September 2020
Do you approve the text of the Constitutional Law entitled 'Amendments to articles 56, 57 and 59 of the Constitution concerning the reduction of the number of parliamentarians' approved by Parliament and published in the Official Gazette no. 240 of 12 October 2019?
Results
Choice
 Votes  %
Yes 17,913,089 69.96%
No 7,692,007 30.04%
Valid votes 25,605,096 98.29%
Invalid or blank votes 445,130 1.71%
Total votes 26,050,226 100.00%
Eligible to vote/turnout 50,955,985 51.12%
Results by region

Voters were asked whether they approved a constitutional law that would amend the Italian Constitution in various aspects, most notably by reducing the number of MPs in the Parliament from 630 to 400 in the Chamber of Deputies and from 315 to 200 in the Senate.[5] The proposed changes were approved, with 69.96% voting in favour. The reduction in the number of MPs happened at the 2022 Italian general election on 25 September 2022.

This was the second time in Italian history a constitutional referendum was successful, with the 2001 referendum being the first.[6] Two previous constitutional reforms had been rejected by referendums in 2006 and 2016.[7]

Political background

In 2016, the Democratic-led (PD) coalition government proposed a series of constitutional reforms with the aim of reducing the total number of parliamentarians, simplifying the legislative process, limiting the operating costs of the institutions, the disestablishment of the National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL), and removing the perfect bicameralism in particular by greatly reducing the size and scope of the Senate.[8] The proposal was rejected by 59% of voters through a constitutional referendum, prompting the resignation of the Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi.

In 2019, the PD-Five Star Movement (M5S) coalition government proposed new constitutional reforms which simply called for the reduction of the number of parliamentarians by a third; the bill was approved with the support of all the major political parties on 8 October 2019.[8] The proposal was one of the Five Star Movement's main campaign promises during the 2018 general election, aimed at reducing the costs of politics and slashing privileges for lawmakers. The total reduction in costs was estimated at between 285 and 500 million euros per five-year parliamentary term.[8] The reform was also part of the coalition deal between the PD and M5S.[9] However, critics argued that the savings would be far too small to warrant a reduction in the number of lawmakers, which they believed would decrease democratic representation by lowering the number of lawmakers per 100,000 inhabitants to 1.6 from 1. In comparison, Germany had 0.9:1 ratio, France had a 1.4:1 ratio, and the United Kingdom had a 2.1:1 ratio.[8]

On 10 January 2020, 71 Senators requested a referendum on the reform proposal. Under Article 138 of the Constitution, such request was binding.

Proposed changes
Provinces of Italy (grey borders), within Regions (solid borders)
Electoral package sent to an Italian voter in Chile

The proposed constitutional law would amend Article 56 of the Constitution by reducing the number of deputies from 630, twelve of which are elected in the overseas constituencies, to 400, with eight to be elected in the overseas constituencies.[10] According to Paragraph 3 of the Article, the subdivision of seats among the electoral districts is obtained by dividing the number of inhabitants of the country – given by the latest general census of the population – by a factor of 392 (also changed by the new law from the previous factor of 618) and distributing the seats in proportion to the population in each electoral district, on the basis of whole shares and the highest remainders. The number of seats assigned to the overseas constituencies forms an exception to this rule.[11]

The new law would also amend Article 57 of the Constitution by reducing the number of senators from 315, six of which are elected in the overseas constituencies, to 200, with four to be elected in the overseas constituencies.[10] The senators are elected on a regional basis and no region or autonomous province would have fewer than 3 (down from 7) senators, with the exception of Molise and Aosta Valley, which will respectively have two and one senators. Paragraph 4 would also be changed, to state that the subdivision of seats among the regions and autonomous provinces – in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph – is made in proportion to their population given by the latest general census of the population, on the basis of whole shares and the highest remainders.[10]

Article 59 of the Constitution would be changed by limiting the total number of incumbent life senators who can be appointed by the President of Italy to five. Previously, the provision governing the number of life senators was ambiguous, and had been interpreted as allowing each president to appoint five each, cumulating to a total above five.[10]

The changes to Articles 56 and 57 were to take effect after either the end of the incumbent legislature, or at the next dissolution of Parliament, and not earlier than 60 days after the promulgation of the constitutional law.[10]

Campaign positions
Main article: Endorsements in the 2020 Italian constitutional referendum

The proposed changes to the constitution would reduce the number of seats per electoral district for both chambers of Parliament and thus increase the number of votes required to win a seat. Consequently, they were opposed by most minor parties, with the exception of those who could count on a small but solid electoral base, such as the regional South Tyrolean People's Party, which would see their influence in Parliament increase.[11][10][12]

Committees
Choice Campaign Slogan Spokesperson Website
checkY Yes YES of the Liberties! Il sì delle Libertà Silvia Ferrara and Pietro Paganini www.ilsidelleliberta.it Archived 4 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine
☒N No NOstra! NOstra! Jacopo Ricci www.comitatonostra.it
We NO! Noi NO Andrea Pruiti Ciarello noino.eu
Democrats for the No Democratici per il No Giovanni Lattanzi democraticiperilno.it Archived 3 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine
Solidary Network in defense of the Constitution Rete Solidale in difesa della Costituzione Marina Calamo Specchia —
Popular Committee for the No to the parliamentarians cut Comitato popolare per il No al taglio dei parlamentari Piero Pirovano iovotono.eu Archived 13 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine
3 Reasons for the No 3 motivi per il No Stefano D'Andrea 3-motivi-per-il-no0.webnode.it
Committee for the NO on changes to the Constitution to reduce the number of parliamentarians Comitato per il NO sulle modifiche alla Costituzione per la riduzione del numero dei Parlamentari Massimo Villone coordinamentodemocraziacostituzionale.it
noaltagliodelparlamento.it
Committee for the NO to the Counter-reform Comitato per il No alla Controriforma Massimiliano Iervolino radicali.it/campagne/no-alla-controriforma/ Archived 11 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine
LET'S START WITH NO — Committee for the NO to the referendum on the cut of parliamentarians COMINCIAMO DAL NO — Comitato per il NO al referendum sul taglio dei parlamentari Simona Viola piueuropa.eu/2020/02/22/comitatodelno/

Political parties
Choice Parties Political orientation Leader Ref
checkY Yes League (Lega) Right-wing populism Matteo Salvini [13]
Five Star Movement (M5S) Populism Luigi Di Maio [14]
Democratic Party (PD) Social democracy Nicola Zingaretti [15]
Brothers of Italy (FdI) National conservatism Giorgia Meloni [16]
Article One (Art. 1) Social democracy Roberto Speranza [17]
South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) Regionalism Arno Kompatscher [18]
Cambiamo! (C!) Liberal conservatism Giovanni Toti [19]
Die Freiheitlichen Tyrolean Separatism Otto Mahlknecht [20]
Fatherland and Constitution (PeC) Left-wing nationalism Stefano Fassina [21]
Party of Venetians (PdV) Venetian nationalism Alessio Morosin [22]
Valdostan Union (UV) Autonomism Regionalism Érik Lavévaz [23]
No official party position Italia Viva (IV) Liberalism Matteo Renzi [24]
Forza Italia (FI) Liberal conservatism Silvio Berlusconi [25]
☒N No Action (Azione) Social liberalism Carlo Calenda [26]
Italian Left (SI) Democratic socialism Nicola Fratoianni [27]
More Europe (+Eu) Liberalism Benedetto Della Vedova [28]
Federation of the Greens (FdV) Green politics collective leadership [29]
Italia in Comune (IiC) Progressivism Federico Pizzarotti [30]
Power to the People (PaP) Socialism Viola Carofalo [31]
Italian Socialist Party (PSI) Social democracy Enzo Maraio [32]
Energies for Italy (EpI) Liberalism Stefano Parisi [33]
Volt Italia European federalism Federica Vinci [34]
Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE) Interests of Italians abroad Ricardo Antonio Merlo [35]
South American Union Italian Emigrants (USEI) Interests of Italians abroad Eugenio Sangregorio [36]
Communist Party (PC) Communism Marco Rizzo [37]
Democratic Centre (CD) Christian left Bruno Tabacci [38]
Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) Communism Maurizio Acerbo [39]
Christian Democracy (DC) Christian democracy Renato Grassi [40]
Italian Communist Party (PCI) Communism Mauro Alboresi [41]
Pact for Autonomy (PpA) Autonomism Massimo Moretuzzo [42]
Italian Marxist–Leninist Party (PMLI) Maoism Giovanni Scuderi [43]
Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party (PATT) Autonomism Regionalism Simone Marchiori [44]
Venetian Left (Sanca) Autonomism Venetian nationalism Andrea Mion [45]
Union for Trentino (UpT) Autonomism Christian Democracy Annalisa Caumo [46]

Opinion polls
Date Polling Firm Sample size Total Considering only Yes/No vote
checkYYes ☒NNo None / Don't know Lead checkYYes ☒NNo Lead
2–4 Sep 2020 SWG 1,000 70.0 30.0 — 40.0 70.0 30.0 40.0
1–3 Sep 2020 Ixè 1,000 51.3 17.9 30.8 33.4 74.1 25.9 48.2
1–3 Sep 2020 Ipsos 1,000 58.9 24.1 17.0 34.8 71.0 29.0 42.0
31 Aug 2020 Euromedia — 42.0 15.8 42.2 24.2 72.7 27.3 45.4
23–27 Aug 2020 BiDiMedia 1,661 71.0 29.0 — 42.0 71.0 29.0 42.0
24–26 Aug 2020 Demos & Pi 1,014 82.0 18.0 — 64.0 82.0 18.0 64.0
14–17 Aug 2020 Lab2101 1,000 72.4 27.6 — 44.8 72.4 27.6 44.8
22–23 Jul 2020 Ipsos 1,000 49.0 8.0 43.0 41.0 86.0 14.0 72.0
23–25 Jun 2020 Ipsos 1,000 46.0 10.0 44.0 36.0 82.0 18.0 64.0
20–22 Feb 2020 Piepoli 503 81.0 9.0 10.0 72.0 90.0 10.0 80.0
13 Jan 2020 Euromedia 800 75.1 10.7 14.2 64.4 87.5 12.5 75.0
9–14 Dec 2019 Demos&Pi 1,212 86.0 12.0 2.0 74.0 86.0 14.0 72.0
8 Oct 2019
The Parliament approves the constitutional reform bill
7–8 Oct 2019 Demopolis 1,500 80.0 12.0 8.0 68.0 87.0 13.0 74.0

Results
A facsimile of the electoral ballot

The referendum resulted in a victory of the "Yes" with a majority of 70.0% of the vote. The voter turnout was 51.12%. The "Yes" was the winning choice by a large margin in all Italian regions.[47]

Luigi Di Maio, foreign minister and former leader of the M5S, defined the results "a historical result". The secretary of the PD, Nicola Zingaretti, said that "the victory of the 'Yes' opens up a season of reforms". Riccardo Molinari, party leader of the League in the Chamber of Deputies, asked for parliament to be dissolved and new elections to be held, in order to fulfill the objective of the constitutional law.[48]

2020 constitutional referendum
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Yes 17,913,259 69.96
No 7,691,837 30.04
Valid votes 25,605,096 98.29
Invalid or blank votes 445,131 1.71
Total votes 26,050,227 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 50,955,985 51.12
Source: Ministry of the Interior
Popular vote
checkY Yes
 
 69.96%
☒N No
 
 30.04%

Results by region

The "Yes" side was in the majority in every region and in all four overseas constituencies. Support was lowest in Friuli Venezia Giulia, with 59.57% in favor. Molise was the region with the highest support, at 79.89%, though two of the overseas constituencies had higher support.

Region Votes  %
Yes No Yes No
Aosta Valley48,16522,70867.9632.04
Piedmont1,172,338541,18368.4231.58
Liguria430,354255,80463.7836.22
Lombardy2,609,4441,221,31068.1231.88
Trentino-Alto
Adige/Südtirol		390,490160,38970.8829.12
Veneto1,553,218934,31362.4437.56
Friuli Venezia
Giulia		281,042190,74359.5740.43
Emilia-Romagna1,273,585557,71669.5530.45
Tuscany1,216,952627,94965.9634.04
Marche533,479237,56969.1930.81
Umbria221,989101,06268.7231.28
Lazio1,307,304677,69365.8634.14
Abruzzo384,500136,88573.7526.25
Molise93,17823,45679.8920.11
Campania2,087,311609,29077.4122.59
Apulia1,477,164486,61475.2224.78
Basilicata169,02453,85675.8424.16
Calabria521,444151,13877.5322.47
Sicily1,055,351335,39775.8824.12
Sardinia322,200159,84366.8433.16
Total17,168,5327,484,91869.6430.36
Abroad
constituency		 Votes  %
Yes No Yes No
North and Central
Americas		62,64414,63281.0718.93
South America226,52278,81974.1925.81
Europe422,616105,16880.0719.93
Africa, Asia,
Oceania, Antarctica		32,7758,47079.4620.54
Total744,557207,08978.2421.76

Turnout
Area Time
20 Sep 21 Sep
12:00 19:00 23:00 15:00
Nationwide
Italy 12.25% 29.70% 39.38% 53.84%
Abruzzo 10.61% 27.31% 36.47% 50.79%
Basilicata 9.40% 24.36% 36.96% 50.14%
Calabria 8.62% 22.44% 32.42% 45.18%
Campania 12.46% 29.36% 42.78% 61.04%
Emilia-Romagna 14.16% 32.99% 41.59% 55.37%
Friuli Venezia Giulia 12.40% 28.31% 36.34% 50.22%
Lazio 10.87% 25.25% 33.06% 45.65%
Liguria 15.43% 35.47% 44.04% 59.15%
Lombardy 12.43% 30.91% 39.01% 51.36%
Marche 14.90% 36.65% 47.56% 66.38%
Molise 9.76% 24.18% 33.33% 47.48%
Piedmont 12.02% 30.69% 38.81% 51.56%
Apulia 13.22% 30.28% 43.74% 61.91%
Sardinia 7.76% 17.02% 23.41% 35.70%
Sicily 6.41% 16.96% 24.78% 35.38%
Tuscany 15.44% 38.17% 48.29% 65.88%
Trentino-Alto Adige 16.04% 40.50% 54.42% 70.94%
Umbria 9.56% 25.16% 33.09% 48.75%
Aosta Valley 18.24% 44.35% 56.37% 72.44%
Veneto 16.31% 39.27% 51.04% 67.54%
Abroad
Abroad — — — 23.30%
Africa, Asia, Oceania, Antarctica — — — 19.75%
South America — — — 23.95%
North and Central Americas — — — 22.49%
Europe — — — 23.39%
Source: Ministry of the Interior – Turnout Archived 22 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine

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