European Parliament election, 2009 (Italy)

Italian election of European Parliament, 2009
Italy
6 and 7 June 2009
72 seats to the European Parliament
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Silvio Berlusconi Dario Franceschini Umberto Bossi
Party People of Freedom Democratic Party Lega Nord
Alliance EPP S&D EFD
Leader since 26 January 1994 16 February 2009 4 December 1989
Last election 32,4% 31.1% 5.0%
Seats before 25 24 4
Seats won 29 21 9
Seat change Increase4 Decrease3 Increase5
Popular vote 10,797,296 7,999,476 3,126,915
Percentage 35.3% 26.1% 10.2%
Swing Increase2.9% Decrease5.0% Increase5.2%

Major parties in each Province

The European Parliament election of 2009 in Italy was held on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June 2009, as decided by the Italian government on 18 December 2008.[1] Italy elected 72 members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

Electoral system

The party-list proportional representation was the traditional electoral system of the Italian Republic since its foundation in 1946, so it had been adopted to elect the Italian representatives to the European Parliament too. Two levels were used: a national level to divide seats between parties, and a constituency level to distribute them between candidates. Italian regions were united in 5 constituencies, each electing a group of deputies. At national level, seats were divided between party lists using the largest remainder method with Hare quota. All seats gained by each party were automatically distributed to their local open lists and their most voted candidates.

In the run-up of the election, the Italian Parliament has introduced a national threshold of 4% in the electoral law for the European Parliament.

However, the electoral law guarantees representation for linguistic minorities. The parties which represent minorities can be connected with the major parties for the purpose of elections, combining their votes. If the party of the linguistic minority gets more than 50,000 votes, it wins a seat.

Results

The election was a victory for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The parties supporting the government (The People of Freedom and Lega Nord) won 38 seats, while the opposition (Democratic Party, Italy of Values and Union of the Centre) collectively elected 34 candidates.

After the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, the seats of Italy in the European Parliament increased from 72 to 73. The additional seat was assigned to Union of the Centre (that went from 5 to 6 seats).

Party European group Main candidate Votes % +/– Seats +/–
The People of Freedom EPP Silvio Berlusconi 10,797,296 35.26 1.35 Increase
29 / 72
 3 Increase
Democratic Party S&D David Sassoli 7,999,476 26.12 4.96 Decrease
21 / 72
 3 Decrease
Lega Nord EFD Umberto Bossi 3,126,181 10.21 5.25 Increase
9 / 72
 5 Increase
Italy of Values ALDE Luigi de Magistris 2,450,643 8.00 5.86 Increase
7 / 72
 5 Increase
Union of the Centre EPP Ciriaco De Mita 1,995,021 6.51 0.62 Increase
5 / 72
 0 Steady
Anticapitalist and Communist List GUE/NGL 1,037,862 3.39 5.09 Decrease
0 / 72
 7 Decrease
Left and Freedom GUE/NGL 957,822 3.13 New
0 / 72
 New
Bonino-Pannella List ALDE 743,284 2.43 0.18 Increase
0 / 72
 2 Decrease
The Autonomy None 681,290 2.22 New
0 / 72
 New
Tricolour Flame None 246,403 0.80 0.07 Increase
0 / 72
 1 Decrease
Workers' Communist Party None 166,531 0.54 New
0 / 72
 New
New Force None 147,343 0.48 –
0 / 72
 0 Steady
South Tyrolean People's Party[2] EPP Herbert Dorfmann 143,509 0.47 0.02 Increase
1 / 72
 0 Steady
Liberal Democrats – Associative Movement Italians Abroad None 71,067 0.23 New
0 / 72
 New
Aosta Valley (UV - SA - FA)[3] EPP 32,913 0.11 –
0 / 72
 0 Steady
Autonomy Liberty Democracy[4] None 27,199 0.09 New
0 / 72
 New
Valid votes 30,390,070 92.79
Blank and Invalid votes 2,125,164 7.21
Totals 32,749,004 100.00 —
0 / 72
 6 Decrease
Electorate and voter turnout 50,342,153 65.05
Source: Ministry of the Interior
Popular vote
PdL
  
 35.26%
PD
  
 26.12%
LN
  
 10.21%
IdV
  
 8.00%
UdC
  
 4.38%
LCA
  
 3.39%
SeL
  
 3.13%
Others
  
 7.37%

References

  1. ↑ Elezioni europee e amministrative il 6 e 7 giugno 2009
  2. ↑ List connected with the Democratic Party
  3. ↑ List connected with The People of Freedom
  4. ↑ List connected with Italy of Values
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