Constitution of the Italian Republic (1947) (excerpts related to Elections) (English)
The Constitution of the Italian Republic
(Official Gazette, 27 December 1947, n. 298)
Fundamental principles
Art. 1
Italy is a Democratic Republic, founded on work.
Sovereignty belongs to the people, which exercises it in the forms and within the limits of the Constitution.
Part I
RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS
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Title IV
POLITICAL RIGHTS
Art. 48
All citizens, male and female, who have attained their majority, are electors.
The vote is personal and equal, free and secret. The exercise thereof is a civic duty.
An Act of Parliament shall establish the conditions and the procedures under which Italian nationals resident abroad may exercise their right to vote in Italian elections, and shall guarantee its effectiveness. For this purpose a 'Foreign Constituency' shall be created to which Members to both Houses of Parliament shall be elected. The number of seats shall be established by a constitutional law and comply with the criteria enacted by Act of Parliament.
The right to vote cannot be restricted except for civil incapacity or as a consequence of an irrevocable penal sentence or in cases of moral unworthiness as laid down by law.
Art. 49
All citizens have the right to freely associate in parties to contribute through democratic processes to determining national policies.
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Art. 51
All citizens of either sex are eligible for public office and for elected positions on equal terms, according to the conditions established by law.
The law may grant Italians who are not resident in the Republic the same rights as citizens for the purposes of access to public offices and elected positions.
Whoever is called to perform an elected public office has the right to have the needful time to carry out that function and to conserve his place of work.
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PART II
ORGANISATION OF THE REPUBLIC
TITLE I
PARLIAMENT
SECTION I
The Houses
Art. 55
Parliament consists of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic.
Parliament meets in joint session of the members of both Houses only in those cases established in the Constitution.
Art. 56
The Chamber of Deputies is elected by universal and direct suffrage.
The number of Deputies is six hundred and thirty.
All those voters who on the day of elections have attained the age of twenty-five are eligible to be deputies.
The division of seats among the electoral districts is obtained by dividing the number of inhabitants of the Republic, as shown by the latest general census of the population, by six hundred and thirty and distributing the seats in proportion to the population in every electoral district, on the basis of whole shares and the highest remainders.
Art. 57
The Senate of the Republic is elected on a regional basis.
The number of Senators to be elected is three hundred and fifteen.
No region may have fewer than seven senators; Molise shall have two, Valle d'Aosta one.
The division of seats among the regions, in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Article, is made in proportion to the population of the regions as revealed in the most recent general census, on the basis of whole shares and the highest remainders.
Art. 58
Senators are elected by universal and direct suffrage by the electors who have completed their twenty-fifth year of age.
Electors who have completed their fortieth year are eligible to be senators.
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Art 60
The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic are elected for five years.
The term for each house cannot be extended except by law and only in cases of war.
Art. 61
Elections for the new Houses will take place within seventy days of the end of the term of the previous Houses. The first meeting will take place not later than twenty days after the elections.
Until such time as the new Houses meet the powers of the previous Houses are extended.
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SECTION II
The Drafting of Laws
Art. 75
A popular referendum shall be held to abrogate, totally or partially, a law or an act having the force of law, when requested by five hundred thousand electors or five regional councils.
A referendum is not permitted in the case of tax, budget, amnesty and pardon laws, in authorization or ratification of international treaties.
All citizens eligible to vote for the Chamber of deputies have the right to participate in referendums.
The proposal subjected to referendum is approved if the majority of those with voting rights have voted and a majority of votes validly cast has been reached.
The law establishes the procedures for conducting a referendum.
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TITLE II
THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
Art. 83
The President of the Republic is elected by parliament in joint session of its members.
Three delegates from every region elected by the Regional Council so as to ensure that minorities are represented shall participate in the election. Valle d'Aosta has one delegate only.
The election of the President of the Republic is by secret ballot with a majority of two thirds of the assembly. After the third ballot an absolute majority is sufficient.
Art. 84
Any citizen who has completed fifty-years of age and enjoys civil and political rights can be elected President of the Republic.
The office of president of the republic is incompatible with any other office.
Compensation and endowments of the president are established by law.
Art. 85
The President of the Republic is elected for seven years.
Thirty days before the expiration of the term, the president of the Chamber of Deputies shall summon a joint session of parliament and the regional delegates to elect the new president of the republic.
If the houses are dissolved, or there is less than three months to their dissolution, the election shall take place within fifteen days of the meeting of the new houses.
In the intervening time the powers of the president elect are prolonged.
Art. 87
The President of the Republic is the head of the State and represents national unity.
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He calls elections for the new houses and fixes their first meetings.
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He calls popular referendums in those cases provided for by the Constitution.
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TITLE V
REGIONS, PROVINCES, MUNICIPALITIES
Art. 114
The Republic is composed of the Municipalities, the Provinces, the Metropolitan Cities, the Regions and the State. Municipalities, provinces, metropolitan cities and regions are autonomous entities having their own statutes, powers and functions in accordance with the principles laid down in the Constitution.
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Art. 117
Legislative powers shall be vested in the State and the Regions in compliance with the Constitution and with the constraints deriving from EU-legislation and international obligations.
The State has exclusive legislative powers in the following subject matters:
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f) state bodies and relevant electoral laws; state referenda; elections to the European Parliament;
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p) electoral legislation, governing bodies and fundamental functions of the Municipalities, Provinces and Metropolitan Cities;
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Art. 121
The organs of the Region are: the Regional Council, the Regional Executive and its President.
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Art. 122
The electoral system and the cases of ineligibility and incompatibility of the President, the other members of the Regional Executive and the Regional councillors shall be established by a regional law in accordance with the fundamental principles established by a law of the Republic, which also establishes the term of elective offices.
No one may belong at the same time to a Regional Council or to a Regional Executive and to one of the Houses of Parliament, to another Regional Council, or to the European Parliament.
The Council shall elect a President amongst its members and a Bureau.
Regional councillors are not answerable for the opinions expressed and votes cast in the exercise of their functions.
The President of the Regional Executive shall be elected by universal and direct suffrage, unless the regional statute provides otherwise. The elected President shall appoint and dismiss the members of the Executive.
Art. 123
Each Region shall have a statute which, in harmony with the Constitution, shall lay down the form of government and basic principles for the organisation of the Region and the conduct of its business. The statute shall regulate the right to initiate legislation and promote referenda on the laws and administrative measures of the Region as well as the publication of laws and of regional regulations.
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The statute is submitted to popular referendum if one-fiftieth of the electors of the Region or one-fifth of the members of the Regional Council so request within three months from its publication. The statute that is submitted to referendum is not promulgated if it is not approved by the majority of valid votes.
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Art. 132
By a constitutional law, after consultation with the Regional Councils, a merger between existing Regions or the creation of new Regions having a minimum of one million inhabitants may be decided upon, when the request has been made by a number of Municipal Councils representing not less than one-third of the populations involved, and the request has been approved by referendum by a majority of said populations.
The Provinces and Municipalities which request to be detached from one Region and incorporated in another may be allowed to do so, following a referendum and a law of the Republic, which obtains the majority of the populations of the Province or Provinces and of the Municipality or Municipalities concerned, and after having heard the Regional Councils.
Art 133
Changes in provincial boundaries and the institution of new Provinces within a Region are regulated by the laws of the Republic, on the initiative of the Municipalities, after consultation with the Region.
The Region, after consultation with the populations involved, may establish through its laws new Municipalities within its own territory and modify their districts and names.
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TITLE VI
CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES
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SECTION II
Amendments to the Constitution. Constitutional Laws
Art. 138
Laws amending the Constitution and other constitutional laws shall be adopted by each House after two successive debates at intervals of not less than three months, and shall be approved by an absolute majority of the members of each House in the second voting.
The said laws are submitted to a popular referendum when, within three months of their publication, such request is made by one fifth of the members of a House or five hundred thousand electors or five region councils. The law submitted to referendum shall not be promulgated if not approved by a majority of valid votes.
A referendum shall not be held if the law has been approved in the second voting by each of the Houses by a majority of two-thirds of the members.
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