Law on Modifications to the standards for the election of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate of the Republic of Italy (2005) (English)
Law of 21 December 2005 No. 270
“Modifications to the standards for the election of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate of the Republic”
published in Gazzetta Ufficiale [Italian Official Journal of Laws] No. 303 of 30 December 2005 - ordinary supplement No. 213
Art. 1.
(Modifications to the electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies)
1. Article 1 of the consolidated legislation containing the rules that govern the elections to the Chamber of Deputies, included in Presidential Decree of 30 March 1957 No. 361 with later amendments, hereinafter referred to as “Presidential Decree 361 of 30 March 1957”, is replaced by the following:
“Art. 1. – 1. The Chamber of Deputies is elected by universal suffrage, by direct, equal, free and secret ballot assigned to lists of competing candidates.
2. The territory of Italy is divided into electoral districts listed in Table A attached to this consolidated legislation. Except for seats assigned to the Foreign District, seats are distributed on a proportional basis, with the possibility of a majority bonus being granted according to articles 77, 83 and 84; this is carried out at the central national office”.
2. Article 4 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 4. – 1. It is a civil obligation and a right of all the citizens to vote and the free exercise of that right should be guaranteed and promoted by the Republic.
2. Each voter may cast one vote for the list of his or her choice for the seats to be assigned proportionally; the vote should be expressed on a single ballot paper containing the logos of all the lists”.
3. In article 7, seventh paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “In case of early dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies” are replaced by the following: “In case of dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies which takes place earlier than a hundred and twenty days from the due date”.
4. The following modifications are introduced to article 14 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) in the first paragraph, the words: “candidatures in single-member constituencies or” and: “the candidatures in single-member constituencies or” have been deleted;
b) in the third paragraph, the words: “, both if they refer to candidatures in single-member constituencies and to lists,” have been deleted and after the words: “with those reproducing symbols” the following are inserted: “, elements and words, or only some of them,”;
c) at the end of the fourth paragraph, the following words are added: “even if appearing in a different setting or graphic representation.
5. After Article 14 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the following is inserted:
“Art. 14-bis. – 1. Parties or organised political groups may join in coalitions comprising their respective lists. Declarations of association have to be reciprocal.
2. Submitting a declaration of association is connected with the registration of the logo described in article 14. Declarations of association have effect upon all the lists bearing the same logo.
3. Together with the registration of the logo described in article 14, parties or organised political groups that propose their candidatures register an electoral program in which they declare the forename and surname of the person they have designated as leader of their political formation. Parties and organised political groups that have formed a coalition and run in the elections register a single electoral program in which they declare the forename and surname of the person they have designated as leader of the coalition. The prerogatives of the President of the Republic under article 92 (second paragraph) of the Constitution remain in full force and effect.
4. The tasks referred to in paragraph 1, 2 and 3 are carried out by entities described in article 15, first paragraph.
5. Until thirty days before the voting, the central district offices inform which lists have been admitted, providing the central national office with samples of the logos; the central national office, having confirmed the regularity of the declarations, ensures the publication of the list of admitted associations in the Gazzetta Ufficiale [Italian Journal of Laws] until twenty days before the election day”.
6. Article 18-bis of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 18-bis. – 1. The presentation of the lists of candidates to for the proportional assignment of seats has to be signed by at least 1,500 and no more than 2,000 voters entered on the electoral lists for communities in districts with no more than 500,000 inhabitants; by at least 2,500 and no more than 3,000 electors entered on the electoral lists for communities in districts with more than 500,000 and less than 1,000,000 inhabitants; by at least 4,000 and no more than 4,500 electors entered on the electoral lists for communities in districts with more than 1,000,000 inhabitants. In case the Chamber of Deputies is dissolved earlier than a hundred and twenty days before the due date, the number of signatures is reduced by half. The signatures have to be certified by one of the entities described in article 14 of the law of 21 March 1990 No. 53. The candidature has to be approved by a declaration that is signed and certified by a mayor, a notary or by one of the entities described in article 14 of the law of 21 March 1990 No. 53. For Italian citizens resident abroad, certification of signature has to be requested at a diplomatic or consular office.
2. No signature is required for parties or political groups that formed a parliamentary group in both Chambers at the beginning of the current period of office of the legislature when electoral assemblies are called. Likewise, no signature is required for parties or political groups that have made their declarations of association according to article 14-bis, par. 1 with at least two parties or political groups described in the first sentence above and if they won at least one seat in the last elections to the European Parliament, with the same logo as the one registered according to article 14. In such cases, the presentation of the list should be signed by the chairperson or secretary of such a party or political group or by one of the representatives described in article 17, first paragraph. The Minister of Internal Affairs shall inform each district electoral office that the designation of representatives comprises the obligation to sign the declaration related to the presentation of the lists. The signature of the person signing should be certified by a notary or by a registrar. Likewise, no signature is required for parties or political groups that represent linguistic minorities that won at least one seat in the previous elections to the Chamber of Deputies or to the Senate of the Republic.
3. At the moment of its presentation, each list is composed of a roll of candidates arranged in a definite order. The list is generally composed of a number of candidates between one third and the total number of seats assigned to a given district”.
7. In article 19, paragraph 1 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the second sentence is replaced by the following: “On pain of invalidity of the election, no candidate may accept that their candidature be proposed simultaneously for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic”.
8. Article 31 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 31. – 1. The ballot papers are made of strong paper, they are provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and bear the essential characteristics of the model described in tables A-bis and A-ter attached to this consolidated legislation; they contain the facsimiles of all the logos of the lists that were regularly presented in the district, according to the provisions of article 24.
2. The logos of joint lists that belong to the same coalition are presented on the ballot papers in vertical alignment, one under another and in a single column. The order of coalitions and individual lists that are not associated, as well as the order of the logos of each coalition’s lists are determined by lot according to the provisions of article 24. The logos printed on the ballot papers shall have a diameter of three centimetres”.
9. In Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, after table A, tables A-bis and A-ter are inserted, provided in attachment 1 to this Law.
10. The following modifications are introduced to article 58 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) The first paragraph is replaced by the following:
“Once the identity of the voter has been confirmed , the chairperson extracts one ballot paper from the box and gives it to the voter appropriately folded, together with a copying pencil”;
b) in the second paragraph, the first sentence is replaced by the following: “The voter, without being approached by anyone, casts the vote by making any mark on the ballot paper using the copying pencil in the box that contains the logo of the list of his or her choice; in the third sentence, the words: “the ballot papers along the lines traced on them and fold them” are replaced by the following: “the ballot paper along the lines traced on it and fold it”;
c) the sixth paragraph has been cancelled.
11. Article 77 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 77. – 1. The central district office, once the operations described in article 76 have been carried out, shall perform the following tasks with the assistance of one or more experts chosen by the chairperson (if it is deemed necessary):
1) establish the district electoral figure for each list. This number is the sum of votes won by that list in each electoral section of the district;
2) inform the central national office, by means of a report extract, the district electoral figure for each list, as well as, for purposes described in article 83, paragraph 1, point 3, the total number of valid votes from the district”.
12. Article 83 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 83. – 1. The central national office, once it has received the report extracts from all the central district offices, shall perform the following tasks with the assistance of one or more experts chosen by the chairperson (if it is deemed necessary):
1) establishes the national electoral figure for each list. This number is the sum of the district electoral figures obtained in each district by lists bearing the same logo.
2) establishes the national electoral total for every coalition of associated lists, which is the sum of the national electoral figures for all the lists that form the coalition, as well as the national electoral figure for non-associated lists, identifying the list coalition or the non-associated list that has obtained the highest number of valid votes cast;
3) as a next step, identifies:
a) the list coalitions that have won at least 10 per cent of the valid votes cast on the national scale and that comprise at least one associated list that has won at least 2 per cent of the valid votes cast on the national scale or an associated list that represents recognised linguistic minorities, presented exclusively in one of the districts of a region with special statute that provides for the protection of such linguistic minorities, which has obtained at least 20 per cent of valid votes cast in that district;
b) individual, non-associated lists that have obtained at least 4 per cent of the valid votes cast on the national scale and individual, non-associated lists that represent recognised linguistic minorities, presented exclusively in one of the districts of a region with a special statute that provides for the protection of such linguistic minorities, which have won at least 20 per cent of the valid votes cast in that district, as well as lists of coalitions that have not exceeded the percentage referred to in letter a, but has won at least 4 per cent of valid votes cast on the national scale or represents recognised linguistic minorities, presented exclusively in one of the districts of a region with a special statute that provides for the protection of such linguistic minorities and has won at least 20 per cent of the valid votes cast in that district;
4) distributes seats among the coalitions described in point 3a, and the lists described in point 3b, according to the national electoral figure for each coalition. This involves dividing the total of the national electoral figures for every list coalition or individual list described in point 3 by the number of seats to be assigned, thus obtaining the national electoral ratio. Such a division does not take into account the potential fractional part of the ratio. The electoral figure for every list coalition or individual list is then divided by this ratio. The integral part of the ratio thus obtained represents the number of seats to be assigned to each list coalition or individual list. The seats that still remain to be assigned are assigned to list coalitions or to individual lists with the highest remainder resulting from the division; if this remainder is the same for more lists, the list that has obtained the highest national electoral figure is assigned the seat; if that figure is also the same for more lists, lots are drawn;
5) checks whether the list coalition or the individual list that have obtained the highest number of valid votes cast have won the minimum of 340 seats;
6) identifies, within each of the coalitions composed of associated lists described in point 3a, the lists that have won at least 2 per cent of valid votes cast on the national scale and the lists that represent recognised linguistic minorities, presented exclusively in one of the districts of a region with a special statute that provides for the protection of such linguistic minorities, which have won at least 20 per cent of the valid votes cast in that district, as well as the list that has obtained the highest national electoral figure of those that have not obtained the minimum of 2 per cent of valid votes cast on the national scale;
7) if the result of the check described in point 5 is positive, each list coalition shall be assigned seats according to the national electoral figure for each list described in point 6. For each list coalition, this involves the division of the total of national electoral figures for each of the lists eligible for the distribution described in point 6 by the number of seats already identified according to point 4. Such a division does not take into account the potential fractional part of the ratio thus obtained. The national electoral figure for every list eligible for the distribution is then divided by this ratio. The integral part of the ratio thus obtained represents the number of seats to be assigned to each list. The seats that still remain to be assigned are assigned to the lists with the highest remainder resulting from the division; if this remainder is the same for more lists, the one that has obtained the highest national electoral figure is assigned the seat; if that figure is also the same for more lists, lots are drawn; Each of the lists described in point 3b, is assigned the seats already established according to point 4;
8) except for the provisions of paragraph 2, seats assigned to various list coalitions or individual lists described in point 3 are then distributed in each district. For each list coalition, this involves dividing the total of the district electoral figures for all the lists that form it by the national electoral ratio described in point 4, thus obtaining the index related to the seats that are to be assigned in a given district to the lists that form the coalition. Analogically, for each list described in point 3b, the district electoral figure is divided by the national electoral ratio, thus obtaining the index related to the number of seats to be assigned to the list in the district. Each of the indices described above should then be multiplied by the number of seats assigned to the district; the result is divided by the total of all the indices. The integral part of the assignment ratios thus obtained represents the number of seats to be assigned to each list coalition or individual list described in point 3. The seats that still remain to be distributed are assigned to list coalitions or to individual lists for which the decimal part of the assignment ratio is the highest; if it is the same for more lists, the list coalition or individual list that has obtained the highest district electoral figure is assigned the seat; if that figure is also the same for more lists, lots are drawn; As a next step, the office ascertains whether the number of seats assigned to each list coalition or individual list in all of the districts corresponds with the number of seats established according to point 4. If the contrary is established, the following is done, commencing from the list coalition or individual list that has the largest number of seats in excess and if the number of seats in excess is the same for more list coalitions or individual lists, commencing from the one that has obtained the highest national electoral figure, then proceeding to the other list coalitions or individual lists in decreasing order with regard to the number of seats in excess: the seats in excess are taken from list coalitions or individual lists in districts where they have obtained them on the basis of the decimal part of the assignment ratio; this is done according to the increasing order of the latter figures and in districts where other list coalitions or individual lists that have not obtained the number of seats that was due to them have decimal parts of the ratio which have not been used. As a result, seats shall be assigned to such list coalitions or individual lists. If within the same district, for two or more list coalitions or individual lists the decimal part of the ratio has not been used, the seat is assigned to the list coalition or to the individual list whose unused decimal part of the ratio is higher. If it is impossible to perform the operations described above within a single district, to reach the number of seats that remain to be distributed, they shall be taken from the list coalition or individual list with seats in excess in districts where they have obtained the seats with the lowest decimal part of the assignment ratio; list coalitions or individual lists with an insufficient number of seats shall consequently be assigned seats in districts where they had the highest unused decimal parts of the assignment ratio;
9) with exception made for the provisions of paragraph 2, the office shall then assign seats due to each coalition list in individual districts. For each list coalition, this involves establishing the district ratio by dividing the total of district electoral figures for each of the lists described in point 6 by the number of seats assigned to the coalition in the district according to point 8. Such division does not take into account the potential fractional part of the ratio. The district electoral figure for every list of the coalition is then divided by this district ratio. The integral part of the ratio thus obtained represents the number of seats to be assigned to each list. The seats that remain to be distributed are assigned to lists according to the decimal parts of ratios thus obtained in decreasing order; in case they are the same, seats are assigned to lists with the highest district electoral figure; if the latter is also the same for more lists, lots are drawn. As a next step, the office ascertains whether the number of seats assigned to each list in all of the districts corresponds with the number of seats assigned to it according to point 7. If the contrary is established, the following is done, commencing from the list coalition or individual list that has the largest number of seats in excess and if the number of seats in excess is the same for more lists, commencing from the one that has obtained the highest national electoral figure, then proceeding to the other lists in decreasing order with regard to the number of seats in excess: the seats in excess are taken from the list in districts where it has obtained them on the basis of the decimal part of the assignment ratio; this is done according to the increasing order of the latter figures and in districts where other lists that have not obtained the number of seats that was due to them have decimal parts of the ratio which have not been used. As a result, seats are assigned to those lists. If within the same district, for two or more lists the decimal part of the ratio has not been used, the seat is assigned to the list whose unused decimal part of the ratio is higher. If it is impossible to perform the operations described above within a single district, to reach the number of seats that remain to be distributed, they shall be taken from the list with seats in excess in districts where it has obtained the seats with the lowest decimal part of the assignment ratio; lists with an insufficient number of seats shall consequently be assigned seats in districts where they had the highest unused decimal parts of the assignment ratio.
2. If a list coalition or individual list that has obtained the highest number of valid votes cast according to paragraph 1 has not won the minimum of 340 seats, it shall be assigned an additional number of seats necessary to achieve that amount. In such a case, the office shall assign 340 seats to that list coalition or individual list. The total of national electoral figures for all the lists of the coalition shall be divided by 340, thus obtaining the national electoral ratio of the majority.
3. The office shall then distribute the remaining 277 seats proportionally between the other list coalitions and lists described in paragraph 1, point 3. This involves dividing the total of their national electoral figures by 277, thus obtaining the national electoral ratio of the minority. Such division does not take into account the potential fractional part of the ratio. The electoral figure for every list coalition or individual list is then divided by this ratio. The integral part of the ratio thus obtained represents the number of seats to be assigned to each list coalition or individual list. The seats that still remain to be assigned are assigned to list coalitions or to individual lists with the highest remainder resulting from the division; if this remainder is the same for more lists, the one that has obtained the highest national electoral figure is assigned the seat; if that figure is also the same for more lists, lots are drawn;
4. The office shall then distribute the seats that are due to each list coalition between the lists that are eligible for the distribution. This shall be done according to paragraph 1, point 7, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh sentence.
5. In order to distribute in individual districts the seats assigned to lists that are eligible for the distribution according to paragraph 1, point 6, the office shall proceed according to paragraph 1, point 8 and 9. Instead of the national electoral ratio, the national electoral ratio of the majority shall be used here for the list coalition or individual list that has obtained the highest number of valid votes and the national electoral ratio of the minority for the other list coalitions or individual lists.
6. The central national office shall inform the central district offices about the number of seats assigned to each list.
7. All the operations of the central national office shall be recorded in a report made in two copies: one shall be submitted to the General Secretariat of the Chamber of Deputies which shall confirm its receipt, the other one shall be stored at the registry of the Italian Supreme Court”.
13. Article 84 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 84. – 1. The chairperson of the central district office, once the information described in article 83, paragraph 6 has been received, proclaims as elected, within the limits of seats each of the list is entitled to, the candidates included in the list in the order in which they are presented.
2. In the case where a list has exhausted the number of candidates presented in one district, so that it is impossible to assign all the seats that are due to it in that district, the central national office assigns the seats to that list in other districts in which the list has the highest unused decimal part of the ratio, proceeding in decreasing order. In case there are still seats to be assigned to the list after this operation has been carried out, the seats are assigned to it in other districts in which the list has the highest decimal part of the ratio already used, proceeding in decreasing order.
3. If there are still seats to be assigned to a list in a given district after the operations described in paragraph 2 have been carried out, the seats are assigned within the original district to the list that makes part of the same coalition as the list with an insufficient number of seats that has the highest unused decimal part of the ratio, proceeding in decreasing order. If there are still seats remaining to be assigned to the list after this operation has been carried out, the seats are assigned in other districts to a list that makes part of the same coalition as the list with an insufficient number of seats that has the highest decimal part of the ratio already used, proceeding in decreasing order.
4. If in the course of performing the operations described in paragraph 2 and 3 two or more lists have the same decimal part of the ratio, lots are drawn.
5. The central national office informs the district electoral offices about the result of the operations carried out according to paragraph 2 and 3 so that they can issue the proclamations.
6. The chairperson of the central district office sends a document that testifies that the proclamation has taken place to the deputies that have been proclaimed and immediately informs the general secretariat of the Chamber of Deputies, as well as the individual prefectures, i.e. the territorial governmental offices, which make the information publicly available”.
14. Article 86 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 86. – 1. A seat that remains vacant for any reason, including sudden events, is assigned within the same district to the candidate that immediately follows the last candidate elected on the list, in progressive order.
2. In the case where a list has already exhausted its candidates, one should proceed according to the mode described in article 84, paragraph 2, 3 and 4.
3. In the case where a seat remains vacant in the Valle d’Aosta district, supplementary elections are held.
4. The supplementary elections are held according to paragraph 1–6 of article 21-ter of the consolidated legislation containing the standards for the elections of the Senate of the Republic, contained in legislative decree of 20 December 1993 No. 533, to the extent in which they are applicable”.
Art. 2.
(Presentation of the lists)
1. The provisions contained in article 18-bis, paragraph 2 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, replaced by article 1, paragraph 6 of this law, also apply to the presentation of the lists, referred to in article 8 of the law of 27 December 2001 No. 459.
Art. 3.
(Temporary provisions)
1. With reference to the first political elections held after the effective date of this law, in case of early dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies no earlier than a hundred and twenty days before the due date, the causes for ineligibility described in article 7 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, as modified by article 1, paragraph 3 of this law, are not valid if the performance of the functions has ceased within seven days after the effective date of this law.
Art. 4.
(Modifications to the system of elections to the Senate of the Republic)
1. Article 1 of the consolidated legislation containing standards for the election of the Senate of the Republic, included in the legislative decree of 20 December 1993 No. 533 with later amendments, hereinafter referred to as “legislative decree No. 533 of 1993”, is replaced by the following:
“Art. 1. – 1. The Senate of the Republic is elected on a regional basis. Except for seats assigned to the Foreign District, seats are distributed between the regions according to article 57 of the Constitution on the basis of the results of the last general population census reported in the last official publication of the Italian National Statistical Institute, by Presidential Decree issued on suggestion of the Minister of Internal Affairs by previous resolution of the Cabinet, simultaneously with the decree that calls the assemblies.
2. The seats are assigned proportionally between the competing lists, with the potential assignment of a regional coalition bonus.
3. The Valle d’Aosta region comprises one single-member constituency.
4. The Trentino-Alto Adige region comprises six single-member constituencies defined according to the law of 30 December 1991 No. 422. The remaining amount of seats due to the region is assigned using the method of proportional recovery”.
2. Article 8 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 8. – 1. Parties or organised political groups which intend to submit their candidatures for the elections to the Senate of the Republic should register at the Ministry of Internal Affairs the logos with are to distinguish their candidatures according to their wish, with respect of the standards set in articles 14, 14-bis, 15, 16 and 17 of the consolidated legislation containing standards for the elections to the Chamber of Deputies, included in Presidential Decree of 30 March 1957 No. 361 with later amendments”.
3. Article 9 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 9. – 1. The declaration presenting the lists of candidates has to contain an indication of the names of two effective delegates and two substitutes.
2. The declaration described in paragraph 1 has to be signed a) by at least 1,000 and no more than 1,500 voters entered on the electoral lists for communities in regions with no more than 500,000 inhabitants; b) by at least 1,750 and no more than 2,500 voters entered on the lists for communities in regions with more than 500,000 and no more than 1,000,000 inhabitants; c) by at least 3,500 and no more than 5,000 voters entered on the lists for communities in regions with more than 1,000,000 inhabitants. In case the Senate of the Republic is dissolved earlier than a hundred and twenty days before the due date, the number of signatures set in letters; a, b and c is reduced by half. No signature is required for parties or political groups that formed a parliamentary group in both Chambers at the beginning of the current period of office of the legislature when the assemblies are called. Likewise, no signature is required for parties or political groups that have made their declarations of association according to article 14-bis, paragraph 1, of the consolidated legislation containing the standards for the election of the Chamber of Deputies, included in Presidential Decree of 30 March 1957 No. 361, with at least two parties or political groups described in the first sentence of this paragraph and that won at least one seat in the last elections to the European Parliament, with the same logo as the one registered according to article according to article 14 of the quoted consolidated legislation included in Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957. In such cases, the presentation of the list has to be signed by the chairperson or by the secretary of the party or political group or by one of the representatives described in article 17, first paragraph of the consolidated legislation included in Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957. The Minister of Internal Affairs shall inform each regional electoral office that the designation of representatives comprises the obligation to sign the declaration related to the presentation of the lists. The signature of the person signing should be certified by a notary or by a registrar. Likewise, no signature is required for parties or political groups that represent linguistic minorities that won at least one seat in the previous elections to the Chamber of Deputies or to the Senate of the Republic.
4. At the moment of its presentation, each list is composed of a roll of candidates arranged in a definite order. The list is generally composed of a number of candidates between one third and the total number of seats assigned to a given district.
5. The lists of candidates and the relevant documentation for each region are submitted to the registry of the court of appeals or of the court being the regional electoral office, with respect of the standards set in articles 18-bis, 19, 20 and 21 of the consolidated legislation containing standards for the election of the Chamber of Deputies, included in Presidential Decree of 30 March 1957 No. 361”.
4. The following changes have been made to article 11 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993:
a) paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following:
“1. The regional electoral office, once the date fixed for the presentation of the appeals has passed or, if appeal has been presented, once information about the decision of the central national office has been received, performs the following operations:
a) establishes, by drawing lots in the presence of the delegates included on the list, the ordinal number to be assigned to the coalitions, to the non-associated lists and to the respective logos of each list, as well as the order of logos on the coalition’s lists for each coalition. The logos of all the lists are printed on the ballot papers and on posters according to the progressive order resulting from the drawing of lots described above;
b) informs the delegates about the definitive decisions that have been taken;
c) proceeds, by means of the prefecture, i.e. territorial governmental offices:
1) to the printing of the ballot papers containing the logos of the lists that are to be printed on the ballot papers using the colours registered at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, according to article 8;
2) to the printing of posters with the lists of candidates, with the respective logos and ordinal numbers and to the sending of the posters to mayors of communities in a given district who shall take care of their posting on the court notice board and in other public places until the fifteenth day before the day of elections”;
b) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:
“3. The ballot papers are made of strong paper, they are provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and bear the essential characteristics of the model described in Tables A and B attached to this consolidated legislation; they contain the facsimiles of all the logos of the lists that were regularly presented in the district. The logos of joint lists that belong to the same coalition are presented on the ballot papers in vertical alignment, one under another and in a single column. The order of coalitions and individual lists that are not associated, as well as the order of the logos of each coalition’s lists is determined by lot according to the provisions of paragraph 1, letter a. The logos printed on the ballot papers shall have a diameter of three centimetres”.
5. The tables A and B attached to legislative decree No. 533 of 1993 are replaced by the tables A and B contained in attachment 2 to this law.
6. Article 14 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993 is replaced by the following:
– “Art. 14. – 1. The vote is cast by making any mark on the ballot paper using the pencil in the box that contains the logo of the list of the voter’s choice”.
7. Article 16 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 16 – 1. The regional electoral office, once the operations have been carried out that are described in article 76 of the consolidated legislation containing standards for the election of the Chamber of Deputies, included in Presidential Decree of 30 March 1957, No. 361, performs the following actions:
a) establishes the district electoral figure for each list. This number is the sum of votes won by that list in each electoral department of the district; establishes moreover the district electoral figure for each coalition of lists, obtained from the sum of district electoral figures of all the lists that constitute it;
b) as a next step, identifies:
1) the list coalitions that have won at least 20 per cent of the valid votes cast and that comprise at least one associated list that has won at least 3 per cent of the valid votes cast on the national scale;
2) the single, non-associated lists that have obtained at least 8 per cent of valid votes cast on the national scale, as well as lists that belong to collations which have not exceeded the percentage indicated in point 1, but they have obtained at least 8 per cent of the valid votes cast on the national scale”.
8. Article 17 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 17. – 1. The regional electoral office proceeds to make the first temporary assignment of seats between the list coalitions and lists described in article 16, paragraph 1b based on the district electoral figure for each of those lists. This involves dividing the total of the district electoral figures for each coalition of lists or individual list described in article 16, paragraph 1b by the number of seats to be assigned in the region, thus obtaining the district electoral ratio. Such division does not take into account the potential fractional part of the ratio. The district electoral figure for every list coalition or individual list is then divided by the district electoral ratio. The integral part of the ratio thus obtained represents the number of seats to be assigned to each list coalition or individual list. The seats that still remain to be assigned are assigned to list coalitions or to individual lists with the highest remainder resulting from the division; if this remainder is the same for more lists, the one that has obtained the highest district electoral figure is assigned the seat; if that figure is also the same for more lists, lots are drawn;
2. The regional electoral office then checks whether the list coalition or the individual list that have won the highest number of valid votes cast within a district have obtained at least 55 per cent of the seats assigned to the region, rounded up to the nearest whole number.
3. In case the result of the check described in paragraph 2 is positive, the regional electoral office identifies within each coalition of associated lists described in article 16, paragraph 1b, point 1 the lists that have won, on the district scale, at least 3 per cent of valid votes cast. It proceeds then to the distribution to each list coalition between the admitted lists, of the seats established according to paragraph 1. For each list coalition, this involves dividing the sum of the district electoral figures for the lists admitted to the distribution by the number of seats already identified according to paragraph 1, thus obtaining the relevant coalition electoral ratio. Such division does not take into account the potential fractional part of the ratio. The district electoral figure for every list admitted to the distribution is then divided by the coalition electoral ratio. The integral part of the ratio thus obtained represents the number of seats to be assigned to each list. The seats that still remain to be assigned are assigned to the lists with the highest remainder resulting from the division; if this remainder is the same for more lists, the one that has obtained the highest district electoral figure is assigned the seat; if that figure is also the same for more lists, lots are drawn. The seats established according to paragraph 1 are then assigned to each of the lists described in article 16, paragraph 1b, point 2.
4. In the case where the result of the check described in paragraph 2 is negative, the regional electoral office assigns to the list coalition or to the individual list that have obtained the largest number of votes additional seats necessary for them to reach 55 per cent of the total number of seats assigned to the region, rounded up to the nearest whole number.
5. The remaining seats are distributed between the other list coalitions or individual lists. To achieve this, the regional electoral office divides the electoral figures of those list coalitions or individual lists by the number of remaining seats. Such division does not take into account the potential fractional part of the ratio thus obtained. The electoral figure for every list coalition or individual list is then divided by this ratio. The integral part of the ratio thus obtained represents the number of seats to be assigned to each list coalition or individual list. The seats that still remain to be assigned are assigned to list coalitions or to individual lists with the highest remainder resulting from the division; if this remainder is the same for more lists, the one that has obtained the highest district electoral figure is assigned the seat.
6. For each coalition, the office proceeds to the distribution of the seats that are due to it according to paragraphs 4 and 5. For each list coalition, this involves dividing the total of the district electoral figures of the lists admitted to the distribution according to article 16, paragraph 1b, point 1 by the number of seats that are due to it. Such division does not take into account the potential fractional part of the ratio thus obtained. Then the district electoral figure of each list is divided by the ration described in the previous sentence. The integral part of the ratio thus obtained represents the number of seats to be assigned to each list. The seats that still remain to be distributed are assigned respectively to the list with the highest remainder resulting from the division and if this remainder is the same for more lists, to the list that has obtained the highest district electoral figure.
7. The chairperson of the regional electoral office proclaims as elected, within the limit of seats to which each of the lists is entitled, the candidates included in the list, according to the order of their presentation.
8. If a list has exhausted the number of candidates presented in a regional district and it is therefore impossible for it to be assigned all the seats that it is entitled to, the regional electoral office assigns the seats to a list that makes part of the same coalition as the list with an insufficient number of seats that has the highest unused decimal part of the ratio, proceeding in decreasing order. If two or more lists have the same decimal part of the ratio, lots are drawn”.
9. After article 17 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993, the following is inserted:
“Art. 17-bis. – 1. To distribute the seats that are due to the Molise region, the regional electoral office proceeds according to article 17, paragraphs 1 and 3. The provisions set in article 17, paragraphs 2, 4, 5 and 6 do not apply”.
10. Article 19 of l legislative decree No. 533 of 1993 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 19. – 1. A seat that remains vacant for any reason, including sudden events, is assigned within the same district to the candidate that immediately follows the last of the candidates elected, according to the progressive order on the list.
2. If the list has exhausted the number of candidates presented in a district and so it is impossible to assign it the seat that has remained vacant, it is assigned within the same district according to article 17, paragraph 8”.
Art. 5.
(Special provisions for the Valle d’Aosta and Trentino-Alto Adige regions)
1. Title VII of legislative decree of 20 December 1993 No. 533, is replaced by the following:
“TITLE VII –SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR THE VALLE D’AOSTA AND TRENTINO-ALTO ADIGE REGIONS.
“Art. 20. – 1. The single-member election in the Valle d’Aosta constituency and in the single-member constituencies of the Trentino-Alto Adige region is regulated by the provisions of the preceding articles to the extent in which they apply and by the following standards:
a) in the Valle d’Aosta region, the candidature has to be proposed by declaration signed by at least 300 and no more than 600 voters from the constituency. In case of dissolution of the Senate of the Republic earlier than a hundred and twenty days from the due date, the number of signatures for the candidature is reduced by half. The declaration of candidature is submitted, together with the registration of the respective logo, to the registry of the court of Aosta;
b) in the Trentino-Alto Adige region, the declaration presenting the group of candidates has to be signed by at least 1,750 and by no more than 2,500 voters entered on the electoral lists for the communities of the region. Each group has to be composed of at least three candidates and of a number of candidates that does not exceed the number of constituencies in the region. In case of dissolution of the Senate of the Republic earlier than a hundred and twenty days from the due date, the number of signatures for the candidature is reduced by half. For individual candidatures, the declaration of presentation has to be signed by at least 1,000 and by no more than 1,500 voters entered on the electoral lists in the constituency. The presentation of the groups of candidates and of individual candidatures is made together with the registration of the respective logo at the registry of the court of appeal of Trento;
c) the model ballot papers for elections held in single-member constituencies of the two regions are included in tables F and G attached to the law of 13 March 1980 No. 70 with later amendments;
d) the court of Aosta, constituting a regional electoral office according to article 7, performs its functions with the participation of three magistrates.
Art. 20-bis. – 1. On pain of invalidity of the election, no candidate may accept to be a candidate in more than one single-member constituency.
Art. 21. – 1. The regional electoral office performs the following tasks with the assistance of the registrar:
a) counts the ballot papers that might be sent from the departments;
b) sums up the votes obtained by each of the candidates in the individual departments according to the reports.
2. The chairperson of the regional electoral office proclaims as elected for each constituency, in conformity with the ascertained results, the candidate that has obtained the largest number of valid votes. In case the number of the votes is the same, the older of the candidates is proclaimed elected.
Art. 21-bis. – 1. In order to assign the seats due to the Trentino-Alto Adige region that are not assigned in the single-member constituencies, the regional electoral office determines the electoral figure for each group of candidates and the individual figure for all the candidates of each group that have not been elected according to article 21.
2. The electoral figure for groups of candidates comes from the sum of votes obtained by candidates present in the single-member constituencies of the region with the same logo, without the votes for candidates that have already been proclaimed as elected according to article 21. The individual figure for single candidates is established by multiplying by one hundred the number of valid votes obtained by each of the candidates that have not been elected according to article 21 and by dividing the result by the total of valid votes cast in the constituency.
3. In order to assign the seats, the regional electoral office divides the electoral figure for each group subsequently by one, by two etc. until the number of senators that are supposed to be elected has been reached, choosing as a next step from the ratios thus obtained the highest ones, equal in number to the number of senators to be elected and listed in decreasing order. The seats are assigned to groups according to the ratios included in that listing. Equally to the ratio, the seat is attributed to the group that has obtained the lowest electoral figure. If a group is entitled to more seats than it has candidates, the seats in excess are distributed according to the order in which the ratios are listed.
4. As a next step, the regional electoral office proclaims as elected, according to the seats assigned to each group, the candidates from that group that have obtained the highest individual figure, excluded the candidates elected according to article 21.
Art. 21-ter. – 1. If for any reason a senator’s seat remains vacant in the single-member constituency of Valle d’Aosta or in one of the single-member constituencies of Trentino-Alto Adige, the chairperson of the Senate of the Republic shall immediately inform the Prime Minister and the Minister of Internal Affairs about this fact, so that a supplementary election can be held in the respective constituency.
2. The assemblies are called by Presidential Decree, by resolution of the Cabinet, provided that the vacancy occurs at least one year before the due termination date of the period of legislature.
3. The supplementary elections are called within ninety days from the vacancy date declared by the Election Council.
4. If the ninety-day period indicated in paragraph 3 falls within the period between August 1 and September 15, the Government is entitled to postpone this date by no more than forty-five days; in the case where the date mentioned above falls within the period between December 15 and January 15, the Government may order its postponement by no more than thirty days.
5. The senator elected in a supplementary election discontinues his mandate according to the date set in the Constitution or at the moment of early dissolution of the Senate of the Republic.
6. If supplementary elections are held, the reasons for ineligibility indicated in article 7 of the consolidated legislation containing standards for the election of the Chamber of Deputies, included in Presidential Decree of 30 March 1957 No. 361 with later amendments are not valid if the performance of functions is ceased within seven days after the date of publication of the decree that calls the elections.
7. If for any reason a senator’s seat assigned proportionally in the regional district Trentino-Alto Adige remains vacant, the regional electoral office shall proclaim as elected a candidate from the same group with the highest individual figure”.
Art. 6.
(Further changes to Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957)
1. In article 15, first paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “described in the previous article” are replaced by the following: “described in article 14”.
2. In article 16, fourth paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “of the candidatures and” are deleted wherever they occur.
3. In article 17, first paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “of candidatures in single-member constituencies and” are deleted.
4. Article 18 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957 is cancelled.
5. The following modifications are introduced to article 20 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) in the first paragraph, the words: “or the candidatures in single-member constituencies” are deleted;
b) in the second paragraph, the words: “or the candidatures in single-member constituencies”, “of the candidatures in single-member constituencies and” and “; to candidatures in single-member constituencies the declaration of association has to be attached, as well as the respective approval described in article 18” are deleted;
c) in the third paragraph, the words: “, and for the candidatures in single-member constituencies, the enrolment on the electoral lists for the communities of the constituency or, in case of constituencies consisting of a single community, for the electoral departments of such constituencies” are deleted;
d) in the fifth paragraph, the third sentence is deleted;
e) in the sixth paragraph, the words: “nor more than one candidature of a single-member constituency” are deleted;
f) in the seventh paragraph, the words: “or of the candidature in single-member constituencies” and “or the candidature in single-member constituencies” are deleted.
6. In article 21, second paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “of the candidatures in single-member constituencies and” and “to each of the candidatures in single-member constituencies and” are deleted.
7. The following modifications are introduced to article 22 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) in the first paragraph, beginning of line, the words: “of the candidatures in single-member constituencies and” are deleted;
b) in the first paragraph, point 1 the words: “the candidatures in single-member constituencies and” are deleted;
c) in the first paragraph, point 2 the words: “the candidatures in single-member constituencies and” are deleted;
d) in the first paragraph, point 3 the words: “the candidatures in single-member constituencies and” are deleted and at the end, the following words are inserted: “and declares invalid the lists containing a number of candidates that is lower than the one established in paragraph 3 of article 18-bis”;
e) in the first paragraph, point 4 the words: “declares invalid the candidatures in single-member constituencies and” are deleted;
f) in the first paragraph, point 5 the words: “declares invalid the candidatures in single-member constituencies and” are deleted;
g) in the first paragraph, point 7 is cancelled;
h) in the second paragraph, the words: “of each candidate in single-member constituencies and” are deleted;
i) in the third paragraph, the words: “of the candidates in single-member constituencies and” are deleted.
8. In article 23, first and second paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957 the words: “of the candidates in single-member constituencies and” are deleted.
9. The following changes have been made to article 24, first paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) point 1 is cancelled;
b) point 2 is replaced by the following:
“2) establishes, by drawing lots in the presence of the delegates from the list, the ordinal number to be assigned to the coalitions, to the non-associated lists and to the respective logos of the lists, as well as, for each of the coalitions, the order for the logos of the lists of that coalition. The logos for each of the lists are printed on the ballot papers and on the posters in the progressive order resulting from the drawing of lots described above”;
c) in point 3, the words: “and of any candidate in single-member constituencies” are deleted;
d) in point 4, the words: “the names of candidates in single-member constituencies and the admitted lists” are replaced by the following: “the admitted lists”;
e) in point 5, the word: “distinct” and the words: “of the names of the candidates in individual single-member constituencies and” are deleted and the words: “to their delivery to the mayors of communities in the constituency” are replaced by the following: “to their delivery to the mayors of communities in the district”.
10. The following modifications are made to article 25 of Presidential Decree No. 361 del 1957:
a) in the first paragraph, the words: “to art. 18 and” and: “of the candidate in a single-member constituency or” are deleted;
b) in the last paragraph, first and second sentence, the words: “of the candidates in single-member constituencies and” and: “of the candidatures in single-member constituencies and” are deleted wherever they occur.
11. In article 26, first paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957 the words: “of every candidate in a single-member constituency and” are deleted.
12. The following modifications are made to article 30, first paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) in point 4, the words: “three copies of the poster containing the names of the candidates in the single-member constituency and” are deleted;
b) in point 6, the words: “of the candidates in the single-member constituency and” are deleted;
c) in point 8, the words: “two ballot boxes” are replaced by the following: “one ballot box”;
d) in point 9, the words: “two boxes” are replaced by the following: “one box”.
13. In article 40, third paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “of the candidates in single-member constituencies and” are deleted.
14. In article 41, first paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “of the candidates in single-member constituencies and” are deleted.
15. The following modifications are made to article 42 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) in the fourth paragraph, the words: “of the candidates in single-member constituencies and” are deleted and the words: “The ballot boxes have to be fixed on the table and always visible” are replaced by the following: “The ballot box has to be fixed on the table and always visible”;
b) in the seventh paragraph, the words: “, as well as two copies of the poster containing the candidates in single-member constituencies” are deleted.
16. In article 45 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the eighth paragraph is cancelled.
17. In article 48, first paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “and of the candidates in single-member constituencies” and: “of the single-member constituency or” are deleted; the words: “of the constituency” are replaced by the following: “of the district”.
18. In article 53, first paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “and of the candidates” are deleted.
19. In article 59 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the second sentence is deleted.
20. In article 62 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “the ballot papers” are replaced by the following: “the ballot paper”.
21. In article 63, first paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “a ballot paper” are replaced by the following: “the ballot paper”.
22. In article 64, paragraph 2 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “the ballot boxes and the boxes” are replaced by the following: “the ballot box and the box”.
23. In article 64-bis, paragraph 1 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words “of the ballot boxes” are replaced by the following: “of the ballot box”.
24. The following changes are made to article 67, first paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) in point 2, third sentence, the words: “of the candidates in single-member constituencies and” are deleted;
b) in point 3, the words: “in the respective boxes” are replaced by the following: “in the box”.
25. The following modifications are made to article 68 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) paragraphs 1 and 2 are cancelled;
b) in paragraph 3, the words: “Once the operations have been carried out that involve the counting of the ballot papers for the election of candidates in single-member constituencies” are replaced by the following: “Once the operations have been carried out described in article 67”; the words: “for the proportional assignment of the seats” and “containing the ballot papers for the proportional assignment of the seats” are deleted;
c) in paragraph 7, the last sentence is deleted.
26. The following modifications are made to article 71 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) in the first paragraph, point 2 the words: “and of the votes for the candidates in the single-member constituency” are deleted;
b) in the second paragraph, the words: “for the individual candidates in single-member constituencies or for the individual lists for the proportional assignment of the seats” are replaced by the following: “for the individual lists”.
27. The following modifications are made to article 72 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) the second paragraph is cancelled;
b) in the third paragraph, the words: “of the candidates in the single-member constituency and” are deleted.
28. In article 73, third paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “of the Constituency” are replaced by the following: “of the district” and the words: “of the candidates in the single-member constituency and” are deleted.
29. The following modifications are made to article 74 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) in the first paragraph, the words: “of the candidates in the single-member constituency and” are deleted;
b) in the second paragraph, the words: “or to the candidates” are deleted.
30. The following modifications are made to article 75 of Presidential Decree No. 361 del 1957:
a) in the first paragraph, second sentence the words: “of the candidates in the single-member constituency and” are deleted;
b) in the third paragraph, the words: “of the boxes, of the ballot boxes” are replaced by the following: “of the box, of the ballot box”.
31. The following modifications are made to article 79 of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957:
a) in the third paragraph, the words: “of the Constituency” are replaced by the following: “of the district”;
b) in the fifth and sixth paragraph, the words: “of the candidates in single-member constituencies and” are deleted.
32. In article 81, first paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “of the candidates in single-member constituencies and” are deleted.
33. In article 104, sixth paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “of the candidates in single-member constituencies and” are deleted.
34. In article 112, first paragraph of Presidential Decree No. 361 of 1957, the words: “of the candidates in single-member constituencies and” are deleted.
35. Legislative decree of 20 December 1993 No. 536, containing the “Determination of the single-member constituencies for the Chamber of Deputies” is cancelled.
Art. 7.
(Adjustment of the regulations included in Presidential Decree of 5 January 1994 No. 14).
1. The Government is entitled to make, within forty-five days from the effective date of this law, modifications to the regulations of carrying out the law of 4 August 1993 No. 277 on the election of the Chamber of Deputies, included in Presidential Decree of 5 January 1994 No. 14, which are strictly necessary to coordinate those regulations with the provisions of this law. To achieve this, the Government can act with exception to the dates set in article 17, paragraph 1 of the law of 23 August 1988 No. 400 and of article 3, paragraph 2 of the law of 14 January 1994 No. 20.
2. If at the date of calling the electoral assemblies the Government has not yet fulfilled the requirements of paragraph 1, the provisions of the quoted regulations apply, included in Presidential Decree of 5 January 1994 No. 14, to the extent in which they are comparable.
Art. 8.
(Further modifications to legislative decree No. 533 of 1993)
1. The following modifications are made to article 2 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993:
a) in paragraph 1, first sentence, the words: “in the single-member constituencies” are replaced by the following: “in the regional districts”;
b) in the same paragraph 1, the second and third sentences are deleted.
2. In the heading of Title II of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993 the words: “district and” are deleted.
3. Article 6 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993 is cancelled.
4. The heading of Title III of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993 is replaced by the following: “Presentation of the candidatures”.
5. The following modifications are made to article 10 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993:
a) in paragraph 2, the words: “of each group” are replaced by the following: “of the lists”;
b) paragraph 3 is cancelled;
c) in paragraph 5, the words: “of the groups of candidates and of the individual candidatures” are replaced by the following: “of the lists of candidates”;
d) in paragraph 6, the words: “of the groups of candidates or of the candidatures” are replaced by the following: “of lists of candidates”.
6. The following modifications are made to article 12 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993:
a) in paragraph 1, the words starting from: “of the groups of candidates” until “the individual departments” are replaced by the following: “of the lists of candidates at the regional electoral offices”;
b) in paragraph 2, the words starting from: “; the representatives of the candidates” until the end of the paragraph are deleted.
7. The following modifications are made to article 13 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993:
a) in paragraph 3, after the words: “The representatives” the following words are inserted: “of the lists” and the words: “of the constituency” are replaced by the following: “of the regional district”;
b) in paragraph 4, the words: “of the candidates in single-member constituencies and” are deleted and the words: “of the senatorial constituency” are replaced by the following: “of the regional district”.
8. Article 15 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993 is cancelled.
9. Article 16 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993, replaced by article 4, paragraph 7 of this law and included in Title VI and Title V is consequently cancelled.
10. In article 18 of legislative decree No. 533 of 1993, paragraph 1 is preceded by the following:
“01. The chairperson of the regional electoral office sends a document that confirms the proclamation that has been made to the senator that has been proclaimed and informs immediately the secretariat of the Senate, as well as the prefecture or the prefectures, i.e. territorial governmental offices in the region, so that the mayors can make it available to the voters”.
11. Legislative decree of 20 December 1993 No. 535, containing the “Determination of the single-member constituencies for the Senate of the Republic” is cancelled.
Art. 9.
(Appointment of the scrutineers)
1. In article 3 of the law of 8 March 1989 No. 95 with later amendments, paragraph 4 is preceded with the following words: “Until January 15 of each year,”.
2. At the end of article 4, paragraph 1 of the law of 8 March 1989 No. 95 with later amendments, the following words are added: “within the month of February”.
3. In article 5 of the law of 8 March 1989 No. 95 with later amendments, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:
“4. Once the operations described in the previous paragraphs have been carried out, the community electoral committee finds a replacement for the persons that have been deleted, according to the method described in article 6. The persons involved are informed about the appointment thus made and requested to express their written acceptance of the task of scrutineer within fifteen days from the receipt of the notice”.
4. Article 6 of the law of 8 March 1989 No. 95 with later amendments is replaced by the following:
“Art. 6. – 1. Between the twenty-fifth and the twentieth day before the date that was set for the voting, the community electoral committee described in article 4-bis of the consolidated legislation included in Presidential Decree of 20 March 1967 No. 223 with later amendments, performs the following tasks in public assembly, announced two days in advance by means of a poster put up in the community court notice board, in presence of representatives of the first department of the community entered on the list, if designated:
a) appoints the scrutineers for each electoral department of the community, selecting them out of the names included in the register of scrutineers, in the number that is needed;
b) makes a list of further names included in the register mentioned above to replace scrutineers appointed according to letter a in case of their potential resignation or any impediment; in case the order of scrutineers on the list is not established unanimously by the members of the electoral committee, the list shall be formed by drawing lots;
c) appoints further scrutineers by selecting them from those entered on the electoral lists in the community, in case the number of names in the register of scrutineers is not sufficient to carry out the tasks described in letters a and b.
2. The appointments described in letters a, b and c of paragraph 1 are made unanimously. If the appointment is not made unanimously, each member of the electoral committee shall vote for two names and the ones that have obtained the largest number of votes are proclaimed as elected. If the number of votes is the same, the older candidate is elected.
3. The mayor or the commissioner inform the scrutineers as soon as possible and not later than on the fifteenth day before the elections about their appointment. Any serious impediment to performing the task has to be communicated within forty-eight hours of the notification to the mayor or to the commissioner that shall replace the persons for whom the impediment has occurred with voters included in the list described paragraph 1b.
4. The persons concerned shall be informed about their appointment not later than on the third day before the elections”.
Art. 10.
(Formation of the community electoral committees in communities with a population of no more than 15,000 inhabitants).
1. Article 4-bis of the consolidated legislation regarding the discipline of the active electorate and the keeping and revision of the electoral lists, included in Presidential Decree of 20 March 1967 No. 223 with later amendments, is replaced by the following:
“Art. 4-bis. – 1. The electoral office shall keep and update the electoral lists, according to the standards set by this consolidated legislation.
2. In each community, the official electoral entity shall be the electoral committee described in articles 12, 13, 14 and 15 of this consolidated legislation.
3. In communities with a population of no more than 15,000 inhabitants, the electoral committee may delegate and revoke the functions of the official electoral entity to the community secretary or to another employee of the community. Each delegation or revocation of the functions of the official electoral entity should be approved by the prefect”.
2. In article 12, first paragraph of the quoted consolidated legislation included in Presidential Decree of 20 March 1967 No. 223 with later amendments, the words: “in communities with a population equal or exceeding 15,000 inhabitants,” are deleted. The second paragraph of the same article 12 is replaced by the following:
“The committee is composed of the mayor, four effective and four substitute members in communities with more than fifty councillors in the council and of eight effective and eight substitute members in other communities”.
3. In communities with a population of no more than 15,000 inhabitants, the community electoral committee described in articles 12, 13, 14 and 15 of the quoted consolidated legislation included in Presidential Decree of 20 March 1967 No. 223 with later amendments, is formed no later than on the thirtieth day after the effective date of this law.
Art. 11.
(Effective date)
1. This law becomes effective on the day after it is published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale [Italian Official Journal of Laws]