Italy's new electoral law -- "proportional system"

    More than 47 million Italians go to the polling stations in the country on April 9 and 10 under a new electoral law, which has returned Italy to an entirely proportional system after a break of 13 years.

    The law, which was definitively approved last December, allocates parliamentary seats to parties in accordance with their share of the votes.

    According to the law, voters cannot choose candidates. They simply put a cross on the symbol of a party. Each symbol is associated with a list of candidates drawn up by party leaders. The more votes a party gets, the more candidates get seats. 

    In the event of a narrow victory on a national level, a packet of extra seats will go to the winning coalition in a bid to ensure "govern ability."

    In this way, a ruling coalition will be guaranteed 340 seats in the 630-seat Lower House and 170 seats in the 315-seat Senate.

    The reform provides for a number of thresholds, under which parties and coalitions cannot be represented in parliament.

    If parties belong to a coalition, they need to win at least 2 percent of the national vote in order to have representation in the Lower House. Those standing alone will have to get 4 percent. Meanwhile, coalitions must win at least 10 percent to be represented.

    There are three similar thresholds for the Senate but the percentages are different: 3 percent for parties belonging to a coalition, 8 percent for those standing alone, 20 percent for coalitions.

    Italians have to be of age 18 to vote for deputies in the Lower House and of age 25 for senators.

    The reform was approved amid considerable controversy, with the center-left opposition accusing the center-right government of changing the rules for tactical reasons.

    Opposition leader Romano Prodi argued that the reform went against the will of voters, citing the 1993 referendum in which Italians voted for the abolition of proportional representation.

    The opposition refused to vote when center-right parties pushed the reform approved by the parliament. It had said it would change the law if it came to power.

    According to some analysts, the center-left could be disadvantaged by the cut-off thresholds for representation in parliament. There are parties in the center-left alliance which might not exceed the 2 percent threshold in the Lower House.

  Major parties in Italy's general election

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