Italian general elections

Italian general elections determine the composition of the Italian Parliament.

Procedure

Elections to the Italian Parliament take place every five years or in the event of its early dissolution.

Currently, both chambers of the Italian Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic, are elected at the same time by universal and direct suffrage.

147 deputies (members of the Chamber of Deputies) and 74 senators (members of the Senate of the Republic) are elected in single-member constituencies and the rest from party lists. (In addition, there are also several so-called "senators for life". These include former Italian presidents and people appointed by presidential decree in recognition of special service to the country.)

Voter and candidate eligibility

Any Italian citizen over the age of 18 on the election day is eligible to elect the members of the Italian parliament.

In order to be eligible to stand for election to the Chamber of Deputies, an individual must be over the age of 25 on the election day, and in order to be eligible to stand for election to the Senate of the Republic, an individual must be over the age of 40 on the election day.