Rome municipal election, 2016

Rome municipal election, 2016

5 June and 19 June, 2016

Candidate Virginia Raggi Roberto Giachetti Party Five Star Movement Democratic Party Alliance Centre-left coalition Popular vote 453,806 320,170 Percentage 35.25% 24.87% Popular vote (2nd) 770,564 376,935 Percentage (2nd) 67.15% 32.85%

Mayor before election Ignazio Marino Democratic Party Elected Mayor Virginia Raggi Five Star Movement

Municipal elections were held in Rome in June 2016, following the resignation of the former Mayor of Rome Ignazio Marino.^[1] The first round of voting on 5 June producing no outright winner, resulting in a run-off election on 16 June between Virginia Raggi of the Five Star Movement (M5S) and Roberto Giachetti of the Democratic Party.^[1] Raggi won with two-thirds of the vote,^[2] and her party won a majority on the Rome City Council with 29 of the 48 seats.^[3] The results were widely reported as a major breakthrough for the Five Star Movement, which had previously been seen as a protest party rather than a significant political force.^[4][5] At the same round of elections, M5S also won in the Turin elections.^[4]

Voting system

The voting system is used for all mayoral elections in Italy, in the city with a population higher than 15,000 inhabintants. Under this system voters express a direct election for the mayor or an indirect election voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives 50% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate may be able to claim majority support, although it is not guaranteed.^[6]

The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally.^[6]

Parties and candidates

This is a list of the parties (and their respective leaders) which participated in the election.

Opinion polling

Results

First round

Raggi received the most votes in the first round but did not secure the majority required for an outright victory, with voting proceeding to a second, run-off round.^[2]

Summary of the 5–19 June 2016 Rome City Council election results

Candidates & parties		Votes	%	Seats leaders	Seats
Virginia Raggi		461,190	35.26	–	29
	Five Star Movement	420,435	35.32	→	29
Roberto Giachetti		325,835	24.91	1	7
	Democratic Party	240,637	17.19	→	6
	Rome Return Rome	49,457	4.15	→	1
	Democrats and Populars	17,378	1.46	→	–
	Italian Radicals	14,165	1.19	→	–
	Secular Civic Socialists	7,716	0.64	→	–
	Italy of Values	3,085	0.25	→	–
Giorgia Meloni		269,760	20.62	1	5
	Brothers of Italy	146,054	12.27	→	4
	With Meloni Mayor	40,441	3.39	→	1
	League with Salvini	32,175	2.70	→	–
	Italian Liberal Party	10,749	0.90	→	–
	Popular Federation	4,146	0.34	→	–
Alfio Marchini		143,829	10.99	1	3
	Marchini List	56,686	4.76	→	2
	Forza Italia	50,842	4.27	→	1
	Popular Rome	15,453	1.29	→	–
	Storace List	7,391	0.62	→	–
	Christian Revolution	1,747	0.14	→	–
	Liberal Network	1,225	0.10	→	–
	Italian Construction Movement	1,124	0.09	→	–
Stefano Fassina		58,498	4.47	1	–
	Left For Rome	46,774	3.93	→	–
	Fassina Mayor	6,006	0.50	→	–
Simone Di Stefano		14,865	1.13	–	–
	CasaPound Italia	14,118	1.18	→	–
Alessandro Mustillo		10,371	0.79	–	–
	Communist Party	9,917	0.83	→	–
Dario Di Francesco		8,021	0.61	–	–
	Talking Cricket List	4,772	0.39	→	–
	Pensioners' Union	1,131	0.09	→	–
	Movement for Rome	1,032	0.08	→	–
	Centre League	719	0.06	→	–
	With Joy – Go Italy!	281	0.02	→	–
Mario Adinolfi		7,992	0.61	–	–
	The People of Family	7,480	0.62	→	–
Carlo Rienzi		2,760	0.21	–	–
	Codacons For Rome	2,578	0.21	→	–
Alfredo Iorio		2,641	0.20	–	–
	Fatherland	2,576	0.21	→	–
Fabrizio Verduchi		1,310	0.10	–	–
	Christian Italy	1,185	0.09	→	–
Michael Maritato		873	0.06	–	–
	Assotutela	878	0.07	→	–
Total		1,307,945	100.00	4	44
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Notes: if a defeated candidate for Mayor obtained over 3% of votes, he/she is automatically elected comunal coincilor (Giachetti, Meloni, Marchini and Fassina); see Italian electoral law of 1993 for Comuni. The candidate elected Mayor is not a member of comunal council, but Raggi votes in the comunal council.

Second round

First-placed Raggi and second-placed Giachetti contested the run-off second round of voting. Raggi was elected, receiving over 67% of the vote.^[2]

References