Electoral reform approved by the Senate returns to the Chamber with the requirement of the name on the symbol

The Senate approved the electoral law reform on September 15, 2026, with 113 votes in favour, 71 against and 2 abstentions. The text, already voted on by the Chamber and then amended at Palazzo Madama, now returns to Montecitorio for the third reading, with the floor vote scheduled from September 28.

Among the contents of the reform is a requirement that directly concerns political forces: they will have to indicate in their electoral programme the name of the candidate for President of the Council, under penalty of the lists not being admitted. This is an element that introduces into the electoral system an explicit reference to the figure of the prime minister, even though the reform remains an intervention on the electoral law and not on the Constitution.

The vote sharply divided the majority and the opposition. Italia Viva and Azione announced they would vote against the measure. The opposition, as a whole, argues that the reform introduces elements typical of a premiership system without having followed the path of a constitutional reform, contesting in particular the absence of a constitutional passage in the face of a mechanism that, in fact, orients the choice of the head of government.

The parliamentary process is not concluded. The text will have to be examined a third time in the Chamber, with the floor vote set for September 28: a passage that could lead to further changes compared with the version that emerged from Palazzo Madama, given that this is a third reading and not an automatic ratification of the Senate’s text.

It remains to be seen, in the coming weeks, whether the requirement on indicating the name of the prime ministerial candidate on the symbol will be subject to further changes in the Chamber, and whether the forces that voted against in the Senate will maintain the same position in the final passage at Montecitorio, where the examination will resume from September 28.