A referendum on the electoral law was held in Italy on 9 June 1991.[1] Voters were asked whether the clause of the law on the number of preference votes should be scrapped.[2] The result was 95.6% in favour, with a turnout of 62.5%.[2]
In 1990 a group of reformers, led by Mario Segni, allied with the Radical Party. They urged for political changes, renewing the Italian political life in a country where, after World War Two, eternal-majority party DC had been fighting against eternal-minority party PCI, causing a cronical lack of efficiency. They said that the adoption of the Westminster system would lead Italy to a period of political strength. As a first step, they promoted a referendum abolishing multiple votes of preference in the open list proportional representation used in the country since 1946. They argued that multiple votes had led to minor lobbies inside parties, with group of candidates allied against other candidates of the same list, causing instability and fights.
Italian voters had to say yes if they wanted to abolish multiple prefence votes, or no if they want to defend them. The referendum had a turnout of 62.5%.
| Rejecting multiple PV 26,869,979 (95.6%) |
Confirming multiple PV 1,464,908 (4.4%) |
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Source: Italian Minister of Interior [1]
The referendum showed an enormous desire of political reforms between Italian electors. Quite all major parties, which explicitly as Bettino Craxi's Italian Socialist Party, or silently had boycotted the referendum, received a stunning defeat.
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