Lombard regional election, 2005

Lombard regional election, 2005

3-4 April 2005
All 80 seats to the Regional Council of Lombardy
Turnout	72.97% ( 2.62%)
Majority party Minority party   Leader Roberto Formigoni Riccardo Sarfatti Party Forza Italia Independent Alliance House of Freedoms The Union Last election 51 seats, 62.4% 26 seats, 31.5% Seats won 52 28 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 2,841,883 2,278,173 Percentage 53.9% 43.2% Swing 8.5% 11.7%
President before election Roberto Formigoni FI President-elect Roberto Formigoni FI

The Lombard regional election of 2005 took place on 3–4 April 2005. The 8th term of the Regional Council was chosen.

Roberto Formigoni (Forza Italia) was re-elected for the third time in a row President, defeating Riccardo Sarfatti.

Electoral law

Lombardy uses national Tatarella Law of 1995 to elect its Council, not having written its own legislation. Sixty-four councillors are elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation using the largest remainder method with a Droop quota and open lists; remained seats and votes are grouped at regional level where a Hare quota is used, and then distributed to provincial party lists.

Sixteen councillors are elected at-large using a general ticket: parties are grouped in alliances, and the alliance which receives a plurality of votes elects all its candidates, its leader becoming the President of Lombardy. If a coalition wins more than 50% of the total seats in the Council with PR, only 8 candidates from the regional list will be chosen and the number of those elected in provincial constituencies will be 72; if the winning alliance receives less than 50% of votes, special seats are added to the Council to ensure a large majority for the President's coalition.

Council apportionment

According to the official 2001 Italian census, the 64 Council seats which must be covered by proportional representation were so distributed between Lombard provinces.

It must be underlined that this allocation is not fixed. Remained seats and votes after proportional distribution, are all grouped at regional level and divided by party lists. The consequent division of these seats at provincial level usually change the original apportionment. Only 37 seats were directly assigned at provincial level, and the final distribution between provinces changed in this way.

As it can be seen, the Province of Sondrio remained without representation.

Results

2005 election led to the return to the guide of the Region, for its third consecutive term, Communion and Liberation's Roberto Formigoni, supported by the center-right coalition.

If the mechanisms of electoral law generated a Regional Council very similar to the incumbent one, popular vote marked a significant reduction in the gap between the two sides, which was almost halved. The same plurality party, Forza Italia, decreased of more than four hundred preferences. The election was also the test for a list that led, within two years, to the national foundation of a new political entity, the Democratic Party.

Forza Italia was confirmed as the largest party in the region with 26.0% of the vote, despite a decline in term of votes, while Lega Nord took the 15.8% and The Olive Tree, an alliance comprising The Daisy and the Democrats of the Left, the 27.1%.

Candidates	Regional lists			Provincial lists						Total
	votes	%	seats	Parties	votes	%	swing	seats	party	group
Roberto Formigoni	2,841,883	53.86	16	Forza Italia	1,137,621	25.95	7.8	18	25	52
				Lega Lombarda–Lega Nord	693,464	15.82	0.4	11	15
				National Alliance	380,962	8.69	1.0	5	8
				Union of Christian and Centre Democrats	166,761	3.80	0.3	2	3
				Socialist Party – New PSI	36,616	0.84	-	-	-
				Liberal Democrats–PRI–PLI	11,196	0.26	-	-	-
Riccardo Sarfatti	2,278,173	43.17	1	The Olive Tree	1,186,848	27.07	6.9	19	20	28
				Communist Refoundation Party	248,703	5.67	0.7	3	3
				Federation of the Greens	128,060	2.92	1.0	2	2
				Pensioners' Party	115,481	2.63	1.0	1*	1
				Party of Italian Communists	104,481	2.38	0.5	1	1
				Italy of Values	61,431	1.40	1.4	1	1
Gianmario Invernizzi	142,807	2.71	-	Social Alternative	54,937	1.25	1.3	-	-	-
				Lega Padana Lombardia	39,012	0.89	-	-	-
				Pensions & Work	7,409	0.17	-	-	-
Marco Marsili	14,008	0.27	-	Liberal Democrats	11,579	0.26	-	-	-	-
Total candidates	5,276,871	100.00	17	Total parties	4,384,561	100.00	=	63	80	80

* Pensioners gave a seat to Sarfatti.

Source: Ministry of the Interior

References