Approved — Turnout: 51.12%
About this election
Italy held a constitutional referendum on 20-21 September 2020 on permanently cutting the number of members of parliament — reducing the Chamber of Deputies from 630 to 400 seats and the Senate from 315 to 200. The amendment had already passed both chambers in 2020, but a referendum was triggered by a group of senators. Voters approved the cut comfortably, 69.96% Yes to 30.04% No, on a turnout of 51.12%. The vote was held alongside regional elections in several regions, and the reduced parliament took effect at the 2022 general election.
Like the 2016 vote, this was a confirmatory constitutional referendum under Article 138, which requires only a simple majority of valid votes and has no turnout quorum — unlike Italy's abrogative referendums under Article 75, which are void unless more than half the electorate takes part. It was the ninth constitutional referendum in Italian history.
The Yes campaign was led above all by the Five Star Movement (M5S), which had long made cutting the "caste" of politicians a signature anti-establishment cause; the reduction was a flagship promise it could finally deliver from within government. Most other parties offered lukewarm or divided support. The main No campaign, drawn from constitutional scholars and parts of the centre-left and liberal camp, argued the cut would weaken representation and the link between citizens and their deputies.
The proposal tapped a durable public mood of frustration with the political class and an appetite for cost savings and a leaner state. With the change framed as trimming politicians' numbers and expense, it won majorities in every region, and the breadth of support reflected how widely anti-politics sentiment was shared across the country.
The amendment passed everywhere, though the No share was highest in Trentino-South Tyrol (around 42.5%) and lowest in Sicily (around 22.7%). Critics warned that fewer legislators would mean larger constituencies, weaker local accountability and a parliament diminished relative to the executive; supporters countered that a smaller chamber would be more efficient and cheaper.
The reduction took effect at the March 2022 general election, held under constituency maps redrawn for the lower seat count — the first substantial downsizing of the Italian parliament. It remains the most consequential constitutional change to take effect in recent Italian history, in contrast to the rejected 2016 reform.
The vote almost did not happen when it did. Originally called for 29 March 2020, the referendum was postponed as Italy became the first European country overwhelmed by Covid-19, and was eventually held on 20–21 September under masks, spaced queues and two days of voting — bundled together with regional elections in several regions to limit the number of trips to the polls. It was Italy's first national vote of the pandemic era, and the unusual circumstances make the 51.12% turnout — with no quorum required — look considerably more robust than it might otherwise.
The Five Star Movement, which had made the cut its flagship, sold a simple proposition: fewer politicians, lower costs, more efficient chambers. Nearly every major party formally endorsed Yes by polling day, some with visible reluctance, wary of standing against an anti-political mood. The No campaign — strongest among constitutional scholars, liberal commentators and parts of the centre-left — argued the savings were trivial, that the cut would weaken parliament against the executive, and that smaller regions and Italians abroad would see their representation thinned the most. The two-to-one result showed how little purchase those institutional arguments had against the promise of cutting the political class down to size.
The reform's real test came at the general election of September 2022 — the first fought for a 400-seat Chamber and 200-seat elected Senate. Constituencies had to be redrawn and enlarged, and per-inhabitant representation in the directly elected chambers fell to among the lowest of the large European democracies. The smaller parliament elected that day produced Italy's first government led by Giorgia Meloni, operating the very institutions the 2020 vote had slimmed down.
Italian Ministry of the Interior (Ministero dell'Interno) — elezioni.interno.gov.it.
Compiled and reviewed by Bartłomiej Paruzel, Election Data Analyst, from official results. See our data methodology.