Approved — Turnout: 51.12%
About this election
Italy held a constitutional referendum on 20-21 September 2020. Voters were asked whether to permanently reduce the number of Italian parliamentarians — cutting the Chamber of Deputies from 630 to 400 seats and the Senate from 315 to 200 seats. The constitutional amendment had already passed both chambers of Parliament in April 2020, but a referendum was triggered by opposition MPs. Voters approved the reduction by 69.96% Yes to 30.04% No, with turnout of 51.12%. The referendum was held simultaneously with regional elections in several regions. It was the most consequential Italian constitutional referendum since the 2016 defeat of Matteo Renzi's broader reform package. The reduced parliament sat for the first time following the March 2022 general elections.
Italy's constitutional referendums under Article 138 require only a simple majority of valid votes to pass, with no minimum turnout quorum. This distinguishes them from Italy's abrogative referendums (under Article 75), which require at least 50% of eligible voters to participate for the result to be valid. The 2020 referendum was the ninth constitutional referendum in Italian history. The Yes campaign was notably backed by the Five Star Movement (M5S), which had long advocated parliament size reduction as an anti-establishment measure, while the main No campaign argued the change would weaken democratic representation and regional voices.
The amendment passed comfortably in all regions, though the No percentage was highest in Trentino-South Tyrol (42.5%) and lowest in Sicily (22.7%). Critics of the cut argued it would reduce constituency-level accountability and weaken parliament relative to the executive, while supporters emphasised cost savings and a more efficient legislative process. The reduction took effect in the March 2022 elections, held under new constituency maps recalculated to reflect the lower seat count.
Italian Ministry of the Interior (Ministero dell'Interno) — elezioni.interno.gov.it.