View source for 2006 Italian general election

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is a legitimate description when the title is already adequate; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Infobox election
| election_name      = 2006 Italian general election
| country            = Italy
| type               = parliamentary
| vote_type          = Coalition
| ongoing            = no
| previous_election  = 2001 Italian general election
| previous_year      = 2001
| outgoing_members   = Legislature XIV of Italy
| next_election      = 2008 Italian general election
| next_year          = 2008
| elected_members    = Legislature XV of Italy
| seats_for_election = All 630 seats in the [[Chamber of Deputies (Italy)|Chamber of Deputies]]{{br}}316 seats needed for a majority{{br}}315 seats in the [[Senate of the Republic (Italy)|Senate]]{{br}}162 seats needed for a majority{{efn|taking into account the [[Senators for life in Italy|Senators for life]], who accounted for 7 seats at the time the election took place}} 
| election_date      = 9–10 April 2006
| opinion_polls      = Opinion polling for the 2006 Italian general election
| registered         = 46,997,601 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}){{dot}}42,232,467 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| turnout            = 39,298,497 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}){{dot}}83.6%  ({{increase}}2.2 [[percentage point|pp]]) <br /> 35,262,679 ({{abbr|S|Senate}}){{dot}}83.5%  ({{increase}}2.2 [[percentage point|pp]])

| image1             = {{CSS image crop|Image=Romano Prodi 2004.jpg|bSize=137|cWidth=135|cHeight=170}}
| leader1            = [[Romano Prodi]]
| party1             = Independent politician
| alliance1          = [[The Union (political coalition)|The Union]]
| color1             = EF3E3E
| leaders_seat1      = [[Emilia-Romagna]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})
| leader_since1      = 16 October 2005
| seats1             = '''348''' ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / '''158''' ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| seat_change1       = {{increase}}109 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / {{increase}}22 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| popular_vote1      = '''19,036,986''' ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})<br />16,725,401 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| percentage1        = '''49.8%''' ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})<br />49.0% ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| swing1             = {{increase}}14.3 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br /> {{increase}}10.3 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|S|Senate}})

| image2             = {{CSS image crop|Image=Silvio Berlusconi - EPP Congress Rome 2006 2 (cropped).jpg|bSize=137|cWidth=135|cHeight=170}}
| leader2            = [[Silvio Berlusconi]]
| party2             = [[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]]
| alliance2          = [[House of Freedoms]]
| color2             = 0A6BE1
| leaders_seat2      = [[Campania|Campania 1]] ([[Chamber of Deputies (Italy)|C]])
| leader_since2      = 26 January 1994
| seats2             = 281 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / 156 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| seat_change2       = {{decrease}}107 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) / {{decrease}}20 ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| popular_vote2      = 18,995,697 ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})<br />'''17,153,978''' ({{abbr|S|Senate}})	
| percentage2        = 49.7% ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}})<br />'''50.2%''' ({{abbr|S|Senate}})
| swing2             = {{increase}}0.1 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}) <br /> {{increase}}7.7 [[Percentage point|pp]] ({{abbr|S|Senate}})

| map_image         = 2006 Italian general election - Vote Strength.svg
| map_size          = 350px
| map_caption       = Election results maps for the Chamber of Deputies (on the left) and for the Senate (on the right). <span style="color: #F0001C">Red</span> denotes provinces and regions with a Union plurality, <span style="color: #0087DC">Blue</span> denotes those with a House of Freedom plurality.
| title              = [[Prime Minister of Italy|Prime Minister]]
| posttitle          = [[Prime Minister of Italy|Prime Minister]] after the election
| before_election    = [[Silvio Berlusconi]]
| before_party       = Forza Italia (1994) 
| after_election     = [[Romano Prodi]]
| after_party        = The Olive Tree (Italy)
}}
The '''2006 Italian general election''' was held on 9 and 10 April 2006. [[Romano Prodi]], leader of the centre-left coalition [[The Union (Italy)|The Union]], narrowly defeated the incumbent [[Prime Minister of Italy|Prime Minister]] [[Silvio Berlusconi]], leader of the centre-right coalition [[House of Freedoms]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Italian voter turnout at 83.6 percent in general election |url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200604/11/eng20060411_257391.html |website=english.peopledaily.com.cn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014134757/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200604/11/eng20060411_257391.html |archive-date=14 October 2012 |date=11 April 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Initial exit polls suggested a victory for Prodi, but the results narrowed as the count progressed. On 11 April 2006, Prodi declared victory;<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4897994.stm Centre-left claims Italy victory], [[BBC News]]</ref> Berlusconi never conceded defeat and an ensuing dispute formed.

[[2006 Italian general election#Results|Preliminary results]] showed The Union leading the House of Freedoms in the [[Italian Chamber of Deputies|Chamber of Deputies]], with 340 seats to 277, thanks to obtaining a majority bonus (actual votes were distributed 49.81% to 49.74%). One more seat is allied with The Union ([[Aosta Valley]]) and 7 more seats in the foreign constituency. The House of Freedoms had secured a slight majority of Senate seats elected within Italy (155 seats to 154), but The Union won 4 of the 6 seats allocated to [[#Vote abroad|voters outside Italy]], giving them control of both chambers.<ref>{{cite web|date=11 April 2006|title=Berlusconi refuses to concede|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/04/11/italy.elections/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412121023/http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/04/11/italy.elections/index.html|archive-date=2006-04-12|access-date=2006-04-11|website=cnn.com}}</ref>

On 19 April 2006, Italy's [[Court of Cassation (Italy)|Supreme Court of Cassation]] ruled that Prodi had indeed won the election, winning control of the Chamber of Deputies by only 24,755 votes out of more than 38 million votes cast, and winning 158 seats in the Senate to 156 for Berlusconi's coalition. Even so, Berlusconi refused to concede defeat, claiming unproven [[electoral fraud]].

== Electoral campaign ==
During the election campaign, a political battle began between [[Romano Prodi]], who led the centre-left coalition [[The Union (Italy)|The Union]] and had been [[President of the European Commission]] from 1999 to 2004 and [[Prime Minister of Italy]] from 1996 to 1998. On the other hand, [[Silvio Berlusconi]] led the centre-right [[House of Freedoms]]; Berlusconi had been the incumbent Prime Minister since the [[2001 Italian general election|2001 general election]], and had previously served as Prime Minister also in 1994 and 1995.

=== House of Freedoms ===
The [[House of Freedoms]] was the coalition supporting the incumbent government led by Prime Minister [[Silvio Berlusconi]], and mainly included the same parties as in the previous general election.

The [[New Italian Socialist Party]] (NPSI), a small social-democratic party composed of former members of the late [[Italian Socialist Party]] and led by former 1980s and 1990s minister [[Gianni De Michelis]], which was part of the [[Berlusconi III Cabinet]] as a [[minister without portfolio]], suffered a split on its last national congress (21 to 23 October 23, 2005), with a left-wing faction, led by [[Bobo Craxi]], son of the late [[Bettino Craxi]], who decided to immediately leave the House of Freedoms and unilaterally elected Craxi himself as new party leader. The NPSI contested the election with a joint list with the [[Christian Democracy for Autonomies]].

As for the candidate who led the coalition into the general election, Berlusconi experienced an actual loss of support from [[Union of the Centre (2002)|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]] (UDC), who asked for a return of the [[electoral law]] to a proportional system (which would most likely favour them) and a primary election to formally decide the alliance's candidate for Prime Minister. When the party list representation system was restored (albeit a form very different from the UDC proposal) and Marco Follini, critic of several reforms imposed by Berlusconi on the whole coalition, resigned from the UDC secretaryship, the possibility of a change of leadership inside the House of Freedoms was significantly reduced. On 27 October 2005, [[Lorenzo Cesa]] was appointed as new UDC secretary, becoming the successor of Follini himself. The coalition announced a "three-forwards" system, meaning that the Prime Ministerial candidate will be the political leader, among Casini, Fini and Berlusconi, whose party will win most votes. Since Berlusconi's party was known to be by far the largest one, it was understood that Berlusconi was the actual candidate.

One event which caused heavy criticism from the opposition was the support, sought and obtained by Berlusconi, of a number of [[Fascism|fascist]] movements and parties, notably the [[Social Alternative]] of [[Alessandra Mussolini]], granddaughter of the former dictator of Italy, and [[Luca Romagnoli]], a [[holocaust denial|holocaust denier]].{{citation needed|date=November 2015}} Supporters of Berlusconi responded to this pointing to the presence in The Union of two communist parties, which had among their candidates [[anarchism|anarchist]] activist [[Francesco Caruso]] and a [[transgender|transgender person]], [[Vladimir Luxuria]].{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

=== The Union ===
[[The Olive Tree (Italy)|The Olive Tree]] coalition, expression of the Italian centre-left, was expanded as [[The Union (Italy)|The Union]], and led for the election by former Prime Minister and former [[President of the European Commission]] [[Romano Prodi]], who had already beaten Berlusconi in the [[1996 Italian general election|1996 general election]]. Prodi's candidacy was confirmed by a national primary election, held on 16 October 2005. The former coalition was enlarged in order to cover the whole ensemble of Italian centre-left to left-wing factions.

The [[Rose in the Fist]] was officially founded on 25 September 2005, when the [[Italian Radicals]], a [[libertarianism|libertarian]]-influenced party, officially declared an alliance with the [[Italian Democratic Socialists]] (SDI) in the form of a confederation, with explicit references to the politics of [[Tony Blair]], [[José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero]] and [[Loris Fortuna]], an Italian politician in the 1970s who became famous for his laicist proposals, and is considered the father of the law on divorce. This confederation immediately caused a stir for not having signed the political platform of The Union, being the only centre-left party not to do that; the Rose in the Fist, represented by [[Emma Bonino]] in the final platform meeting, in fact protested about insufficient mentions of social issues such as legalisation of [[civil union]]s. [[The Italian Socialists|The Socialists]], led by Bobo Craxi, who were the breakaway left wing of the New Italian Socialist Party which emerged the House of Freedoms, was supposed to join the Rose in the Fist confederation, but instead reorganised itself in a single party, which however failed to get over the 2% of national votes. However, Bobo Craxi was able to enter in the Lower House, as he was one of the leading candidates for The Olive Tree in [[Lombardy]].

The Union is also supported by a number of minor parties and movements, although of those only the [[Pensioners' Party (Italy)|Pensioners' Party]] has any elected representation (1 Member of European Parliament).

== Main coalitions and parties ==
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:left"
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Coalition
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Party
! rowspan="2"| Main ideology
! colspan="2"|Seats  
! rowspan="2" |Party leader
! rowspan="2" |Coalition leader
|-
! {{abbr|C|Chamber of Deputies}}
! {{abbr|S|Senate of the Republic}}
|-
| rowspan="8" style="background-color:{{party color|House of Freedoms}}"|
| rowspan="8"| [[House of Freedoms]]
| style="background-color:{{party color|Forza Italia}}"|
| {{Lang|it|[[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]]|italic=no}} (FI)
| [[Liberal conservatism]]
| {{center|167}}
| {{center|76}}
| [[Silvio Berlusconi]]
| rowspan="8" |[[Silvio Berlusconi]]
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|National Alliance (Italy)}}"|
| [[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]] (AN)
| [[National conservatism]]
| {{center|94}}
| {{center|46}}
| [[Gianfranco Fini]]
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats}}" |
| [[Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]] (UDC)
| [[Christian democracy]]
| {{center|38}}
| {{center|30}}
| [[Pier Ferdinando Casini]]
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Lega Nord}}" |
| [[Lega Nord|Northern League]] – [[Movement for Autonomy]] (LN–MpA)
| [[Regionalism (politics)|Regionalism]]
| {{center|26}}
| {{center|17}}
| [[Umberto Bossi]]
|-
| style="background:lightblue;"|
| [[Christian Democracy for Autonomies|Christian Democracy]] – [[New Italian Socialist Party|Socialist Party]] (DC–PS)
| [[Christian democracy]], [[social democracy]]
| {{center|3}}
| {{center|2}}
| [[Gianni De Michelis]]
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Italian Republican Party}};"|
| [[Italian Republican Party]] (PRI)
| [[Liberalism]]
| {{center|0}}
| {{center|1}}
| [[Francesco Nucara]]
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Tricolour Flame}};"|
| [[Tricolour Flame]] (FT)
| [[Neo-fascism]]
| {{center|0}}
| {{center|1}}
| [[Luca Romagnoli]]
|-
| style="background:black;"|
| [[Social Alternative]] (AS)
| [[Neo-fascism]]
| {{center|0}}
| {{center|0}}
| [[Alessandra Mussolini]]
|-
| rowspan="10" style="background-color:{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}"|
| rowspan="10"| [[The Union (Italy)|The Union]]
| style="background-color:{{party color|Democrats of the Left}}"|
| [[Democrats of the Left]] (DS)
| [[Social democracy]]
| {{center|129}}
| {{center|64}}
| [[Piero Fassino]]
| rowspan="10" |[[Romano Prodi]]
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|The Daisy}}"|
| [[Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy]] (DL)
| [[Christian left]], [[social liberalism]]
| {{center|80}}
| {{center|35}}
| [[Francesco Rutelli]]
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Communist Refoundation Party}}" |
| [[Communist Refoundation Party]] (PRC)
| [[Communism]]
| {{center|12}}
| {{center|4}}
| [[Fausto Bertinotti]]
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Rose in the Fist}};"|
| [[Rose in the Fist]] (RnP)
| [[Liberalism]], [[social democracy]]
| {{center|11}}
| {{center|6}}
| [[Emma Bonino]]
|-
| style="background:#FF7F00;"|
| [[Union of Democrats for Europe]] (UDEUR)
| [[Christian democracy]]
| {{center|11}}
| {{center|0}}
| [[Clemente Mastella]]
|-
| style="background-color:red" |
| [[Party of Italian Communists]] (PdCI)
| [[Communism]]
| {{center|10}}
| {{center|2}}
| [[Oliviero Diliberto]]
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Federation of the Greens}};"|
| [[Federation of the Greens]] (FdV)
| [[Green politics]]
| {{center|7}}
| {{center|10}}
| [[Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|South Tyrolean People's Party}}"|
| [[South Tyrolean People's Party]] (SVP)
| [[Regionalism (politics)|Regionalism]]
| {{center|4}}
| {{center|3}}
| [[Luis Durnwalder]]
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Italy of Values}}" | 
| [[Italy of Values]] (IdV)
| [[Corruption in Italy|Anti-corruption politics]]
| {{center|0}}
| {{center|2}}
| [[Antonio Di Pietro]]
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Pensioners' Party (Italy)}}"|
| [[Pensioners' Party (Italy)|Pensioners' Party]] (PP)
| [[List of pensioners' parties|Pensioners' interests]]
| {{center|0}}
| {{center|0}}
| [[Carlo Fatuzzo]]
|}

== Debates ==
For some time, Silvio Berlusconi had challenged Romano Prodi to a debate on national television. Prodi, however, said he would accept only if certain rules had been set. Possibly because he thought he was behind in the polls, Berlusconi saw the debate as a chance to turn the tables, and accused Prodi of fleeing from him. It is notable that, in the 2001 elections, it was Berlusconi who refused to meet the centre-left candidate, [[Francesco Rutelli]].

Two televised debates were set by the ''Parliamentary Committee of Inspection on [[RAI]]'', which had the goal of ensuring equal treatment for the two political sides. However, Prodi contested the deliberation of this Committee, which allowed Berlusconi to also hold a final televised speech after the debates as Prime Minister. Prodi refused to participate in any debate until this final speech had been cancelled. The issue was resolved on 3 March, when Berlusconi finally agreed to cancel the final speech.

The debates lasted about 90 minutes each, did not include [[Television advertisement|commercials]], and had a preset time for each answer and each reply, and the obligation to film only the speaking person at any given time. The candidates were also forbidden to bring any kind of notes with them, even though they could write some down during the debate, and no audience was allowed to participate. This set of rules was very unusual in Italian political talk shows, where politicians usually interrupt each other, talk simultaneously and for as long as they can hold the word. Questions to candidates are posted by two journalists from the Italian press: the moderator himself was not allowed to ask any questions, but only to present the debate and guarantee respect of the rules. At the end of the debates, the candidates are allowed to make a final statement of 3 minutes.

The first televised debate, held on 14 March, was broadcast live on [[Rai Uno]], and moderated by Clemente Mimun, Director of ''[[TG1]]''. It featured questions from journalists Roberto Napoletano of ''[[Il Messaggero]]'' and [[Marcello Sorgi]] of ''[[La Stampa]]''. It was watched by over 16 million people, a record for a political [[television program|TV show]]. During his final speech, Berlusconi, who often overran his intervention times, attacked the rules of the debate, in his opinion too strict, whereas Prodi praised them, pointing out the fact that they are used in US debates this way, as well. Some observers commented that Berlusconi had been disappointing in this debate, scribbling nervously while he was talking and at a point confusing [[Iran]] and [[Iraq]]; while all politicians claimed their candidate had won the debate, it was generally agreed that Berlusconi had not dealt a strong blow to Prodi.

The second debate,<ref>{{cite web|last=Fraser |first=Christian |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4874400.stm |title=Europe &#124; Insults fly in Italy poll debate |work=BBC News |date=2006-04-03 |access-date=2010-06-04}}</ref> moderated by [[Bruno Vespa]], an Italian journalist and anchorman, was held on April 3 and broadcast live on Rai Uno, featuring questions from Napoletano and Sorgi (same journalists of the first debate). It was dominated by the economic proposals and was more intense, with much stronger tones between Prodi and Berlusconi. In this debate, Berlusconi had the possibility of making the final 3-minute statement: in this time, he delivered his "surprise blow" proposing the abolition of ICI, a local tax on [[real estate]] whose money belongs to local city councils.

Later on, it turned out that Berlusconi's proposal was not completely agreed upon in the rest of the House of Freedoms, and Prodi, immediately after the debate, noted "about ICI, I want to know what the centre-right mayors think about".

== Platforms ==

=== The Union ===
After a long discussion, the centre-left coalition released its official platform on 10 February 2006,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Per il bene dell'Italia.|url=http://www.unioneweb.it/wp-content/uploads/documents/programma_def_unione.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060311103719/http://www.unioneweb.it/wp-content/uploads/documents/programma_def_unione.pdf|archive-date=2006-03-11|website=unioneweb.it}}</ref> and presented it to the public the next day. However, the [[Rose in the Fist]] refused to sign it in, because it did not explicitly include some issues, such as [[civil union]]s and [[LGBT rights]]. The platform has been criticised by the House of Freedoms because of its 281-page length.

A reduced, more readable, version of the official political platform <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.incontriamoci.romanoprodi.it/materiali/sintesi_programma.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2006-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060311103720/http://www.incontriamoci.romanoprodi.it/materiali/sintesi_programma.pdf |archive-date=2006-03-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> was released by the coalition, in order to answer the critics from the centre-right coalition.

The main points of the centre-left platform were:
*More safety, by moving police resources from immigration and escort issues to the control of the territory;
*Controlled immigration and promotion of legal ways to immigrate in Italy;
*A quicker and more reliable judicial system;
*Full condemnation and fight of dodging and regularisation of concealed labour;
*More integration with the European Union;
*Recognition of rights for civil, unmarried couples;
*Immediate withdrawal of the Italian troops in [[Iraq]];
*Numerical restraint and regulation of the typologies of flexible labour;
*Reduction of taxes on work by 5% (often referred to as the ''fiscal wedge''), to be financed by increased policing activity against tax dodgers;
*Increase in taxes on temporary work positions to encourage permanent employment.

=== House of Freedoms ===
The platform of the House of Freedoms was released on 25 February. It was 22 pages long,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Programma Elettorale 2006|url=http://www.forza-italia.it/speciali/programma_cdl.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060305174816/http://www.forza-italia.it/speciali/programma_cdl.pdf|archive-date=2006-03-05|website=forza-italia.it}}</ref> and it was defined as the continuance of the first five years of centre-right government. It is different by the ''contract with Italians'' (just five basic points) which characterised the 2001 general election. It was criticised as "vague" and "propaganda".

The main points of the centre-right platform were:
*Increase of fiscal autonomy for Regions ({{lang|it|federalismo fiscale}}, fiscal federalism);
*Realisation of the so-called {{lang|it|grandi opere}} (big works), notably the [[Strait of Messina Bridge]];
*Support for smaller and family companies, and the ''Made in Italy'' export goods business;
*Tax reduction;
*Consolidation of relationships with the [[United States of America|USA]] and reaffirmation of the commitment to the European Union;
*Defence of the values of family as based on marriage;
*Rise of legal penalties for criminal offences;
*Keeping up with the current politics for creating jobs, especially for the young Italians and the women;
*Restrictions on immigration

== Opinion polling ==
{{main|Opinion polling for the Italian general election, 2006}}
According to the opinion polls released, mainly commissioned for national newspapers, magazines and TV stations, The Union was clearly leading the race to the general election. The three surveys which show a majority of votes for the House of Freedoms were all commissioned by Berlusconi's party Forza Italia. Notably, the surveys of [[Penn, Schoen & Berland]], a [[United States of America|U.S.]] research firm, were commissioned by Berlusconi because he claimed the national surveys to be politically biased.

According to the Italian {{lang|la|par condicio}} law, it is forbidden to publish any opinion polling in the 15 days which precede the election (25 March, in this case).

The final result (49.8% Union vs 49.7% House of Freedoms) was about 3% different from almost all polls (including all the exit polls) reducing the expected 5% gap between the coalition to a difference of about 0.1%. On Italian TV some tried to explain this discrepancy claiming that some House of Freedoms voters were ashamed to admit that they planned to vote for them. Others claimed that the last week of electoral campaign, dominated by Berlusconi's proposal of cutting ICI and by the media's insistence on the alleged new taxes advocated by The Union, persuaded a large number of Italians, usually uninterested to politics, to cast a vote for the House of Freedoms.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! style="width:37%;" |Polling Firm
! style="width:15%;" |Date
! style="width:24%; vertical-align:middle; background:{{party color|The Union (Italy)}};"| [[The Union (Italy)|{{white|The Union}}]]
! style="width:24%; vertical-align:middle; background:{{party color|House of Freedoms}};"| [[House of Freedoms|{{white|House of Freedoms}}]]
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR marketing (exit poll) || 10 April 2006 || 50–53 || 46–49
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Nexus (exit poll) || 10 April 2006 || 50–54 || 47–49
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Piepoli Institute (in-house poll) || 10 April 2006 || 52 || 47
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 22 March 2006 || 52 || 47
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | TNS Abacus || 20 March 2006 || 51.5 || 48
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | [[GfK|GfK Eurisko]] || 20 March 2006 || 52 || 46.7
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Ekma Ricerche || 20 March 2006 || 53.5 || 46
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | SWG || 17 March 2006 || 52.8 || 46.4
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 16 March 2006 || 52 || 47.7
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | GfK Eurisko || 15 March 2006 || 51 || 46.5
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | TNS Abacus || 13 March 2006 || 51.5 || 48
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Ekma Ricerche || 13 March 2006 || 53 || 46.3
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 12 March 2006 || 52 || 47.7
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | SWG || 10 March 2006 || 52.6 || 46
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | [[Penn, Schoen & Berland]] || 9 March 2006 || 48.3 || 48.8
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Euromedia Research || 9 March 2006 || 49.3 || 50
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | TNS Abacus || 9 March 2006 || 51 || 47.5
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Lorien Consulting || 7 March 2006 || 51.1 || 48.1
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 7 March 2006 || 52.2 || 47.5
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Ekma Ricerche || 6 March 2006 || 52 || 47.5
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | SWG || 3 March 2006 || 52 || 47
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 1 March 2006 || 52.2 || 47.3
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | TNS Abacus || 1 March 2006 || 51.5 || 47
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Ekma Ricerche || 27 February 2006 || 51.8 || 47.2
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | SWG || 23 February 2006 || 51.8 || 47.2
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | TNS Abacus || 22 February 2006 || 51.5 || 47
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 21 February 2006 || 52.1 || 47.4
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Ekma Ricerche || 20 February 2006 || 51.2 || 47
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | SWG || 17 February 2006 || 51 || 47.8
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 16 February 2006 || 52 || 47.5
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Penn, Schoen & Berland || 16 February 2006 || 48.2 || 48.4
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | TNS Abacus || 15 February 2006 || 51 || 47
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Ekma Ricerche || 13 February 2006 || 51.5 || 47.5
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | SWG || 10 February 2006 || 51.6 || 47.3
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | TNS Abacus || 8 February 2006 || 51 || 46.5
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 7 February 2006 || 52 || 47
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Ekma Ricerche || 6 February 2006 || 52.5 || 46.5
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | SWG || 4 February 2006 || 51.2 || 46.6
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | TNS Abacus || 1 February 2006 || 51 || 46
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Euromedia Research || 1 February 2006 || 50.9 || 47.9
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 31 January 2006 || 52.2 || 47.2
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Lorien Consulting || 30 January 2006 || 51.5 || 45.9
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | SWG || 28 January 2006 || 51.4 || 46.2
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | TNS Abacus || 25 January 2006 || 51 || 45.5
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 25 January 2006 || 52.5 || 47
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Lorien Consulting || 23 January 2006 || 51.3 || 46
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | SWG || 22 January 2006 || 51.7 || 45.7
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | TNS Abacus || 18 January 2006 || 50.5 || 46
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Euromedia Research || 18 January 2006 || 51.7 || 48.3
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 18 January 2006 || 52 || 46
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Lorien Consulting || 16 January 2006 || 51.4 || 45.7
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | SWG || 16 January 2006 || 51.4 || 46
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 11 January 2006 || 52 || 46
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | TNS Abacus || 11 January 2006 || 51 || 46
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | SWG || 5 January 2006 || 49.7 || 47.9
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || {{nowrap|11 December 2005}} || 52.8 || 44.9
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 7 November 2005 || 52.5 || 44.5
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | IPR Marketing || 25 October 2005 || 52 || 45
|}

== Political issues ==

=== Election date ===
[[File:2006 Italian pollbox.jpg|thumb|right|180px|A ballot box for the 2006 general election]]
In July 2005, President [[Carlo Azeglio Ciampi]] asked current PM [[Silvio Berlusconi]] about the opportunity for an early election for the first half of April 2006, in order to prevent a big political deadlock (the mandate of President Ciampi himself would be over in May 2006 and a newly elected government was not likely be in office within three weeks). Berlusconi however refused the deal, claiming he would stay in office until the due date of his term.<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2005/g/sezioni/politica/berluciampi/antiele/antiele.html {{lang|it|Ciampi: "Meglio votare in anticipo" Casini: "Una scelta di buonsenso"}}], [[La Repubblica]]</ref><ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2005/g/sezioni/politica/berluciampi/berluciampi/berluciampi.html {{lang|it|Berlusconi al Quirinale da Ciampi "Sulle elezioni è stato frainteso"}}], La Repubblica</ref>

But, on 18 October, Berlusconi announced that the election would be held on 9 April 2006, eventually following the suggestions from President Ciampi. Berlusconi also announced that the next [[Municipal elections in Italy, 2006|administrative elections]] (which include the mayoral elections of [[Rome]], [[Milan]] and [[Naples]]) will be held in May, the day after Romano Prodi had asked to vote for all elections the same day, in April.<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.centomovimenti.com/2005/ottobre/17_day.htm {{lang|it|Prodi: "Si voti il 9 aprile per Politiche e amministrative"}}] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022025114/http://www.centomovimenti.com/2005/ottobre/17_day.htm|date=2007-10-22}}, [[Centro Movimenti]]</ref><ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Politica/2005/10_Ottobre/18/berlusconi.shtml {{lang|it|Berlusconi a Prodi: «No all'election day»}}], [[Corriere della Sera]]</ref> Berlusconi stated this was due to his fear that good government by centre-left mayors could favour the centre-left in the general election. Critics say holding all elections on the same day could save millions of euros in public expenditure.

=== {{lang|la|Par condicio}} law ===
One of the main topics that was relevant for this general election was the {{lang|la|par condicio}} law. Its name, in [[Latin]], means 'equal treatment'; a special law which guarantees all the main majority and opposition political forces to have equal media treatment, in terms of times and spaces, and, furthermore, denies political commercials for TV and radio outside some dedicated transmissions.

Berlusconi had declared several times that he wants the {{lang|la|par condicio}} law to be either repealed or at least changed in a much lighter way.<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2004/j/sezioni/politica/dibacdl/premparl/premparl.html {{lang|it|Berlusconi parla ai giovani di FI "La par condicio legge bavaglio"}}], La Repubblica</ref><ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2005/i/sezioni/politica/devolution/berlesu/berlesu.html {{lang|it|Berlusconi accelera sulla par condicio Ma Casini dice: "Non sono d'accordo"}}], La Repubblica</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adnkronos.com/3Level.php?cat=Politica&loid=1.0.184884545 |title=Ign - Il portale d'informazione del Gruppo |publisher=Adnkronos |access-date=2010-06-04}}</ref> Critics and opponents said that Berlusconi's willingness to have the law abolished were dictated by his almost complete control of 6 channels (his family holding company controls [[Mediaset]], which broadcasts three national private channels, and controls indirectly, as Head of Government, the three [[RAI]] public broadcasting channels).

In his latter government years, Berlusconi attempted to accelerate his desires; however UDC, who is part of the Berlusconi government, declared several times its opposition to either abolish or change the {{lang|la|par condicio}} law, with secretary Lorenzo Cesa, after his election as party leader, who pointed out his refusal of any change of the law.<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2005/j/sezioni/politica/nuovacdl7/cnudc/cnudc.html {{lang|it|Udc, Cesa nuovo segretario "No a modifiche della par condicio"}}], La Repubblica</ref>

The law however did not prevent Berlusconi from using his TV channels of [[Mediaset]], and even SMS via cellphones,<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2006/04/sezioni/politica/elezioni-2006-6/sms-privacy/sms-privacy.html {{lang|it|Sms, è polemica sul silenzio violato, chiesto l'intervento del garante}}], La Repubblica</ref> to manage to get more votes. During the election day Berlusconi's channels aired a lot of messages to remind people who were watching his TV channels to use their vote together with spots saying "Mediaset gives you everything without asking for anything in return". While these spots didn't break the par condicio law, it was broken by some of the journalists (especially [[Emilio Fede]], well known for his political ideas) of the Berlusconi's channels and in March and April 2006, the ''[[Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni]]'' fined twice his privately owned channels for violation of the ''par condicio'' law, the biggest fine to date (300,000 €).<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Politica/2006/03_Marzo/22/condicio.shtml {{lang|it|Par condicio, multa a Rete 4 e Italia Uno}}], Il Corriere della Sera</ref>

=== Tax breaks ===
Before winning the [[2001 Italian general election|2001 general election]] and becoming [[Prime Minister of Italy]], Berlusconi signed in a TV show a ''Contract with Italians'', where he promised, if elected, to fulfil at least four of the five points included in it. One of the main points regarded a tax break for income levels, whereas The Olive Tree policy was essentially to maintain a progressive taxation system.

The generalised tax break was somewhat enacted in 2005, and included in the last Financial Measure. The opposition blamed Berlusconi for doing the tax break in one of the worst economic periods for the country, with no coverage for the resulting debt, and accused Berlusconi's allies of accepting the tax break in return for better power positions; during the negotiations for the Financial Measure, the [[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]] leader, and, at that date, vice-premier, [[Gianfranco Fini]], was moved to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and UDC leader Marco Follini, who had no ministerial role before that date, was chosen to replace Fini.

In the electoral campaign, Berlusconi and the whole centre-right coalition almost daily criticised the left, alleging that Prodi would increase taxes if elected, pointing out the centre-left proposal to have a 5% cut of the [[tax wedge]].

Taxes became the main topic for the end of the electoral campaign, with Berlusconi citing Prodi would reintroduce the inheritance tax, abrogated in 2001, and increase the tax system on treasury bills (BOT, CCT) and would tax stockmarket trading. Prodi pointed out the fact that he would reintroduce the inheritance tax only for the very rich people, and would not increase the taxes on treasury bills.

=== Foreign reputation ===
[[File:George W. Bush welcomes Silvio Berlusconi.jpg|thumb|220px|right|[[Silvio Berlusconi]] with the [[U.S. President]] [[George W. Bush]] at the [[White House]]]]
A good friend of [[George W. Bush]] and [[Vladimir Putin]], Berlusconi supported the American invasion of Iraq, and, during the Italian EU presidency, suggested to Chairman of the [[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|PES Group]] in the European Parliament [[Martin Schulz]], during a talk, a role of kapo (concentration-camp inmate appointed as supervisor) for a hypothetical movie, claiming he would be "perfect" for the role. When Berlusconi entered the Strasburg Parliament he was welcomed with posters in various languages addressing him as "Godfather of Europe", explicitly referring to [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s cinematic series about the [[Italian mafia|mafia]], without respecting his high institutional role as EU Council president. Afterwards Mr Berlusconi exploded at the insisting questions of MP Schulz. This diplomatic incident cooled down the Italy-Germany foreign relations for a period. Eventually a phone call between the Prime Minister and German Chancellor [[Gerhard Schröder]] put an end to the dispute.

In 2001 Berlusconi declared Western civilisation to be "superior to Islam", which he was very much criticised for.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050427131758/http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/currentaffairs/region/westerneurope/italy010927.html Berlusconi: West Superior to Islam], [[Radio Netherlands]]</ref> But in particular the international English-speaking press, such as ''[[Financial Times]]'' and ''[[Newsweek]]'', criticized Berlusconi's work. Several times, before and after his election as prime minister, the weekly worldwide magazine ''[[The Economist]]'' accused Berlusconi of being essentially "unfit to lead Italy".<ref>[http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=593654 Fit to run Italy?], ''The Economist''</ref><ref>[http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1892981 Italy and the EU], ''The Economist''</ref><ref>[http://www.ivoforni.it/economist/economist.html A capo's annual report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041211011153/http://www.ivoforni.it/economist/economist.html |date=2004-12-11 }}, The Economist/Ivo Forni</ref>

=== New voting rights for Italians living abroad ===
For the first time in Italian history, Italian citizens living abroad were able to vote by [[postal ballot]] (without having to ''physically'' return to Italy to cast their vote) for 12 deputies and 6 senators who will represent them in the Italian Parliament, an unusual system that was supported by Silvio Berlusconi and promoted by Mirko Tremaglia. These parliamentary seats are organised into four constituencies (Europe, North & Central America, Latin America, and Africa/Asia/Oceania). Candidates must live in their respective constituencies.

Forty-two percent of eligible voters abroad participated in the elections. Prodi's The Union managed to secure 4 of the 6 Senate seats, while Berlusconi's Forza Italia and an Independent candidate each gained 1 of the remaining 2 seats, aiding Prodi in gaining a majority in the Italian Senate. In the House of Deputies, 7 seats went to The Union, 4 to Berlusconi's coalition, and one to an Independent candidate. In North America, candidates from Toronto and Chicago were elected to the House of Deputies while the candidate from New York City was elected to the Senate.

Berlusconi claimed, in challenging the election results, that there were irregularities in the vote abroad. The result of the vote may have been influenced by the fact that numerous right-wing parties put forward candidates in the constituencies abroad, while there were few centre-left candidates, thereby splitting the centre-right vote. This tactical error may be explained through the novelty of the vote abroad.

=== Voting rights for Italians living abroad prior to 2006 ===
Italian citizens living outside of Italy have always had the ''[[De Jure]]'' ''right'' to vote in all referendums and elections being held in Italy (provided they had registered their residence abroad with their relevant consulate). However until late 2001, any citizen wishing to vote, was required to ''physically'' return to the city or town in Italy where he or she was registered on the [[electoral roll]]. The ''only'' exception to this rule was for the Italian elections to the [[european parliament]] in which voters could cast their ballot at their nearest consulate but only if they had their residence in one of the other 14 [[European Union]] nations.

Until 2001 the Italian Republic offered citizens living abroad a free return train journey to their home town in Italy in order to vote, however the portion of the train journey that was free of charge was ''only on Italian soil''. Any costs incurred in getting from their place of residence abroad to the Italian border had to be covered by the citizen wanting to vote, therefore a free return train journey was hardly an [[incentive]] for the large Italian communities living as far away as in the [[United States]], [[Argentina]] or [[Australia]]. For this reason very few Italians abroad made use of this right to vote, unless they lived in cities and towns that bordered to Italy such as in Germany, Switzerland, France and Austria. Various Italian minorities living abroad (notably in the United States) protested frequently at this lack of [[political representation]] especially if they paid taxes on property owned in Italy.

After numerous years of petitioning and fierce debate, the Italian Parliament, in late 2001, finally passed a constitutional law allowing Italian citizens living abroad to vote in elections in Italy by postal ballot. The change was the result of a thirty-year struggle to recognise the rights and special interests of Italians who have migrated abroad but retained their [[Italian identity]].

Italians wishing to excise this right must first register their residence abroad with their relevant consulate.

=== Constitutional reform ===
During the last few months of 2004, the House of Freedoms coalition proposed a large reform of the current Italian Constitution, which was formulated in 1948.<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2004/h/sezioni/politica/riformeist/cambiacost/cambiacost.html {{lang|it|Come cambia la Costituzione}}], La Repubblica</ref> It proposes several changes to the current political system: it reduces the number of MPs from about 950 to 750, it gives more power to the prime minister (no longer called president of the council), there will be no possibility to express a vote of no confidence against the prime minister without indicating his successor (similar to [[Germany]]'s [[constructive vote of no confidence]]); it puts an end to the necessity of a law being approved by both Chambers, attributing a clear competence to each of them; it gives more power to the regions, with several references to [[devolution]], the main programme point of the [[Lega Nord|Northern League]], still guaranteeing, according to the new version of article 127, the national interest, which had been cancelled by the previous reform of the left.

[[File:Flickr - NewsPhoto! - Italianen protesteren in Amsterdam.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Anti-Berlusconi protest in [[Amsterdam]].]]
The Italian Constitution prescribes that both chambers must accept every modification to the constitution twice within three months, and, if it passes with less than two thirds of the votes at the second scrutiny, a national [[referendum]] on the modification can be held (the reform will make it always possible to call such a referendum). Since the centre-left opposition opposed to the new constitutional reform, describing it as "dangerous", "separatist", and "antidemocratic",<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2004/j/sezioni/politica/riformeist2/riformeist2/riformeist2.html {{lang|it|Rutelli: "Riforme, pagina nera", Fassino: "Pronti al referendum"}}], La Repubblica</ref> the first procedural step, that is, the approval by the Chamber of Deputies, was done successfully in October 2004, but with less than two-thirds of the lower-house votes, making possible the confirmative referendum.<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2004/j/sezioni/politica/riformeist2/maggsoddi/maggsoddi.html {{lang|it|Riforme, la Camera approva esultano i leader del Polo}}], La Repubblica</ref> The second favourable polling, in Senate, was done in March 2005, whereas the third one occurred on October 20. During the third polling, former UDC leader Marco Follini announced he would abstain from the final vote, not support anymore the constitutional reform, followed by his party fellow [[Bruno Tabacci]].<ref>{{in lang|it}}[http://www.repubblica.it/2005/c/sezioni/politica/rifoist2/appr/appr.html {{lang|it|Dal Senato ok alla Riforma tra le proteste dell'Unione}}], La Repubblica</ref><ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2005/i/sezioni/politica/devolution/cameapprova/cameapprova.html {{lang|it|La Camera approva la Devolution Berlusconi: "Ottima riforma"}}], La Repubblica</ref>

On November 17, the Senate approved the constitutional reform in its final instance; Northern League leader Umberto Bossi attended the discussion and the voting, returning to the Parliament, even if just as spectator, after his illness. During the vote, [[Domenico Fisichella]] announced his opposition to the reform, and his immediate resignation from the party, going against the party line about the issue. Italian MPs quite easily change party and even coalition: in the legislature between 1996 and 2001 15% of MPs did so.<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2005/i/sezioni/politica/devolution/votomadama/votomadama.html {{lang|it|Devolution, dal Senato sì definitivo L'Unione: "Un danno per il Paese"}}], La Repubblica</ref>

The House of Freedoms' proposal of constitutional reform has been done in a unilateral way - no agreement with the opposition, whereas the current Italian Constitution was written after [[World War II]] by all the national political forces (except the fascists), ranging from [[Italian Liberal Party|Liberals]], to [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democrats]], to [[Italian Socialist Party|Socialists]], to [[Italian Communist Party|Communists]] and others. According to the House of Freedom, this policy was adopted in order to correct the constitutional reform approved by the former centre-left majority in 2001 (Constitutional law 3/2001) with the same modus - no agreement with the opposition. However, the new reform deeply modifies constitutional system of Italy, while the 2001 reform just partially modified a section of the Constitution.

The national referendum, requested by the centre-left opposition and a number of associations and regions - even by the centre-right ruled Lombardy, has been kept on 25–26 June 2006 and it has been concluded with the refusal of the constitutional reform by 61.32% of voting.

=== 2005 regional elections ===
{{further|Italian Regional Elections, April 3 and 4, 2005|Regional Election of Basilicata, April 17 and 18, 2005}}

On 3 and 4 April 2005, regional elections were held in 13 Italian regions (the election in [[Basilicata]] was put off for two weeks because of irregularities). The final result actually reversed the political scenario of Italy, with the opposition centre-left coalition The Union winning in 11 regions, while the governing centre-right coalition House of Freedoms maintaining only two of the eight regions they were ruling before the election. These results have brought some right-wing members, including vice-premier Marco Follini, to ask for early national election.

=== Centre-left primary election ===
{{further|Italian centre-left primary election, 2005}}
[[File:ProdiBari.jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[Romano Prodi]] during the electoral campaign.]]
On 16 October 2005, a primary election was held to officially declare the one and only candidate for the centre-left coalition ''The Union''.<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2005/g/sezioni/politica/fed5/accoprim/accoprim.html {{lang|it|Unione, accordo per le primarie Prodi: "Grande prova di democrazia"}}], La Repubblica</ref> Over four million voters have participated to the election.

Major candidate [[Romano Prodi]], who has been one of the main supporters of the primary election, gained a clear win, obtaining about 75% of the votes and defeating [[Communist Refoundation Party]] leader [[Fausto Bertinotti]], Green [[Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio]], former magistrate [[Antonio Di Pietro]], Catholic centrist [[Clemente Mastella]], independent candidate [[Ivan Scalfarotto]] and far-left candidate Simona Panzino. The election was also opened to non-Italian official residents, even if they will not be eligible to vote for the general election.

=== Economic issues ===
Italy was the only European country in which there is an almost-zero rate of growth in economy, and one of the highest debts in the whole EU, which brought Berlusconi to ask successfully to have the [[Treaty of Maastricht]] parameters relaxed. This led to several critics of the Berlusconi's policy on economy, strictly linked to the work of the Italian Ministry of Economy of [[Giulio Tremonti]], which was forced to resign in 2004 after heavy protests from parties of his own coalition, especially the National Alliance, and returned to his previous cabinet position one year later, following the resignation of [[Domenico Siniscalco]]; Tremonti's work for trying to fill the cash deficit was often based on amnesties for infringement of tax and building regulations. Prodi and the centre-left often criticised that facet of the Italian centre-right.

=== Job security ===
The regulation of temporary employment was first introduced as "pacchetto [[Tiziano Treu|Treu]]" during the 1996–2001 centre-left government. It was then changed by Minister of Labour [[Roberto Maroni]] in 2003, introducing a high number of temporary labour forms and made temporary labour cheaper than permanent.

The centre-left heavily criticised the current law, claiming it has damaged the future of the younger people. More recently, Prodi defined the current labour law as "much worse than French [[First Employment Contract|CPE]]".

The centre-left has proposed to put temporary and permanent job costs on the same level, contain the number of temporary labour forms, and regulate [[internship]]s.

== Electoral system ==
Since [[1994 Italian general election|1994]] and [[2001 Italian general election|2001 general elections]], Italy had a mixed electoral system, with 75% of the seats assigned through a [[plurality voting system]], and 25% through a proportional one.

The Italian Chamber of Deputies has 630 seats, the Senate 315 (exactly half).

=== Approval of a new voting system ===
A white paper for a proportional-only electoral system was presented to the Chamber of Deputies on 13 September 2005, only seven months before the 2006 general election. This reform, strongly backed by the centrist [[Union of the Centre (2002)|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]] (UDC), proposed a 4% threshold before a party gained any seats, and a majority bonus of at least 340 seats for the winning coalition, the total votes for each coalition being the sum of the votes of those coalition parties which had won at least 4% of the national votes. The new proposal was approved by parliament.<ref>[http://www.corriere.it/english/articoli/2005/09_Settembre/14/pole.shtml Pole Agrees to Go Back to Proportional Vote], Corriere della Sera</ref>

An electoral survey published on 15 September 2005 by the national left newspaper ''[[La Repubblica]]''<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2005/i/sezioni/politica/leggeletto/sondaggio/sondaggio.html {{lang|it|Dalla vittoria alla sconfitta la riforma "scippa" l'Unione}}], La Repubblica</ref> claimed that, with the initial proposal of electoral reform become law, the House of Freedoms would win the next elections 340–290, even if they won only 45% of votes and the opposition coalition The Union won 50% because The Union also includes several small parties with less than 4% of national votes. This could have been avoided if the small opposition parties ran on a common ticket. Aim of this bill of reform was to reduce the number of parties, and particularly the moderate centre-left would have taken advantage in respect to the smaller radical left parties.

The UDC, commenting on the proposal, asked for the abolition of the 4% cut-off clause, whereas the [[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]] did not show any favour to this attempt of reform, with its leader [[Gianfranco Fini]] claiming to want first to vote for the constitutional reform, and then for the new voting system, on condition that the 4% cut-off were not repealed.

This proposal of law was strongly questioned by the opposition coalition, who defined it an "attempted coup". Opposition leader [[Romano Prodi]] said it was "totally unacceptable".<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2005/i/sezioni/politica/leggeletto/leggeletto/leggeletto.html {{lang|it|Legge elettorale, accordo nella Cdl Unione insorge: "Blocchiamo le Camere"}}], La Repubblica</ref> Several newspapers politically oriented to the left nicknamed the electoral system proposal by the House of Freedoms as "{{lang|it|Truffarellum}}", after "{{lang|it|truffa}}" ([[Italian language|Italian]] for "[[fraud]]") and the "{{lang|la|Mattarellum}}", (from [[Sergio Mattarella]]), the most common name for the previous Italian electoral law (there is a recent custom to nickname new electoral systems by a somewhat Latinised version of the name of the lawmaker; another one is the system used in regional elections, the so-called "{{lang|la|Tatarellum}}" from Pinuccio Tatarella).

Notably, some smaller opposition parties, such as [[Communist Refoundation Party]] and [[Union of Democrats for Europe]] (UDEUR), supported a proportional electoral law; nevertheless, they declared they were against an electoral reform by this parliament because the current law would be changed too close to the 2006 general election.

The Italian prime minister [[Silvio Berlusconi]] had previously been a strong supporter of the plurality-based electoral law; in 1995, talking about his coalition, he defined the plurality principle as "our religion".<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.dsmilano.it/html/Pressroom/2005/04/rep5_0429_unione-nessun-blitz.htm {{lang|it|Nessun blitz prima delle elezioni}}] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723022653/http://www.dsmilano.it/html/Pressroom/2005/04/rep5_0429_unione-nessun-blitz.htm|date=2011-07-23}}, [[DS Milano]]</ref>

A modified version of the first proposal, this time with a 2% threshold for entering parliament and without vote of preference for candidates but still without the support of the opposition, was presented to the Chamber of Deputies. The voting count started on 11 October 2005; the lower house of the [[Italian Parliament]] then approved the electoral reform on 14 October.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4340434.stm Italy deputies back voting reform], BBC News</ref> The new electoral was then eventually approved on December 16, 2005, and countersigned by President Ciampi on 23 December 2005.<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Politica/2005/12_Dicembre/22/leggeelettorale.shtml {{lang|it|Ciampi ha firmato la legge elettorale}}], Corriere della Sera</ref>

[[Roberto Calderoli]], the main author of this electoral reform, defined this law "a rascality" (using the mildly vulgar term "{{lang|it|porcata}}"). Ironically, the new electoral law allowed Prodi to count on a large majority in the Chamber and to obtain majority in the Senate, where the House of Freedoms had more votes (49.88% vs. 49.18% for The Union).

== Results ==
{{Table section needs prose|date=January 2022}}

=== Chamber of Deputies ===
==== Overall results ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+ {{nowrap|[[2001 Italian general election#Overall results|←]] Summary of the 9–10 April 2006 [[Italian Chamber of Deputies|Chamber of Deputies]] election results [[2008 Italian general election#Overall results|→]]}}
|-
| colspan="15" style="text-align:center" |{{Switcher
| [[File:Italian Chamber of Deputies 2006.svg|center|300px]]
| Results by party
| [[File:Italy Chamber of Deputies 2006.svg|center|300px]]
| Results by coalition
}}
|-
!align=left colspan=2 rowspan=2|Coalition
!colspan=2 rowspan=2|Party
!colspan="3" align="center" valign=top|Italy (19 regions)
!colspan="3" align="center" valign=top|Aosta Valley
!colspan="3" align="center" valign=top|Overseas
!align=left rowspan=2|'''Total <br /> seats'''
!align=left rowspan=2| +/–
|-
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Votes	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|%	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Seats
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Votes	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|%	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Seats
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Votes	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|%	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Seats
|-
| rowspan="8" bgcolor="{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="8"|[[The Union (Italy)|The Union]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|The Olive Tree (Italy)}}" |
|align=left|[[The Olive Tree (Italy)|The Olive Tree]] ||11,930,983||31.27||220||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||421,414||43.39||6||226||<span style="color:green">+7</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Communist Refoundation Party}}" |
|align=left|[[Communist Refoundation Party]]||2,229,464||5.84||41||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||41||<span style="color:green">+30</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Rose in the Fist}}" |
|align=left|[[Rose in the Fist]]||990,694||2.60||18||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||18||<span style="color:green">+9</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italy of Values}}" |
|align=left|[[Italy of Values]]||877,052||2.30||16||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||27,432||2.82||1||17||<span style="color:green">+17</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Party of Italian Communists}}" |
|align=left|[[Party of Italian Communists]]||884,127||2.32||16||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||16||<span style="color:green">+6</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Federation of the Greens}}" |
|align=left|[[Federation of the Greens]]||784,803||2.06||15||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||15||<span style="color:green">+7</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Union of Democrats for Europe}}" |
|align=left|[[Union of Democrats for Europe]]||534,088||1.40||10||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||9,721||1.00||0||10||{{no2|N/D}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|South Tyrolean People's Party}}"|
| align=left|[[South Tyrolean People's Party]]||182,704||0.48||4||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||4||<span style="color:green">+1</span>
|-
| rowspan="6" bgcolor="{{party color|House of Freedoms}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="6"|[[House of Freedoms]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Forza Italia}}" |
|align=left|[[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]]||9,048,976||23.72||137||rowspan=2 align=left|13,374||rowspan=2 align=left|17.00||rowspan=2|0||202,536||20.86||3||140||<span style="color:red">−54</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|National Alliance (Italy)}}" |
|align=left|[[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]]||4,707,126||12.34||71||rowspan=2 align=right|72,105||rowspan=2 align=right|7.42||rowspan=2 align=right|1||rowspan=2 align=right|72||rowspan=2|<span style="color:red">−27</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|For Italy in the World with Tremaglia}}" |
|align=left|[[For Italy in the World]]||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats}}" |
|align=left|[[Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]]||2,580,190||6.76||39||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||66,456||6.75||0||39||<span style="color:red">−1</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Lega Nord}}" |
|align=left|[[Lega Nord|Northern League]] – [[Movement for Autonomy|MpA]]||1,747,730||4.58||26||1,566||1.99||0||20,205||2.08||0||26||<span style="color:red">−4</span>
|-
| bgcolor="lightblue" |
|align=left|[[Christian Democracy for Autonomies|Christian Democracy]] – [[New Italian Socialist Party|Socialist Party]]||285,474||0.75||4||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||4||{{no2|N/D}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Autonomy Liberty Democracy}}" |
| colspan="3" align=left |[[Autonomy Liberty Democracy]]||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||34,168||43.44||1||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||1||''New''
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Associations in South America}}"|
| colspan="3" align=left|[[Italian Associations in South America]]||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||99,817||10.28||1||1||''New''
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Others}}" |
| colspan="3"  align=left|Others||1,369,932||3.57||0||27,271||34.67||0||51,755||5.32||0||0||{{no2|N/D}}
|-
!colspan=4 align=left|'''Total'''||'''38,153,343'''||'''100'''||'''617'''||'''78,661'''||'''100'''||'''1'''||'''971,152'''||'''100'''||'''12'''||'''630'''||{{blue|±0}}
|}

{{Bar box
|title=Popular vote (Party)
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=550px
|barwidth=500px
|bars=
{{Bar percent|[[The Olive Tree (Italy)|Ulivo]]|{{party color|The Olive Tree (Italy)}}|31.27}}
{{Bar percent|[[Forza Italia (1994)|FI]]|{{party color|Forza Italia}}|23.72}}
{{Bar percent|[[National Alliance (Italy)|AN]]|{{party color|National Alliance (Italy)}}|12.34}}
{{Bar percent|[[Union of Christian and Centre Democrats|UDC]]|{{party color|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats}}|6.76}}
{{Bar percent|[[Communist Refoundation Party|PRC]]|{{party color|Communist Refoundation Party}}|5.84}}
{{Bar percent|[[Lega Nord|LN]]|{{party color|Lega Nord}}|4.58}}
{{Bar percent|[[Rose in the Fist|RnP]]|{{party color|Rose in the Fist}}|2.60}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italy of Values|IdV]]|{{party color|Italy of Values}}|2.30}}
{{Bar percent|[[Party of Italian Communists|PdCI]]|{{party color|Party of Italian Communists}}|2.32}}
{{Bar percent|[[Federation of the Greens|FdV]]|{{party color|Federation of the Greens}}|2.06}}
{{Bar percent|[[Union of Democrats for Europe|UDEUR]]|#FF7F00|1.40}}
{{Bar percent|Others|{{party color|Other}}|4.81}}
}}
{{Bar box
|title=Popular vote (Coalition)
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=550px
|barwidth=500px
|bars=
{{Bar percent|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]|{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}|49.81}}
{{Bar percent|[[House of Freedoms|CdL]]|{{party color|House of Freedoms}}|49.74}}
{{Bar percent|Others|{{party color|Other}}|0.45}}
}}
{{Bar box
|title=Parliamentary seats (Coalition)
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=550px
|barwidth=500px
|bars=
{{Bar percent|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]|{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}|55.24}}
{{Bar percent|[[House of Freedoms|CdL]]|{{party color|House of Freedoms}}|44.60}}
{{Bar percent|Others|{{party color|Other}}|0.16}}
}}

==== Italy (except Aosta Valley) ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|-
!colspan=2|Coalition
!colspan=2|Party
!Votes
!%
!Seats
|-
|rowspan=14 style="background-color:{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="14"|[[The Union (Italy)|The Union]]
| style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (Italy)}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[The Olive Tree (political coalition)|The Olive Tree]] ([[Democrats of the Left|DS]]–[[The Daisy|DL]])||11,930,983||31.27||220
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Communist Refoundation Party}}" |
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Communist Refoundation Party]] (PRC)||2,229,464||5.84||41
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Rose in the Fist}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Rose in the Fist]] (RnP)|| 990,694||2.60||18
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Party of Italian Communists}}" |
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Party of Italian Communists]] (PdCI)||884,127||2.32||16
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Italy of Values}}" | 
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Italy of Values]] (IdV)||877,052||2.30||16
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Federation of the Greens}};"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Federation of the Greens]] (FdV)||784,803||2.06||15
|-
| style="background:#FF7F00;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Union of Democrats for Europe]] (UDEUR)||534,088||1.40||10
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Pensioners' Party (Italy)}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Pensioners' Party (Italy)|Pensioners' Party]] (PP)||333,278||0.87||0
|-
| style="background:black;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[South Tyrolean People's Party]] (SVP)||182,704||0.48||4
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Socialist Party}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[The Italian Socialists|The Socialists]] (IS)||115,066||0.30||0
|-
| style="background:lightgreen;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Consumers' List]] (LC)||73,751||0.19||0
|-
| style="background: #36f;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Lega per l'Autonomia – Alleanza Lombarda|League for Autonomy – Lombard Alliance]] (LAL)||44,589||0.12||0
|-
| style="background: #C34848;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Liga Fronte Veneto|Veneto Front League]] (LFV)||21,999||0.06||0
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|''Total''||''19,002,598''||''49.81''||''340''
|-
|rowspan=13 style="background-color:{{party color|House of Freedoms}}"|
|style="text-align:left;" rowspan="13"|[[House of Freedoms]]
| style="background-color:{{party color|Forza Italia}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]] (FI)||9,048,976||23.72||137
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|National Alliance (Italy)}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]] (AN)||4,707,126||12.34||71
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats}}" |
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]] (UDC)||2,580,190||6.76||39
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Lega Nord}}" |
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Lega Nord|Northern League]] – [[Movement for Autonomy]] (LN–MpA)||1,747,730||4.58||26
|-
| style="background:lightblue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Christian Democracy for Autonomies|Christian Democracy]] – [[New Italian Socialist Party|Socialist Party]] (DC–PS)||285,474||0.75||4
|-
| style="background:black;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Social Alternative]] (AS)||255,354||0.67||0
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Tricolour Flame}};"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Tricolour Flame]] (FT)||230,506||0.60||0
|-
| style="background:darkblue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[No Euro Movement|No Euro]] (NE)||58,746||0.15||0
|-
| style="background:#FFEB3B;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[United Pensioners]] (PU)||27,550||0.07||0
|-
| style="background:green;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Greens Greens|Democratic Ecologists]] (ED)||17,145||0.04||0
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Liberal Party}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Italian Liberal Party (1997)|Italian Liberal Party]] (PLI)||12,265||0.03||0
|-
|style="background:purple;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[S.O.S. Italy]]||6,781||0.02||0
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|''Total''||''18,977,843''||''49.74''||''277''
|-
| style="background:gold;"| 
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[North-East Project]] (PNE)||92,002||0.24||0
|-
| style="background:#1560BD;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Die Freiheitlichen]] (dF)||17,183||0.05||0
|-
| style="background:lightskyblue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Third Pole (Italy)|Third Pole]] (TP)||16,174||0.04||0
|-
| style="background:brown;"| 
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Independence Republic of Sardinia]] (IRS)||11,648||0.03||0
|-
| style="background:#F75D59;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Sardigna Natzione Indipendentzia]] (SNI)||11,000||0.03||0
|-
| style="background:lightblue;"| 
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Solidarity||5,814||0.02||0
|-
| style="background:orange;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|For the South||5,130||0.01||0
|-
| style="background:blue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Sicilian Democratic Movement – [[We Sicilians]] (MDS–NS)||5,003||0.01||0
|-
| style="background:green;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Triveneto Movement (MT)||4,518||0.01||0
|-
| style="background:yellow;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Christian Dimension (DC)||2,489||0.01||0
|-
| style="background:black;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[New Italian Social Movement|National Right]] (DN)||1,093||0.00||0
|-
| style="background:#0050Aa;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Lega Sud Ausonia|Southern League Ausonia]] (LSA)||848||0.00||0
|-
! style="text-align:left;" colspan="4"|'''Total'''||'''38,153,343'''||'''100.00'''||'''617'''
|}

==== Results by region (except Aosta Valley) ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%; line-height:13px"
|- style="height:30px; background-color:#E9E9E9"
! style="width:110px;" rowspan="2"| Region
! style="width:75px;"| [[The Union (Italy)|The Union]]
! style="width:75px;"| [[House of Freedoms]]
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Italy. Common Good}};"|
! style="background:{{party color|Centre-right coalition (Italy)}};"|
|-
| [[Abruzzo]]
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''52.82'''
| 47.05
|-
| [[Apulia]]
| 48.29
| style="background:#C8EBFF"| '''51.54'''
|-
| [[Basilicata]]
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''60.08'''
| 39.49
|-
| [[Calabria]]
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''56.71'''
| 42.84
|-
| [[Naples]] 
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''52.40'''
| 47.28
|-
| [[Campania]] 
| 49.28
| style="background:#C8EBFF"| '''50.36'''
|-
| [[Emilia-Romagna]]
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''59.92'''
| 40.08
|-
| [[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]]
| 44.84
| style="background:#C8EBFF"| '''54.51'''
|-
| [[Rome]] 
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''52.29'''
| 47.56
|-
| [[Lazio]] 
| 44.04
| style="background:#C8EBFF"| '''55.96'''
|-
| [[Liguria]]
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''53.63'''
| 46.37
|-
| [[Milan]] 
| 46.34
| style="background:#C8EBFF"| '''53.66'''
|-
| [[Lombardy]] 2
| 38.91
| style="background:#C8EBFF"| '''61.09'''
|-
| [[Lombardy]] 3
| 46.22
| style="background:#C8EBFF"| '''53.78'''
|-
| [[Marche]]
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''55.22'''
| 44.78
|-
| [[Molise]]
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''50.95'''
| 49.05
|-
| [[Turin]] 
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''55.43'''
| 44.57
|-
| [[Piedmont]] 
| 44.12
| style="background:#C8EBFF"| '''55.88'''
|-
| [[Sardinia]]
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''52.49'''
| 45.35
|-
| [[Sicily]] 1
| 43.51
| style="background:#C8EBFF"| '''56.05'''
|-
| [[Sicily]] 2
| 40.50
| style="background:#C8EBFF"| '''59.50'''
|-
| [[Trentino-Alto Adige]]
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''62.00'''
| 35.32
|-
| [[Tuscany]]
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''61.75'''
| 38.25
|-
| [[Umbria]]
| style="background:#FFD0D7"| '''57.53'''
| 42.47
|-
| [[Veneto]] 1
| 38.90
| style="background:#C8EBFF"| '''58.76'''
|-
| [[Veneto]] 2
| 42.20
| style="background:#C8EBFF"| '''53.92'''
|}

<small>Source: Interior Ministry of Italy, [https://web.archive.org/web/20060510234739/http://www.elezionipolitiche.interno.it/politiche/camera060409/C0000000.htm Votes], [https://web.archive.org/web/20060510235130/http://www.elezionipolitiche.interno.it/politiche/camera060409/j0000000.htm Seats]</small>

==== Aosta Valley ====
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:right"
!colspan=2|Party
!Votes
!%
!Seats
|-
| bgcolor="red" |
| align="left" | [[Autonomy Liberty Democracy]] (ALD)
| align="right" | 34,168
| align="right" | 43.44
| align="right" | 1
|-
| bgcolor="#9BDDFF" |
| align="left" | [[Aosta Valley (political coalition)|Aosta Valley]] ([[Valdostan Union|UV]]-[[Edelweiss (political party)|SA]]-[[Autonomist Federation|FA]])
| align="right" | 24,119
| align="right" | 30.66
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Forza Italia}}" |
| align="left" | [[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]]–[[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]] (AN)
| align="right" | 13,374
| align="right" | 17.00
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats}}" |
| align="left" | [[Union of the Centre (2002)|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]] (UDC)
| align="right" | 2,282
| align="right" | 2.90
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="black" |
| align="left" | [[Social Alternative]] (AS)
| align="right" | 1,587
| align="right" | 2.02
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Lega Nord}}" |
| align="left" | [[Lega Nord|Northern League]] (LN)
| align="right" | 1,566
| align="right" | 1.99
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Pensioners' Party (Italy)}}" |
| align="left" | [[Pensioners' Party (Italy)|Pensioners' Party]] (PP)
| align="right" | 1,135
| align="right" | 1.44
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="black" |
| align="left" | [[Tricolour Flame]] (FT)
| align="right" | 430
| align="right" | 0.55
| align="right" | 0
|-
| align="left" colspan=2|'''Total'''
| align="right" | '''78,661'''
| align="right" | '''100.00'''
| align="right" | '''1'''
|}

==== Overseas constituencies ====
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:right"
!colspan=2|Party
!Votes
!%
!Seats
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}"|
| align="left" | [[The Union (Italy)|The Union]] (Unione)
| align="right" | 421,414
| align="right" | 43.39
| align="right" | 6
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Forza Italia}}" |
| align="left" | [[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]] (FI)
| align="right" | 202,536
| align="right" | 20.86
| align="right" | 3
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Associations in South America}}" |
| align="left" | [[Italian Associations in South America]] (AISA)
| align="right" | 99,817
| align="right" | 10.28
| align="right" | 1
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|For Italy in the World with Tremaglia}}" |
| align="left" | [[For Italy in the World]]
| align="right" | 72,105
| align="right" | 7.42
| align="right" | 1
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats}}"|
| align="left" | [[Union of the Centre (2002)|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]] (UDC)
| align="right" | 66,456
| align="right" | 6.75
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italy of Values}}"|
| align="left" | [[Italy of Values]] (IdV)
| align="right" | 27,432
| align="right" | 2.82
| align="right" | 1
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Lega Nord}}"|
| align="left" | [[Lega Nord|Northern League]]–[[Movement for Autonomy]] (LN–MpA)
| align="right" | 20,205
| align="right" | 2.08
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|South American Union of Italian Emigrants}}" |
| align="left" | [[South American Union of Italian Emigrants]] (USEI)
| align="right" | 14,205
| align="right" | 1.46
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="lightblue" |
| align="left" | Party of Italians in the World
| align="right" | 11,250
| align="right" | 1.16
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="blue" |
| align="left" | [[The Other Sicily]] (LAS)
| align="right" | 10,867
| align="right" | 1.12
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="#FF7F00" |
| align="left" | [[Union of Democrats for Europe]] (UDEUR)
| align="right" | 9,721
| align="right" | 1.00
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="black" |
| align="left" | [[Social Alternative]] (AS)
| align="right" | 7,030
| align="right" | 0.72
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="lightblue" |
| align="left" | Love Italy
| align="right" | 3,732
| align="right" | 0.38
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent Alternative for Italians Abroad}}" |
| align="left" | [[Independent Alternative for Italians Abroad]] (AIIE)
| align="right" | 3,474
| align="right" | 0.36
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="black" |
| align="left" | [[Tricolour Flame]] (FT)
| align="right" | 1,197
| align="right" | 0.12
| align="right" | 0
|-
| align="left" colspan=2|'''Total'''
| align="right" |  '''971,152'''
| align="right" | '''100.00'''
| align="right" |  '''12'''
|}

==== Map ====
[[File:Map of 2006 Italian general election (Chamber of Deputies).svg|center|800px]]{{center|Seat totals by constituency. As this is a MB election, seat totals are determined by the national popular vote, benefiting the largest coalition nationwide.}}

=== Senate of the Republic ===
==== Overall results ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+ {{nowrap|[[2001 Italian general election#Overall results 2|←]] Summary of the 9–10 April 2006 [[Italian Senate|Senate of the Republic]] election results [[2008 Italian general election#Overall results 2|→]]}}
|-
| colspan="18" style="text-align:center" |{{Switcher
| [[File:Italian Senate, 2006.svg|center|300px]]
| Results by party
| [[File:Italy Senate 2006.svg|300px]]
| Results by coalition
}}
|-
!align=left colspan=2 rowspan=2|Coalition
!colspan=2 rowspan=2|Party
!colspan="3" align="center" valign=top|Italy (18 regions)
!colspan="3" align="center" valign=top|Aosta Valley
!colspan="3" align="center" valign=top|Trentino-Alto Adige
!colspan="3" align="center" valign=top|Overseas
!align=left rowspan=2|'''Total<br /> seats'''
!align=left rowspan=2| +/–
|-
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Votes	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|%	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Seats
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Votes	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|%	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Seats
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Votes	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|%	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Seats 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Votes	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|%	 
!style="background-color:" align="center" valign=bottom|Seats
|-
| rowspan="9" bgcolor="{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="9"|[[The Union (Italy)|The Union]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Democrats of the Left}}" |
|align=left|[[Democrats of the Left]]||5,977,347||17.50||62||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}|| rowspan="9"|343,279||rowspan="9"|59.83||rowspan="9"|5|| rowspan="3"|393,357||rowspan="3"|44.14||rowspan="3"|4||rowspan="2"|65||rowspan="2"|<span style="color:green">+1</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}" |
|align=left|[[The Olive Tree (Italy)|The Olive Tree]]||59,498||0.17||1||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|The Daisy}}" |
|align=left|[[Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy|The Daisy]]||3,664,903||10.73||39||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||43||{{blue|±0}}
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Communist Refoundation Party}}" |
|align=left|{{nowrap|[[Communist Refoundation Party]]}}||2,518,361||7.37||27||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||27||<span style="color:green">+23</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Party of Italian Communists}}" |
|align=left|{{nowrap|[[Together with the Union]]}}||1,423,003||4.17||11||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||11||<span style="color:green">+1</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italy of Values}}" |
|align=left|[[Italy of Values]]||986,191||2.89||4||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||26,486||2.97||0||4||<span style="color:green">+3</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Union of Democrats for Europe}}" |
|align=left|[[Union of Democrats for Europe]]||477,226||1.40||3||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||13,507||1.52||0||3||–
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|South Tyrolean People's Party}}" |
|align=left|[[South Tyrolean People's Party]]||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||3||{{blue|±0}}
|-
| bgcolor="lightgreen" |
|align=left|[[Consumers' List]]||72,199||0.21||1||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||1||''New''
|-
| rowspan="4" bgcolor="{{party color|House of Freedoms}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="4"|[[House of Freedoms]]
| bgcolor="{{party color|Forza Italia}}" |
|align=left|[[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]]||8,202,890||24.01||78||rowspan="2"|11,505||rowspan="2"|15.61||rowspan="2"|0||rowspan="4"|175,139||rowspan="4"|30.53||rowspan="4"|2||186,386||20.92||1||''80''||<span style="color:red">−8</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|National Alliance (Italy)}}" |
|align=left|[[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]]||4,235,208||12.40||41||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||41||<span style="color:green">+4</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats}}" |
|align=left|[[Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]]||2,309,442||6.76||21||2,264||3.07||0||57,278||6.43||0||21||<span style="color:red">−8</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Lega Nord}}" |
|align=left|[[Lega Nord|Northern League]] – [[Movement for Autonomy|MpA]]||1,530,667||4.48||13||1,574||2.14||0||18,544||2.08||0||14||<span style="color:red">−3</span>
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Autonomy Liberty Democracy}}" |
| colspan="3" align=left|[[Autonomy Liberty Democracy]]||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||32,554||44.17||1||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||1||''New''
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Associations in South America}}"|
| colspan="3" align=left|[[Italian Associations in South America]]||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||{{N/A}}||85,745||9.62||1||1||''New''
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Others}}" |
| colspan="3" align=left|Others||2,705,680||7.91||0||25,811||35.01||0||55,292||9.64||0||109,758||12.32||0||0||{{no2|N/D}}
|-
!colspan=4 align=left|'''Total'''||'''34,162,615'''||'''100'''||'''301'''||'''73,708'''||'''100'''||'''1'''||'''573,710'''||'''100'''||'''7'''||'''891,061'''||'''100'''||'''6'''||'''315'''||{{blue|±0}}
|}

{{Bar box
|title=Popular vote (Party)
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=550px
|barwidth=500px
|bars=
{{Bar percent|[[Forza Italia (1994)|FI]]|{{party color|Forza Italia}}|24.01}}
{{Bar percent|[[Democrats of the Left|DS]]|{{party color|Democrats of the Left}}|17.50}}
{{Bar percent|[[National Alliance (Italy)|AN]]|{{party color|National Alliance (Italy)}}|12.40}}
{{Bar percent|[[Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy|DL]]|{{party color|The Daisy}}|10.73}}
{{Bar percent|[[Communist Refoundation Party|PRC]]|{{party color|Communist Refoundation Party}}|7.37}}
{{Bar percent|[[Union of the Centre (2002)|UDC]]|{{party color|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats}}|6.76}}
{{Bar percent|[[Lega Nord|LN]]|{{party color|Lega Nord}}|4.48}}
{{Bar percent|[[Together with the Union|FdV-PdCI-CU]]|{{party color|The Union (political coalition)}}|4.17}}
{{Bar percent|[[Italy of Values|IdV]]|{{party color|Italy of Values}}|2.89}}
{{Bar percent|[[Rose in the Fist|RnP]]|{{party color|Rose in the Fist}}|2.49}}
{{Bar percent|[[Union of Democrats for Europe|UDEUR]]|#FF7F00|1.40}}
{{Bar percent|Others|{{party color|Other}}|5.85}}
}}
{{Bar box
|title=Popular vote (Coalition)
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=550px
|barwidth=500px
|bars=
{{Bar percent|[[House of Freedoms|CdL]]|{{party color|House of Freedoms}}|50.21}}
{{Bar percent|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]|{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}|48.96}}
{{Bar percent|Others|{{party color|Other}}|0.85}}
}}
{{Bar box
|title=Parliamentary seats (Coalition)
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=550px
|barwidth=500px
|bars=
{{Bar percent|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]|{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}|50.16}}
{{Bar percent|[[House of Freedoms|CdL]]|{{party color|House of Freedoms}}|49.52}}
{{Bar percent|Others|{{party color|Other}}|0.32}}
}}

==== Italy (except Aosta Valley and Trentino-Alto Adige) ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|-
!colspan=2|Coalition
!colspan=2|Party
!Votes
!%
!Seats
|-
|rowspan=17 style="background-color:{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}"|
|style="text-align:left;" rowspan="17"|[[The Union (Italy)|The Union]]
|style="background-color:{{party color|Democrats of the Left}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Democrats of the Left]] (DS)||5,977,347||17.50||62
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|The Daisy}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy]] (DL)||3,664,903||10.73||39
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Communist Refoundation Party}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Communist Refoundation Party]] (PRC)||2,518,361||7.37||27
|-
| style="background:red;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Together with the Union]] ([[Federation of the Greens|FdV]]-[[Party of Italian Communists|PdCI]]-[[United Consumers|CU]])||1,423,003||4.17||11
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Italy of Values}}" | 
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Italy of Values]] (IdV)||986,191||2.89||4
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Rose in the Fist}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Rose in the Fist]] (RnP)||851,604||2.49||0
|-
| style="background:#FF7F00;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Union of Democrats for Europe]] (UDEUR)||477,226||1.40||3
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Pensioners' Party (Italy)}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Pensioners' Party (Italy)|Pensioners' Party]] (PP)||340,565||1.00||0
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Socialist Party}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[The Italian Socialists|The Socialists]] (IS)||126,431||0.37||0
|-
| style="background:#36f;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Lega per l'Autonomia – Alleanza Lombarda|League for Autonomy – Lombard Alliance]] (LAL)||90,855||0.27||0
|-
| style="background:lightgreen;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Consumers' List]] (LC)||72,199||0.21||1
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|The Olive Tree (political coalition)}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[The Olive Tree (political coalition)|The Olive Tree]]||59, 498||0.17||1
|-
| style="background:orange;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Italian Democratic Socialist Party (2004)|Italian Democratic Socialist Party]] (PSDI)||57,343||0.17||0
|-
| style="background:green;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[European Republicans Movement]] (MRE)||51,219||0.15||0
|-
| style="background: #C34848;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Liga Fronte Veneto|Veneto Front League]] (LFV)||23,214||0.07||0
|-
| style="background: lightblue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[United Democratic Christians|United Christians]] (CU)||5,442||0.02||0
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|''Total''||''16,725,401''||''48.96''||''148''
|-
|rowspan=18 style="background-color:{{party color|House of Freedoms}}"|
|style="text-align:left;" rowspan="18"|[[House of Freedoms]]
| style="background-color:{{party color|Forza Italia}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]] (FI)||8,202,890||24.01||78
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|National Alliance (Italy)}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]] (AN)||4,235,208||12.40||41
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats}}" |
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]] (UDC)||2,309,442||6.76||21
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Lega Nord}}" |
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Lega Nord|Northern League]] – [[Movement for the Autonomies|Movement for Autonomy]] (LN–MpA)||1,530,667||4.48||13
|-
| style="background:black;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Social Alternative]]  (AS)||214,526||0.63||0
|-
| style="background:{{party color|Tricolour Flame}};"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Tricolour Flame]] (FT)||204,498||0.60||0
|-
| style="background:lightblue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Christian Democracy for Autonomies|Christian Democracy]] – [[New Italian Socialist Party|Socialist Party]] (DC–PS)||190,717||0.56||0
|-
| style="background:#FFEB3B;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[United Pensioners]] (PU)||61,681||0.18||0
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Republican Party}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Italian Republican Party]] (PRI)||45,098||0.13||0
|-
| style="background:green;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Greens Greens|Democratic Ecologists]] (ED)||36,458||0.11||0
|-
| style="background:blue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[New Sicily]] (NS)||33,485||0.10||0
|-
| style="background:darkblue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[No Euro Movement|No Euro]] (NE)||30,527||0.09||0
|-
| style="background:orange;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Pact for Sicily]] (PpS)||20,825||0.06||0
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Italian Liberal Party}}"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Italian Liberal Party (1997)|Italian Liberal Party]] (PLI)||15,657||0.05||0
|-
| style="background:lightskyblue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Extended Christian Pact]] (PACE)||9,735||0.03||0
|-
| style="background:blue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[Liberal Reformers]] (RL)||7,571||0.02||0
|-
| style="background:purple;"|
| style="text-align:left;" |[[S.O.S. Italy]]||4,993||0.01||0
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|''Total''||''17,153,978''||''50.21''||''153''
|-
| style="background:gold;"| 
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[North-East Project]] (PNE)||93,172||0.27||0
|-
| style="background:#0050AA;"| 
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Sicilian Alliance]] (AS)||36,194||0.11||0
|-
| style="background:red;"| 
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Marxist–Leninist Italian Communist Party]] (PCIM–L)||25,941||0.08||0
|-
| style="background:lightgreen;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Pensions and Work||19,759||0.06||0
|-
| style="background:#282828;"| 
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Sardinian Action Party]] (PSd'Az)||16,733||0.05||0
|-
| style="background:darkred;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Forza Roma||13,338||0.04||0
|-
| style="background:lightblue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Third Pole (Italy)|Third Pole]] (TP)||13,260||0.04||0
|-
| style="background:brown;"| 
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Independence Republic of Sardinia]] (IRS)||10,881||0.03||0
|-
| style="background:orange;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|For the South||9,985||0.03||0
|-
| style="background:#F75D59;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Sardigna Natzione Indipendentzia]] (SNI)||8,412||0.02||0
|-
| style="background:green;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Triveneto Movement (MT)||7,435||0.02||0
|-
| style="background:blue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Sicilian Democratic Movement – [[We Sicilians]] (MDS–NS)||6,556||0.02||0
|-
| style="background:lightblue;"| 
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Solidarity||5,470||0.02||0
|-
| style="background:pink;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Women of Europe Party||4,212||0.01||0
|-
| style="background:black;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Social Idea Movement]] (MIS)||3,024||0.01||0
|-
| style="background:#1560BD;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|[[Lega Sud Ausonia|Southern League Ausonia]] (LSA)||2.485||0.01||0
|-
| style="background:yellow;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Christian Dimension (DC)||2,441||0.01||0
|-
| style="background:green;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Moderate Italy (IM)||2,076||0.01||0
|-
| style="background:lightblue;"|
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Southern Federalist Union (UFM)||1,862||0.01||0
|-
! style="text-align:left;" colspan="4"|'''Total'''||'''34,162,615'''||'''100.00'''||'''301'''
|}

<small>Source: Interior Ministry of Italy, [https://web.archive.org/web/20060510234739/http://www.elezionipolitiche.interno.it/politiche/camera060409/C0000000.htm Votes], [https://web.archive.org/web/20060510235130/http://www.elezionipolitiche.interno.it/politiche/camera060409/j0000000.htm Seats]</small>

Note: 7 Senators ''for life'': [[Francesco Cossiga]] (Former Italian President), [[Oscar Luigi Scalfaro]] (Former Italian President), [[Giulio Andreotti]] (Former Italian Prime Minister), [[Rita Levi Montalcini]] ([[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Prize]] winner for Medicine 1986), [[Emilio Colombo]] (Former Italian Prime Minister), [[Giorgio Napolitano]] (Former President of Italian Chamber of Deputies and Minister of the Interior), [[Sergio Pininfarina]].

==== Aosta Valley ====
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:right"
!colspan=2|Party
!Votes
!%
!Seats
|-
| bgcolor="red" |
| align="left" | [[Autonomy Liberty Democracy]] (ALD)
| align="right" | 32,554
| align="right" | 44.17
| align="right" | 1
|-
| bgcolor="#9BDDFF" |
| align="left" | [[Aosta Valley (political coalition)|Aosta Valley]] ([[Valdostan Union|UV]]-[[Edelweiss (political party)|SA]]-[[Autonomist Federation|FA]])
| align="right" | 23,574
| align="right" | 31.98
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Forza Italia}}" |
| align="left" | [[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]]–[[National Alliance (Italy)|National Alliance]] (FI–AN)
| align="right" | 11,505
| align="right" | 15.61
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats}}" |
| align="left" | [[Union of the Centre (2002)|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]] (UDC)
| align="right" | 2,264
| align="right" | 3.07
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Lega Nord}}" |
| align="left" | [[Lega Nord|Northern League]] (LN)
| align="right" | 1,574
| align="right" | 2.14
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Pensioners' Party (Italy)}}" |
| align="left" | [[Pensioners' Party (Italy)|Pensioners' Party]] (PP)
| align="right" | 1,046
| align="right" | 1.42
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="black" |
| align="left" | [[Social Alternative]] (AS)
| align="right" | 775
| align="right" | 1.05
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="black" |
| align="left" | [[Tricolour Flame]] (FT)
| align="right" | 416
| align="right" | 0.56
| align="right" | 0
|-
| align="left" colspan=2|'''Total'''
| align="right" |  '''73,708'''
| align="right" | '''100.00'''
| align="right" |  '''1'''
|}

==== Trentino-Alto Adige/South Tyrol ====
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:right"
!colspan=2|Party
!Votes
!%
!Seats
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Democratic Party (Italy)}}"|
| align="left" | [[South Tyrolean People's Party]]–[[The Union (Italy)|The Union]] (SVP–Unione)
| align="right" | 198,156
| align="right" | 34.54
| align="right" | 3
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|House of Freedoms}}" |
| align="left" | [[House of Freedoms]] (CdL)
| align="right" | 175,139
| align="right" | 30.53
| align="right" | 2
|-
| bgcolor="black" |
| align="left" | [[South Tyrolean People's Party]] (SVP)
| align="right" | 117,495
| align="right" | 20.48
| align="right" | 2
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}"|
| align="left" | [[The Union (Italy)|The Union]] (Unione)
| align="right" | 27,628
| align="right" | 4.81
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="blue" |
| align="left" | [[Die Freiheitlichen]] (dF)
| align="right" | 16,765
| align="right" |2.92
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Pensioners' Party (Italy)}}"|
| align="left" | [[Pensioners' Party (Italy)|Pensioners' Party]] (PP)
| align="right" | 16,381
| align="right" | 2.86
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="black" |
| align="left" | [[Tricolour Flame]] (FT)
| align="right" | 14,819
| align="right" |2.58
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="lightblue" |
| align="left" | [[Autonomist People's Union]] (UPA)
| align="right" | 7,327
| align="right" | 1.28
| align="right" | 0
|-
| align="left" colspan=2|'''Total'''
| align="right" |  '''573,710'''
| align="right" | '''100.00'''
| align="right" |  '''7'''
|}

==== Overseas constituencies ====
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:right"
!colspan=2|Party
!Votes
!%
!Seats
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|The Union (Italy)}}"|
| align="left" | [[The Union (Italy)|The Union]] (Unione)
| align="right" | 393,357
| align="right" | 44.14
| align="right" | 4
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Forza Italia}}" |
| align="left" | [[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]] (FI)
| align="right" | 186,386
| align="right" | 20.92
| align="right" | 1
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italian Associations in South America}}" |
| align="left" | [[Italian Associations in South America]] (AISA)
| align="right" | 85,745
| align="right" | 9.62
| align="right" | 1
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|For Italy in the World with Tremaglia}}" |
| align="left" | [[For Italy in the World]]
| align="right" | 65,055
| align="right" | 7.30
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats}}"|
| align="left" | [[Union of the Centre (2002)|Union of Christian and Centre Democrats]] (UDC)
| align="right" | 57,278
| align="right" | 6.43
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Italy of Values}}"|
| align="left" | [[Italy of Values]] (IdV)
| align="right" | 26,486
| align="right" | 2.97
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Lega Nord}}"|
| align="left" | [[Lega Nord|Northern League]]–[[Movement for the Autonomies|Movement for Autonomy]] (LN–MpA)
| align="right" | 18,544
| align="right" | 2.08
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="#FF7F00" |
| align="left" | [[Union of Democrats for Europe]] (UDEUR)
| align="right" | 13,507
| align="right" | 1.52
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|South American Union of Italian Emigrants}}" |
| align="left" | [[South American Union of Italian Emigrants]] (USEI)
| align="right" | 12,552
| align="right" | 1.41
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="lightblue" |
| align="left" | Party of Italians in the World
| align="right" | 10,888
| align="right" | 1.22
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="blue" |
| align="left" | [[The Other Sicily]]–For the South
| align="right" | 9,497
| align="right" | 1.07
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="black" |
| align="left" | [[Tricolour Flame]] (FT)
| align="right" | 8,575
| align="right" | 0.96
| align="right" | 0
|-
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent Alternative for Italians Abroad}}" |
| align="left" | [[Independent Alternative for Italians Abroad]] (AIIE)
| align="right" | 3,191
| align="right" | 0.36
| align="right" | 0
|-
| align="left" colspan=2|'''Total'''
| align="right" |  '''891,061'''
| align="right" | '''100.00'''
| align="right" |  '''6'''
|}

==== Seats by region ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! style="width: 5%" rowspan="3"|[[Regions of Italy|Region]]
! style="width: 20%" colspan=3|Coalitions
! style="width: 5%" rowspan="3"|[[Majority bonus]]<br />winner
! style="width: 5%" rowspan="3"|Senators
|-
! style="width:80px; background-color:{{party color|The Union (Italy)}};"|
! style="width:80px; background-color:{{party color|House of Freedoms}};"|
! style="width:80px; background-color:{{party color|Other}};"|
|-
! style="width:80px;"| [[The Union (Italy)|The Union]]
! style="width:80px;"| [[House of Freedoms]]
! style="width:80px;"| Others
|-
|  {{flagicon|Lombardy}}<br />[[Lombardy]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|20
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|27
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|[[House of Freedoms|CdL]]
!47
|-
|  {{flagicon|Campania}}<br />[[Campania]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|17
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|13
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]
!30
|-
|  {{flagicon|Lazio}}<br />[[Lazio]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|12 
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|15
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|[[House of Freedoms|CdL]]
!27
|-
|  {{flagicon|Sicily}}<br />[[Sicily]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|11
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|15
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|[[House of Freedoms|CdL]]
!26
|-
|  {{flagicon|Veneto}}<br />[[Veneto]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|10
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|14
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|[[House of Freedoms|CdL]]
!24
|-
|  {{flagicon|Piedmont}}<br />[[Piedmont]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|9
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|13
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|[[House of Freedoms|CdL]]
!22
|-
|  {{flagicon|Emilia-Romagna}}<br />[[Emilia-Romagna]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|12
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|9
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]
!21
|-
|  {{flagicon|Apulia}}<br />[[Apulia]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|9
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|12
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|[[House of Freedoms|CdL]]
!21
|-
|  {{flagicon|Tuscany}}<br />[[Tuscany]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|11
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|7
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]
!18
|-
|  {{flagicon|Calabria}}<br />[[Calabria]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|6
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|4
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]
!10
|-
|  {{flagicon|Sardinia}}<br />[[Sardinia]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|5
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|4
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]
!9
|-
|  {{flagicon|Liguria}}<br />[[Liguria]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|5 
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|3
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]
!8
|-
|  {{flagicon|Marche}}<br />[[Marche]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|5
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|3
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]
!8
|-
|  {{flagicon|Abruzzo}}<br />[[Abruzzo]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|4
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|3
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]
!7
|-
|  {{flagicon|Friuli-Venezia Giulia}}<br />[[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|3
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|4
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|[[House of Freedoms|CdL]]
!7
|-
|  {{flagicon|Trentino-Alto Adige}}<br />[[Trentino-South Tyrol]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|3 
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|2
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|2 ([[South Tyrolean People's Party|SVP]])
| style="text-align:center;"|N/A
!7
|-
|  {{flagicon|Umbria}}<br />[[Umbria]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|4 
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|3
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]
!7
|-
|  {{flagicon|Basilicata}}<br />[[Basilicata]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|4 
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|3 
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|[[The Union (Italy)|Union]]
!7
|-
|  {{flagicon|Molise}}<br />[[Molise]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|1 
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|1 
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"|N/A
!2
|-
|  {{flagicon|Aosta Valley}}<br />[[Aosta Valley]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|1 ([[Autonomy Liberty Democracy|ALD]])
| style="text-align:center;"|N/A
!1
|-
| [[Overseas constituencies of Italian Parliament|Italians abroad]]
| style="background:pink; text-align:center;"|4
| style="background:#a9d4ff; text-align:center;"|1
| style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;"|1 ([[Italian Associations in South America|AISA]])
| style="text-align:center;"|N/A
!6
|-
! Total
! 155
! 156
! 4
!
! 315
|}

==== Map ====
[[File:Map of 2006 Italian general election (Senate of the Republic).svg|center|800px]]{{center|Seat totals by constituency. As this is a MB election, seat totals are determined by the national popular vote, benefiting the largest coalition in each region.}}

== Vote count controversy ==
Although The Union led initial [[exit poll]]s and was quickly expected to win the election, the gap with House of Freedoms narrowed as the votes were tabulated.  The initial results released by the Interior Ministry showed that Prodi had won the Chamber of Deputies by 25,204 votes, and Prodi declared victory on 11 April. Berlusconi, however, refused to concede, requesting a recount on 43,028 Chamber ballots and 39,822 Senate ballots. Berlusconi also claimed problems with the votes from Italian citizens abroad, which were critical in giving The Union a majority in the Senate. Five ballot boxes were also found on the streets in Rome after the election.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4904294.stm Italy in limbo over vote counting], BBC News</ref>  On 14 April, however, the Interior Ministry announced that there had been a mistake in the report of the number of ballots to be rechecked. Only 2,131 Chamber ballots and 3,135 Senate ballots merited re-examination (reducing the total number of disputed ballots from the over 80,000 initially reported to just over 5,000). The result of this check added equally a few hundred votes to each coalition. Analysts also believed that the vote from abroad was so overwhelmingly in favour of The Union that the election would be highly unlikely to be overturned in Berlusconi's favour.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4909120.stm Italian poll result set to stand], BBC News</ref>

The last ruling of the supreme court ("Corte di Cassazione") on 19 April 2006 stated that Prodi won the election by 24,755 votes.

== See also ==
* [[Elections in Italy]]
* [[History of Italy as a Republic]]
* [[Politics of Italy]]
* [[2004 European Parliament election in Italy]]
* [[Elections in 2006]]
* [[2006 Italian Chamber of Deputies election, North and Central American division]]
* [[2006 Italian Senate election, North and Central American division]]
* [[2006 Italian general election in Lombardy]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* {{in lang|it}} [http://www.sondaggipoliticoelettorali.it/ Political & Electoral Surveys]
* {{in lang|it}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20050925220230/http://brunik.altervista.org/ {{lang|it|Il Termometro Politico}} (The Political Thermometer)]
* {{in lang|en}} [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4812794.stm Q&A: Italian election]
* {{in lang|it}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20061209222831/http://politiche.interno.it/ Election results from the Interior Ministry]
* {{in lang|it}} [http://elezionistorico.interno.it/ Election results from the Interior Ministry (Archives of all Elections)]

{{Elections in Italy}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Italian General Election, 2006}}
[[Category:General elections in Italy|2006]]
[[Category:2006 elections in Italy|General election]]
[[Category:April 2006 in Italy]]