ROME, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- The lower house of Italy's parliament on Thursday gave final approval to a new election law proposed by parties in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's ruling coalition, with 227 lawmakers voting in favor and 164 against.
The new law replaces the current mixed electoral system, which combines first-past-the-post and proportional representation, with a proportional representation system that grants bonus seats to the coalition winning the most votes, provided it secures at least 42 percent of the vote. The mechanism is intended to ensure a working majority in parliament.
If no coalition reaches the 42-percent threshold, or if the results of elections for the lower house and Senate differ, seats will instead be allocated under a purely proportional system.
Under the new system, electoral coalitions will be required to name their candidate for prime minister before an election. The law also allows voters to express preferences for up to three candidates from a party list of six, with male and female candidates required to alternate on the list. ■
