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When do we vote again for Parliament? Just over a year from the natural end of the legislature the honest answer is that there is no official date. However, there are constraints that no one can move, two realistic windows being openly discussed in Rome and only one entity that has the final say. We list them, because the month chosen also affects some deadlines for those voting from abroad.
The nineteenth legislature opened with the first session of the Chambers on 13 October 2022. Article 60 of the Constitution sets the duration at five years, so the natural deadline falls on 13 October 2027. Article 61 adds that new elections must be held within seventy days of the end of the previous Chambers. All things considered, even in the longest possible scenario voting takes place by December 2027.
In practice, when a legislature reaches its end, the polls open close to the deadline and not on the last possible day. The last precedent is that of 2018: the legislature born in March 2013 closed with the vote on 4 March, a few weeks before the full five years.
Many search for "political elections 2028" but political elections cannot be postponed to 2028. The only exception provided by the Constitution is the extension of the Chambers by law in case of war. What can slip into the new year, if voting were held in late autumn, is the rest of the machinery: the first session of the new Parliament comes within twenty days of the vote and after that consultations at the Quirinale and confidence in the government are needed.
2028 will however be a year of polls, but of another type. Lombardy, Lazio, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Molise and the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano return to vote, in addition to a new round of municipal elections in spring. The complete calendar is in our article on elections in Italy in 2027 and 2028.
In spring 2027 the mayors of Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin and Bologna are renewed, in addition to dozens of other provincial capitals. For months at Palazzo Chigi there has been discussion of an election day that puts political and administrative elections on the same Sunday. In newspaper reports various dates have circulated, including 18 April and 23 or 30 May 2027, none of which has official value so far.
The main argument in favour of spring is the public accounts calendar. Voting in autumn means going to the polls precisely when the government should be writing the budget law. This is why the Minister for Relations with Parliament Luca Ciriani defined spring as the most sensible choice. According to some reports the Quirinale would consider bringing forward the date only if combined with municipal elections, so as not to call voters to the polls twice within a few months.
Not everyone in the majority agrees. League leader Matteo Salvini has said several times that he wants to reach the end of the legislature, in autumn 2027. Forza Italia secretary Antonio Tajani has also indicated the natural deadline as the right date, leaving open at most the possibility of bringing it forward by one or two months. The opposition parties say they are ready at any time and in the Democratic Party there are those who, like Stefano Bonaccini, maintain that the sooner the vote the better.
Not the government. Early dissolution of the Chambers is a prerogative of the President of the Republic, who according to Article 88 of the Constitution must first consult the presidents of the Chamber and Senate. Only after dissolution does the Council of Ministers pass the decree setting the date. The law provides that at least forty-five days must pass between publication of the decree and voting. Translation: to vote in April the Chambers would have to be dissolved as early as February 2027. When news of the dissolution begins to circulate in Italy, about two months will remain until the polls.
The choice is also affected by the reform of the voting system. The Senate approved the new electoral law on 15 September 2026 with 113 votes in favour and 71 against. The text returned to the Chamber for the third reading and the final vote is expected around 8 October. If it passes without further amendments, voting will take place with a proportional system corrected by a governability premium of 70 seats in the Chamber and 35 in the Senate, which only comes into effect if the same list or coalition comes first in both branches of Parliament with at least 42 per cent of the votes. Lists will have seven candidates, with the top candidate blocked and up to three preferences.
For those registered with AIRE the month of voting changes little in substance: in political elections voting is by correspondence and the package arrives at home without needing to request anything. What does change is a deadline to note immediately. Those who prefer to vote in person in Italy must notify their consulate in writing by 31 December 2026 if the legislature reaches its natural deadline. If instead the Chambers are dissolved early, the deadline becomes ten days from the calling of elections. The new electoral law also redesigns the Overseas constituency: all the steps are in our guide on how Italians in Switzerland vote in the 2027 political elections.
The Politics column will update this article as soon as there is dissolution of the Chambers and the decree with the date. Anyone who wants to receive an email alert when voting takes place can write to us at votazioni@tuttoitalia.ch indicating municipality and region of origin.
