2006 Italian general election

2006 Italian general election

← 2001 9–10 April 2006 2008 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 316 seats needed for a majority 315 seats in the Senate 162 seats needed for a majority[a]
Opinion polls
Registered	46,997,601 (C) · 42,232,467 (S)
Turnout	39,298,497 (C) · 83.6% (2.2 pp) 35,262,679 (S) · 83.5% (2.2 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Romano Prodi Silvio Berlusconi Party Independent Forza Italia Alliance The Union House of Freedoms Leader since 13 September 2004 18 January 1994 Leader's seat Emilia-Romagna (C) Campania 1 (C) Seats won 348 (C) / 158 (S) 281 (C) / 156 (S) Seat change 109 (C) / 22 (S) 107 (C) / 20 (S) Coalition vote 19,036,986 (C) 16,725,401 (S) 18,995,697 (C) 17,153,978 (S) Percentage 49.8% (C) 49.0% (S) 49.7% (C) 50.2% (S) Swing 14.3 pp (C) 10.3 pp (S) 0.1 pp (C) 7.7 pp (S)
Election results maps for the Chamber of Deputies (on the left) and for the Senate (on the right). Red denotes provinces and regions with a Union plurality, Blue denotes those with a House of Freedom plurality.
Prime Minister before election Silvio Berlusconi Forza Italia Prime Minister after the election Romano Prodi The Olive Tree

The 2006 Italian general election was held on 9 and 10 April 2006. Romano Prodi, leader of the centre-left coalition The Union, narrowly defeated the incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the centre-right coalition House of Freedoms.^[1] Initial exit polls suggested a victory for Prodi, but the results narrowed as the count progressed. On 11 April 2006, Prodi declared victory;^[2] Berlusconi never conceded defeat and an ensuing dispute formed.

Preliminary results showed The Union leading the House of Freedoms in the 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 voters outside Italy, giving them control of both chambers.^[3]

On 19 April 2006, Italy's 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.

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