Municipal elections were held in Bologna on 6–7 and 21–22 June 2009. The centre-left candidate Flavio Delbono was elected mayor at the second round with 60.77% of votes.
Background The centre-left primary elections took place on 13 and 14 December 2008. The Vice-President of Emilia-Romagna, Flavio Delbono, received 49.73% of the 24,920 votes cast in the primary; Maurizio Cevenini received 23.29%, Virginio Merola received 21.44% and Andrea Forlani received 5.1%. On 9 January 2009, Delbono announced that he would be resigning as vice-president of Emilia-Romagna and regional assessor in order to focus on his election campaign.
The other candidates were Alfredo Cazzola, former owner of Virtus Bologna and Bologna F.C., who was the candidate of The People of Freedom and Northern League, and Giorgio Guazzaloca, a former mayor of Bologna.
Voting system The voting system is used for all mayoral elections in Italy, in the city with a population higher than 15,000 inhabitants. Under this system voters express a direct choice for the mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives 50% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate may be able to claim majority support, although it is not guaranteed.
The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally.
Main parties and leaders Political force or allianceConstituent listsLeader Bologna Free City Citizens for Bologna Democratic Party Italy of Values Left for Bologna (incl. PS and SD) PRC – PdCI Federation of the Greens Civic lists Five Star Movement Guazzaloca For Bologna (incl. UDC) The People of Freedom Northern League Civic lists
Results + Summary of the 2009 Bologna City Council election results Candidates I round II round Leaders seats Parties Votes % Seats Votes % Votes % Flavio Delbono 112,127 49.40 112,789 60.77 – Democratic Party 85,262 39.91 24 Italy of Values 9,456 4.43 2 Left for Bologna 4,554 2.13 1 Communist Refoundation Party – Party of Italian Communists 3,894 1.82 1 Bologna 2014 1,980 0.93 – Federation of the Greens 1,831 0.86 – Bologna to the Centre 878 0.41 –Alfredo Cazzola 66,056 29.10 72,798 39.23 1 The People of Freedom 33,134 15.51 6 Alfredo Cazzola for Mayor 21,106 9.88 4 Northern League 6,705 3.14 1 Third Pole of the Centre – Christian Democracy 470 0.22 – Co.Da.Cons (A) 396 0.19 – Giorgio Guazzaloca 28,785 12.68 – – 1 Giorgio Guazzaloca for Bologna 26,099 12.22 5Giovanni Favia 7,428 3.27 – – 1 Five Star Civic List 6,450 3.02 – (A) Gianfranco Pasquino 4,448 1.96 – – – Citizens for Bologna 3,704 1.73 –Valerio Monteventi 3,625 1.60 – – – Bologna Free City 3,567 1.67 – Giuseppina Tedde 1,094 0.48 – – – Other City 973 0.46 – Michele Terra 893 0.39 – – – Workers' Communist Party 841 0.39 – Alessandro Mazzanti 728 0.32 – – – Tricolour Flame 672 0.31 – Stefano Morselli 601 0.26 – – – Stefano Morselli for Mayor 550 0.26 – Giulio Tam 458 0.20 – – – New Force 435 0.20 – Leonardo Tucci 414 0.18 – – – 9 United Neighborhoods for Bologna 372 0.17 –Michele Laganà 326 0.14 – – – Future Bologna 316 0.15 – Total 226,983 100.00 185,587 100.00 3 213,645 100.00 43Source: Ministry of the Interior
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