2020 Apulian regional election

The 2020 Apulian regional election took place in Apulia, Italy, on 20 and 21 September. It was originally scheduled to take place on May 31, 2020, but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.Elezioni Regionali, il 31 Maggio si vota in Toscana, Veneto, Campania, Puglia, Liguria e Marche

Electoral system

The electoral law is established by the Regional Law n. 7/2015. The regional council is made up of 50 councilors, plus the president; The first 23 seats are divided at the district level and the remaining 27 at the level of the single regional constituency. The law provides for a single round, with list voting, the possibility of expressing two preferences of different gender within the chosen list, and voting for the candidate for president, on a single ballot. It is possible to vote for a slate and a candidate for the chair that are not connected to each other ("split vote").

The candidate who obtains the majority (even only relative) of the votes is elected President of the Region. The lists linked to the elected president are eventually assigned a majority bonus in the following measure: at least 29 seats if the elected president has obtained a percentage of preferences higher than 40%; at least 28 seats if the elected president has obtained a percentage of preferences between 35% and 40%, while if it falls below 35%, at least 27 councilors would be assigned. The law provides for a threshold of 8% for coalitions and lists that run on their own and 4% for lists that present themselves in a coalition.

Background On January 12, 2020, the Democratic Party (PD) held its primaries in which Governor Michele Emiliano was the winner. Centre-left coalition Apulian governor primariesCandidateVotes%Michele Emiliano56,77370.42Fabiano Amati11,55914.34Elena Gentile9,75312.10Leonardo Palmisano2,5323.14Total80,617100.0

Following the primaries' victory of Emiliano, considered by Italia Viva (IV) too close to the political positions of the Five Star Movement (M5S), Matteo Renzi announced that his party would run separately from the center-left coalition. Other centrist parties like More Europe and Action welcomed Renzi's call. Action had supported the candidacy of Fabiano Amati in the PD's primaries.

After the pre-electoral agreements between the three parties of the center-right coalition, Brothers of Italy announced that the candidate in the region would be Raffaele Fitto, MEP and former governor of Apulia. However, the decision was opposed by the Salento section of the League, which instead proposed Nuccio Altieri. The final choice would be determined by the outcome of the regional elections in Emilia-Romagna and Calabria which could upset the balance between the center-right forces and therefore lead to a modification of pre-election agreements.

The M5S held the primaries on its electoral platform Rousseau. The candidates were Cristian Casili, Mario Conca, Antonella Laricchia, and Antonio Trevisi.

Parties and candidates Political party or allianceConstituent listsPrevious resultCandidateVotes (%)SeatsCentre-left coalitionDemocratic Party (PD)19.813Michele EmilianoEmiliano Mayor of Apulia 9.76Populars with Emiliano (incl. CD, Popular Apulia and UDC dissidents)6.23 Pensioners and Disabled0.4– Civic Sense (incl. Art.1 and PRI)With Emiliano Solidary and Green Apulia (incl. SI, EV, PSI, èViva)Italia in Comune (IiC)Italian Animalist Party (PAI)Party of the South (PdS)Independent South Christian Democracy (DC)Alternative Left (SA)Open Society Association – The Liberals Thought and Action Party (PPA)Centre-right coalitionForza Italia (FI)11.45Raffaele FittoBrothers of Italy (FdI)2.5– League (Lega)2.4–Union of the Centre – New PSI (incl. LAM) Apulia Tomorrow – Fitto for PresidentM5S coalitionFive Star Movement (M5S)17.27Antonella LaricchiaFuture Apulia (PF) Italia Viva coalitionItalia Viva (IV)Ivan ScalfarottoScalfarotto for President – More Europe (incl. A)Green Future (incl. Volt, PLI and ALI) Work Environment Constitution (PRC – PCI – RS)1.6–Nicola CesariaApulian Citizens Mario ConcaTricolour Flame (FT)Pierfranco Bruni Reconquer Italy (RI)Andrea D'Agosto

Opinion polls Candidates Date Polling firm/Client Sample size Emiliano Fitto Laricchia Scalfarotto Others Undecided Lead 21 Sep 2020 Opinio (exit poll) – 39.0–43.0 39.0–43.0 11.0–15.0 1.0–3.0 – – Tie 4 Sep 2020 Lab2101 – 30.2 30.9 30.8 8.2 0.1 29 Aug–1 Sep 2020 BiDiMedia 1,325 40.2 38.9 14.3 3.9 2.7 13.3 1.3 28 Aug–1 Sep 2020 Scenari Politici–Winpoll 1,000 38.2 39.6 15.9 4.7 1.6 1.4 28–31 Aug 2020 Ipsos 900 39.4 41.0 15.6 1.6 2.4 1.6 28–31 Aug 2020 Quorum–YouTrend 800 39.4 40.2 15.3 3.9 1.2 0.8 28 Aug 2020 Tecnè 2,000 36–40 39–43 14–18 2–6 1–3 -1–7 27–29 Aug 2020 EMG 1,200 38.5 43.5 12.5 3.0 2.5 5.0 24 Aug–2 Sep 2020 Noto 36–40 39–43 12–16 5–9 -1–7 10 Aug 2020 EMG – 37.5 43.5 12.0 5.0 2.0 6.08 Aug 2020Gpf 1,501 42.3 37.9 16.1 2.1 0.3 4.4 5–6 Aug 2020 Tecnè 1,000 37.0 42.0 15.0 4.5 1.5 14.9 5.0 3–6 Aug 2020 BiDiMedia 1,353 38.8 38.1 16.7 4.2 2.2 15.5 0.7 9–14 July 2020 Lab21 – 34.5 30.2 31.1 3.1 1.1 3.4 5–7 July 2020 Troisi Research 1000 41.1 37.6 16.7 4.2 0.4 3.5 3 July 2020 Euromedia Research – 39.8 37.8 17.1 3.6 1.7 2.0 26 Jun 2020 Noto – 38.0 45.0 11.0 4.0 2.0 7.0 21 Jun 2020 Lab21 – 32.0–36.0 32.0–36.0 22.0–26.0 4.0–6.0 2.0–4.0 Tie 4 Jun 2020 Noto – 37.5 45.0 7.5 4 Jun 2020 EMG – 36.5 43.5 7.0 19 Feb 2020 Noto – 32.0 46.0 14.0 4–10 Feb 2020 MG Research 600 35.0–39.0 27.5–31.5 27.5–31.5 1.0–3.0 1.0–3.0 4.5–11.5

Parties Date Polling firm Sample sizeCentre-leftM5SCentre-rightCentre Others Undecided LeadPDPSVOtherFILegaFdIOther 4 Sep 2020 Bidimedia 1325 15.3 3.8 19.8 14.2 8.5 11.1 13.7 6.2 3.9 2.9 13.9 1.1 28 Aug–1 Sep 2020 Scenari Politici–Winpoll 1,000 16.7 18.6 17.7 7.1 15.1 14.7 4.0 4.3 1.8 1.0 28–31 Aug 2020 Ipsos 900 18.0 20.4 17.0 7.5 17.5 12.9 4.5 2.2 0.5 27–29 Aug 2020 EMG 1,200 18.0 2.0 16.0 14.5 8.0 14.0 13.0 9.0 3.0 2.5 24.3 3.5 10 Aug 2020 EMG 1,800 21.5 13.0 13.5 10.0 15.0 14.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 6.5 3–6 August 2020 BiDiMedia 1,353 15.0 4.0 18.7 16.4 8.4 10.5 14.1 6.1 4.1 2.7 18.5 1.4 9–14 July 2020 Lab21 – 21.3 3.2 10.2 22.7 7.6 17.4 9.3 2.3 4.1 0.6 1.4 3 July 2020 Euromedia Research – 20.1 2.1 16.4 19.2 8.3 18.1 8.5 2.9 3.7 0.7 39.9 2.6 29–May–1 Jun 2020 SWG –39.0 43.0 4.0 26-28 Feb 2020 Winpoll – 23.0 2.6 6.6 9.6 7.9 20.4 20.2 0.2 8.3 1.2 20 2.6 19 Feb 2020 Noto – 20.0 15.0 20.0 12.0 6.0–6.5 Tie 4–10 Feb 2020 MG Research 600 19.0–23.0 6.0–10.0 2.0–6.0 25.0–29.0 5.0–9.0 16.0–20.0 6.0–10.0 2.0–6.0 1.0–5.0 2.0–10.0

Results + CandidatesVotes%SeatsPartiesVotes%Seats Michele Emiliano871,02846.781 Democratic Party289,18817.2516 With Emiliano110,5596.596Populars with Emiliano99,6215.945 Civic Sense – A New Olive Tree for Apulia69,7804.16– Italia in Comune64,8863.87– Solidary and Green Apulia63,7253.80– Emiliano Mayor of Apulia43,4042.59– Animalist Party5,5730.33– Alternative Left4,1920.25– Pensioners and Disabled3,1190.19– Party of the South1,4100.08– Thought and Action Party 1,2430.07– Independent South1,1790.07–Christian Democracy1,0470.06– Open Society Association – The Liberals8060.05–Total759,73245.3227Raffaele Fitto724,92838.931 Brothers of Italy211,69312.636 League160,5079.574 Forza Italia 149,3998.914 Apulia Tomorrow141,2018.423 Union of the Centre – New PSI31,7361.89–Total694,53641.4317Antonella Laricchia207,03811.12– Five Star Movement165,2439.865 Future Apulia9,8970.59–Total175,14010.455Ivan Scalfarotto29,8081.60– Italia Viva18,0251.08– Scalfarotto for President5,0620.30– Green Future1,8880.11–Total24,9751.49–Mario Conca16,5310.89– Apulian Citizens12,1620.73–Nicola Cesaria7,2220.39– Work Environment Constitution5,8800.35–Pierfranco Bruni3,1150.17– Tricolour Flame2,3620.14–Andrea D'Agosto2,3530.13– Reconquer Italy1,7120.10– Blank and invalid votes149,6587.44Total candidates1,862,023100.002Total parties1,676,499100.0049 Registered voters/turnout3,565,01356.43Source: Ministry of the Interior – Results

Turnout RegionTime20 Sep21 Sep 12:00 19:00 23:00 15:00Apulia12.04%27.60%39.89%56.43%ProvinceTime20 Sep21 Sep12:0019:0023:0015:00Bari12.95%29.20%40.92%56.88%Barletta-Andria-Trani12.76%29.72%42.61%59.95%Brindisi11.53%26.71%38.70%54.79%Foggia10.66%25.07%36.54%52.76%Lecce12.18%27.84%41.05%58.12%Taranto11.23%25.67%38.53%55.75% Source: Ministry of the Interior – Turnout

See also

2020 Italian regional elections

References