2010 Lombard regional election
Introduction The '''2010 Lombard regional election''' took place on 28–29 March 2010.The '''9th term''' of the Regional Council was chosen.Roberto Formigoni, who was the longest-serving President of Region in Italy along with Giancarlo Galan of Veneto, obtained a historic fourth consecutive term. His opponent was Filippo Penati, a Democrat, who was President of the Province of Milan from 2004 to 2009.The Lombard League, that is to say the regional section of Northern League in Lombardy, backed Formigoni in return of the support granted by The People of Freedom to Northern League candidates in Veneto (Luca Zaia) and Piedmont (Roberto Cota).Minor candidates who were running were Savino Pezzotta for the Union of the Centre, Vito Crimi for Beppe Grillo's movement, Vittorio Agnoletto for the Communist Refoundation Party and Gianmario Invernizzi for New Force. Marco Cappato for the Italian Radicals did not gain enough signatures to back his candidature.
Electoral system Regional elections in Lombardy were ruled by the "Tatarella law" (approved in 1995), which provided for a mixed electoral system: four fifths of the regional councilors were elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation, using the largest remainder method with a droop quota and open lists, while the residual votes and the unassigned seats were grouped into a "single regional constituency", where the whole ratios and the highest remainders were divided with the Hare method among the provincial party lists; one fifth of the council seats instead was reserved for regional lists and assigned with a majoritarian system: the leader of the regional list that scored the highest number of votes was elected to the presidency of the Region while the other candidates were elected regional councilors.A threshold of 3% had been established for the provincial lists, which, however, could still have entered the regional council if the regional list to which they were connected had scored at least 5% of valid votes.The ''panachage'' was also allowed: the voter can indicate a candidate for the presidency but prefer a provincial list connected to another candidate.
Council apportionment According to the official 2001 Italian census, the 64 Council seats which must be covered by proportional representation are so distributed between Lombard provinces. BG    BS    CO    CR    LC    LO    MN    MI    MB    PV    SO    VA   ''total'' 7 8 4 2 2 1 3 21 5 4 1 6 ''64''The allocation is not fixed. Remaining seats and votes after proportional distribution, are all grouped at regional level and divided by party lists. The consequent division of these seats at provincial level usually change the original apportionment. Only 43 seats were directly assigned at provincial level, and the final distribution between provinces changed in this way. BG    BS    CO    CR    LC    LO    MN    MI    PV    SO    VA   ''total'' +2 +2 = = +1 = = +2 -1 +1 = ''+7''As it can be seen, the landslide victory of Formigoni's Alliance caused the distribution of seven more seats to the oppositions at provincial level. Bergamo and Brescia received two new seats, Lecco and Milan and Sondrio one each.
Controversies on Formigoni's candidature Formigoni's candidature, which allowed him a 4th mandate, has been contested by academics and left-wing politicians, as in disregard of Law n. 165/2004, that put a limit of two subsequent mandates to directly-elected Region Presidents. Formigoni was indirectly elected in 1995, but then directly elected in 2000 and 2005.He defends himself stating that the law was not in action when he was first directly elected in 2000, so he should be allowed a 4th mandate. After re-election, his mandate may be overturned by judges later on.Formigoni also sparked controversies when agreeing to put in his majority-premium list, granting her safe election, Nicole Minetti, former showgirl and actual dental hygienist of Silvio Berlusconi, who asked for a political seat for her.
Parties and candidates Political party or allianceConstituent listsPrevious resultCandidateVotes (%)Seats Centre-right coalition The People of Freedom  34.6 23 Roberto Formigoni Northern League  15.8 11 The Right  Centre-left coalition Democratic Party  27.1 19 Filippo Penati Federation of the Greens 2.9 2 Pensioners' Party 2.6 1 Italy of Values 1.4 1 Left Ecology Freedom  Italian Socialist PartyFederation of the Left (incl. PRC and PdCI) 8.0 4 Vittorio AgnolettoUnion of the Centre 3.8 2 Savino Pezzotta	Five Star Movement Vito CrimiNew Force Gianmario Invernizzi
Results The election led to the return to the guide of the Region, for its fourth consecutive term, Communion and Liberation's Roberto Formigoni, supported by the centre-right coalition.If the mechanisms of electoral law generated a Regional Council very similar to the incumbent one speaking about coalitions, the most relevant change was the five new seats conquered by the League, which obtained its best performance ever. More, the League was strangely penalized by the electoral law, having conquered fewer seats than as it would be with a proportional representation.The People of Freedom was confirmed as the largest party in the region with 32% of the vote, despite a decline of three points, while Lega Nord took the 26% and Democratic Party the 23%.+ center Candidates Votes % Seats Parties Votes % Seat '''Roberto Formigoni'''2,704,36456.118 The People of Freedom1,355,13331.7923 Northern League – Lombard League1,117,22726.2118 The Right7,0080.16–''Total''''2,479,368''''58.16''''41'' '''Filippo Penati'''1,603,66633.271 Democratic Party976,21522.9021 Italy of Values267,9546.294 Pensioners' Party69,9321.641 Left Ecology Freedom59,1121.391 Federation of the Greens35,0600.82– Italian Socialist Party13,4150.31–''Total''''1,421,688''''33.35''''27'' '''Savino Pezzotta'''225,8494.69– Union of the Centre164,078  	3.853 '''Vito Crimi'''144,5853.00– Five Star Movement99,3902.33– '''Vittorio Agnoletto'''113,7542.36– Federation of the Left87,2212.05– '''Gianmario Invernizzi'''27,3580.57– New Force11,2810.26– '''Total candidates''''''4,819,576''''''100.00''''''9''''''Total parties''''''4,263,026''''''100.00''''''71''' Source:   Ministry of the Interior – Historical Archive of Elections===Results by province===Formigoni. Province Roberto Formigoni Filippo Penati Savino Pezzotta Vito Crimi Vittorio Agnoletto Gianmario Invernizzi Milan '''741,051 (50.25%)''' 585,722 (39.72%) 50,421 (3.42%) 48,979 (3.32%) 41,376 (2.81%) 7,252 (0.49%) Brescia '''362,187 (58.96%)''' 178,958 (29.13%) 37,565 (6.11%) 19,215 (3.13%) 12,106 (1.97%) 4,310 (0.70%) Bergamo '''340,527 (61.91%)''' 145,273 (26.41%) 36,720 (6.68%) 14,777 (2.69%) 10,096 (1.84%) 2,672 (0.49%) Varese '''259,496 (60.51%)''' 125,111 (29.17%) 20,159 (4.70%) 12,748 (2.97%) 8,926 (2.08%) 2,421 (0.56%) Monza and Brianza '''240,858 (56.32%)''' 144,246 (33.73%) 17,802 (4.16%) 14,788 (3.46%) 7,815 (1.83%) 2,117 (0.50%) Como '''183,765 (63.41%)''' 79,757 (27.37%) 12,657 (4.34%) 6,490 (2.23%) 5,599 (1.92%) 2,104 (0.72%) Pavia '''156,750 (57.12%)''' 88,690 (32.32%) 11,715 (4.27%) 7,483 (2.73%) 7,829 (2.85%) 1,964 (0.72%) Mantua '''100,135 (49.81%)''' 77,311 (38.46%) 10,574 (5.26%) 6,698 (3.33%) 5,638 (2.80%) 663 (0.33%) Cremona '''99,463 (54.15%)''' 63,213 (34.42%) 9,520 (5.18%) 4,978 (2.71%) 5,164 (2.81%) 1,333 (0.73%) Lecco '''100,897 (57.38%)''' 57,861 (32.91%) 8,293 (4.72%) 4,163 (2.37%) 3,808 (2.17%) 795 (0.45%) Lodi '''59,619 (53.80%)''' 37,837 (34.14%) 5,451 (4.92%) 2,873 (2.59%) 3,633 (3.28%) 1,402 (1.27%) Sondrio '''58,634 (67.57%)''' 19,687 (22.69%) 4,972 (5.73%) 1,393 (1.61%) 1,764 (2.03%) 325 (0.37%)
References