2019 Piedmontese regional election

2019 Piedmontese regional election
All 51 seats to the Regional Council of Piedmont
Turnout	63.34% ( 3.2%)
	Popular vote and seat totals by province. As this is a proprtional representation election, seat totals are determined by popular vote in each province. The provinces of Asti, Biella, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, and Vercelli all returned a single member.
President before election; Sergio Chiamparino; PD	Elected President ; Alberto Cirio; Forza Italia

The 2019 Piedmontese regional election took place on 26 May 2019, the same day as the 2019 European Parliament election in Italy.^[2] The election was for all 50 members of the Regional Council of Piedmont, as well as for the president of Piedmont, who is also a member of the council.

Electoral system

Regional elections in Piedmont were ruled by the Tatarella law, which was approved in 1995 and 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 quota among the provincial party lists; one fifth of the council seats instead was reserved for regional lists and assigned with a majoritarian representation system, in which 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 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.

Background

Sergio Chiamparino, the outgoing president of Piedmont for the Democratic Party, initially stated in June 2018 to not run for a second term.^[3] In September 2018, he declared he would run in the next regional election.^[4] He supported the joint candidacy of Turin, Milan, and Cortina d'Ampezzo for the 2026 Winter Olympics before Chiara Appendino, mayor of Turin for the Five Star Movement (M5S), decided to withdraw from the bidding process.^[5]^[6] He supported the Turin–Lyon high-speed railway and criticized the first Conte government for its opposition, led mainly by the M5S. Finally, he advocated a referendum about the Turin–Lyon on the same day as the regional election and asked to the Italian Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, to allow it; both Giuseppe Conte, the Prime Minister of Italy, and Salvini rejected the idea.^[7]^[8]^[9]

The country's centre-right coalition had some troubles to reach an agreement for a unitary candidate. Alberto Cirio, the then Member of the European Parliament, was the candidate proposed by Forza Italia; the League opposed his candidacy, proposing instead the entrepreneur Paolo Damilano.^[10]^[11] After the 2019 Basilicata regional election held on 24 March, the centre-right agreed to the candidacy of Cirio.^[12] Cirio was the former deputy mayor for Alba and former regional assessor for Piedmont; he was elected in the 2014 European Parliament election in Italy in the North-West Italy constituency with 35.388 votes, and he backed the Turin–Lyon high-speed railway.^[13] In June 2018, along with 50 regional councillors, he was committed to stand trial on charges of misappropriating €20,000 of public funds, during 2008 and 2010, under the presidency of Mercedes Bresso.^[14]^[15] In February 2019, the Turin public prosecutor's office filed a motion to dismiss.^[16]

The candidate for the presidency of Piedmont for the M5S was voted on the party website. With 1,540 votes, Giorgio Bertola, outgoing regional councillor for Piedmont, won the primary election.^[17] He strongly opposed the Turin–Lyon and the referendum proposed by Chiamparino.^[18]

Parties and candidates

Political party or alliance		Constituent lists		Previous result		Candidate
Political party or alliance		Constituent lists		Votes (%)	Seats	Candidate
	Centre-left coalition		Democratic Party (PD)	36.2	17	Sergio Chiamparino
			Chiamparino for Piedmont of Yes	4.9	2
			Moderates for Chiamparino	2.5	1
			Italia in Comune (IiC)	—	—
			More Europe (+E)	—	—
			Free, Equal, Greens (incl. Art.1, SI, Pos and FdV)	—	—
			Yes Chiamparino – Demo.S	—	—
	Centre-right coalition		Forza Italia (FI)	15.6	6	Alberto Cirio
			League (Lega)	7.3	2
			Brothers of Italy (FdI)	3.7	1
			Union of the Centre (UdC)	—	—
			Yes TAV Yes Work for Piedmont in the Heart (incl. EpI and MNS)	—	—
	Five Star Movement (M5S)			20.3	8	Giorgio Bertola
	The People of Family (PdF)			—	—	Valter Boero

Debates

There were seven presidential debates held across Piedmont, and in one case in Veneto, during the electoral campaign.

2019 Piedmontese presidential debates
Date	Location	Participants
P Participant. N Non-invitee. A Absent invitee.		Chiamparino	Cirio	Bertola	Boero
P Participant. N Non-invitee. A Absent invitee.
21 May 2019	Teatro Regio, Turin	P	P	P	P
20 May 2019	Turin	P	P	P	P
14 May 2019	Turin	P	P	P	P
9 May 2019	Teatro Toselli, Cuneo	P	P	P	P
8 May 2019	Turin	P	P	P	P
4 May 2019	Domodossola, Verbano Cusio Ossola	P	P	P	P
10 April 2019	Vinitaly, Verona	P	P	N	N

Opinion polls

Exit poll

Date	Polling firm	Chiamparino	Cirio	Bertola	Boero	Undecided	Lead
Date	Polling firm					Undecided	Lead
26 May 2019	Election Results	35.8	49.9	13.6	0.7	N/A	14.1
26 May 2019	Opinio Italia	36.5–40.5	45.0–49.0	12.0–16.0	0.0–1.0	N/A	8.5
8 May 2019	Noto	41.0	43.0	15.0	1.0	16.0	2.0
13 Apr 2019	Ipsos	40.8	40.2	16.1	2.9	45.0	0.6

Results

26 May 2019 Piedmontese regional election results
Candidates		Votes	%	Seats	Parties		Votes	%	Seats

	Alberto Cirio	1,091,814	49.86	11		League	712,703	37.11	17
						Forza Italia	161,137	8.39	3
						Brothers of Italy	105,410	5.49	2
						Yes TAV Yes Work for Piedmont in the Heart	27,072	1.41	–
						Union of the Centre	22,179	1.15	–
					Total		1,028,501	53.55	22
	Sergio Chiamparino	783,805	35.80	1		Democratic Party	430,902	22.44	9
						Chiamparino for Piedmont of Yes	63,933	3.33	1
						Free, Equal, Greens	46,570	2.42	1
						Moderates for Chiamparino	36,125	1.88	1
						More Europe	34,993	1.82	–
						Yes Chiamparino – Demo.S	15,096	0.79	–
						Piedmont in Common	11,183	0.58	–
					Total		638,802	33.26	12
	Giorgio Bertola	298,086	13.61	–		Five Star Movement	241,014	12.55	5
	Valter Boero	15,935	0.73	–		The People of Family	12,259	0.64	–

Blank or invalid votes		100,721	-	-
Total candidates		2,290,361	100.00	12	Total parties		1,920,576	100.00	39
Registered voters / Turnout		3,616,191	63.34	-
Source: Ministry of the Interior Archived 12 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine

Party vote

Lega			37.11%
PD			22.44%
M5S			12.55%
FI			8.39%
FdI			5.49%
Chiamparino			3.33%
LU V			2.42%
Moderates			1.88%
+E			1.82%
Sì Tav–PnC			1.41%
UdC			1.15%
Other			2.01%

President vote

Cirio			49.86%
Chiamparino			35.80%
Bertola			13.61%
Boero			0.73%

References

^ The swing comes from the combined result of the centre-right coalition (22.1%) and Brothers of Italy (5.2%) in the 2014 regional election.
^ "Le elezioni amministrative e le elezioni regionali del Piemonte saranno lo stesso giorno delle elezioni europee, il 26 maggio" (in Italian). Il Post. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
^ "Chiamparino conferma, non mi ricandido" (in Italian). ANSA. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
^ "Regione Piemonte, Chiamparino annuncia: "Disponibile a ricandidarmi"" (in Italian). Sky TG24. 8 September 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
^ "Cosa succede con le Olimpiadi del 2026" (in Italian). Il Post. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
^ "Appendino: "Il no di Torino per le Olimpiadi è dovuto alla mancanza di chiarezza"" (in Italian). La Stampa. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
^ "Tav, scontro sul referendum. Conte: "Non previsto". Chiamparino: "Consultazione possibile"" (in Italian). Sky TG24. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
^ "Tav, Salvini boccia il referendum di Chiamparino: "Non si può, ma andrei a votare domattina"" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
^ "Alberto Cirio candidato alla presidenza del Piemonte per il centrodestra" (in Italian). La Stampa. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
^ "Regionali, Salvini e Berlusconi divisi sul candidato per il Piemonte" (in Italian). Il Messaggero. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
^ Alessandro Mondo (26 March 2019). "Regionali, il centrodestra va verso il nome di Alberto Cirio" (in Italian). La Stampa. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
^ "Elezioni regionali, Alberto Cirio sarà il candidato del centrodestra" (in Italian). Torino Oggi. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
^ "Tav, Cirio: "Farò documento in favore dell'opera, vediamo quanti colleghi firmano"" (in Italian). La Stampa. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
^ "'Rimborsopoli Bis': tra gli indagati Rostagno, Cirio e Rabino" (in Italian). Cuneodice.it. 10 June 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
^ "Nessun salvagente per Cirio e Molinari dalla nuova norma salva Lega" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
^ "Rimborsopoli, verso l'archiviazione le accuse per Cirio e altri 17 consiglieri regionali" (in Italian). La Stampa. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
^ "Piemonte, il candidato governatore M5S è Giorgio Bertola". Quotidiano.net (in Italian). 14 October 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
^ Diego Longhin (22 February 2019). "Referendum Tav, Bertola (M5S): "Consultazione inutile. Bisogna sospendere i bandi di gara"" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

[1] The swing comes from the combined result of the centre-right coalition (22.1%) and Brothers of Italy (5.2%) in the 2014 regional election.

[2] "Le elezioni amministrative e le elezioni regionali del Piemonte saranno lo stesso giorno delle elezioni europee, il 26 maggio" (in Italian). Il Post. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

[3] "Chiamparino conferma, non mi ricandido" (in Italian). ANSA. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

[4] "Regione Piemonte, Chiamparino annuncia: "Disponibile a ricandidarmi"" (in Italian). Sky TG24. 8 September 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

[5] "Cosa succede con le Olimpiadi del 2026" (in Italian). Il Post. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

[6] "Appendino: "Il no di Torino per le Olimpiadi è dovuto alla mancanza di chiarezza"" (in Italian). La Stampa. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

[7] "Tav, scontro sul referendum. Conte: "Non previsto". Chiamparino: "Consultazione possibile"" (in Italian). Sky TG24. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

[8] "Tav, Salvini boccia il referendum di Chiamparino: "Non si può, ma andrei a votare domattina"" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.

[9] "Alberto Cirio candidato alla presidenza del Piemonte per il centrodestra" (in Italian). La Stampa. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.

[10] "Regionali, Salvini e Berlusconi divisi sul candidato per il Piemonte" (in Italian). Il Messaggero. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

[11] Alessandro Mondo (26 March 2019). "Regionali, il centrodestra va verso il nome di Alberto Cirio" (in Italian). La Stampa. Retrieved 26 March 2019.

[12] "Elezioni regionali, Alberto Cirio sarà il candidato del centrodestra" (in Italian). Torino Oggi. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.

[13] "Tav, Cirio: "Farò documento in favore dell'opera, vediamo quanti colleghi firmano"" (in Italian). La Stampa. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.

[14] "'Rimborsopoli Bis': tra gli indagati Rostagno, Cirio e Rabino" (in Italian). Cuneodice.it. 10 June 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2019.

[15] "Nessun salvagente per Cirio e Molinari dalla nuova norma salva Lega" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.

[16] "Rimborsopoli, verso l'archiviazione le accuse per Cirio e altri 17 consiglieri regionali" (in Italian). La Stampa. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.

[17] "Piemonte, il candidato governatore M5S è Giorgio Bertola". Quotidiano.net (in Italian). 14 October 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

[18] Diego Longhin (22 February 2019). "Referendum Tav, Bertola (M5S): "Consultazione inutile. Bisogna sospendere i bandi di gara"" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

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