Primary elections in Italy

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Primary elections in Italy began in 1995 when Lega Nord introduced them, but they stayed rare until the mid-2000s.

In January 2005, the centre-left The Union held open primaries to choose its candidate for President of Apulia. In October 2005, The Union also asked voters to pick its candidate for Prime Minister in the 2006 general election; about 4.3 million people voted, and Romano Prodi won clearly.

In October 2007, 3.5 million voters from the Democratic Party chose Walter Veltroni as the party leader, helping to shape the party’s leadership and regional structures.

The centre-right has mostly used primaries only at the local level. There are no nationwide laws to regulate primaries. In 2004, Tuscany passed a regional law regulating primaries, but primaries are not mandatory nationwide. These rules were used in the 2005 regional elections by the Democrats of the Left and Future Tuscany, and in the 2010 regional elections by the Democratic Party and Left Ecology Freedom.

Primaries have been held for roles such as prime minister, regional president, mayors of large cities, and party leaders. Most primaries were organized and funded by the parties themselves, with the exception of the Regional Council of Tuscany elections.