[1] The term of mayors and councils will last five years, unless an early election is triggered.
[2] In the autonomous regions of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Aosta Valley the elections will be held on 7 May.
[3][4] The elections were characterized by a good performance of the centre-right coalition and many losses for the centre-left coalition, which however won in the majority of municipalities with more than 15,000 inhabitants, but lost in the most important cities like Genoa, L'Aquila and Parma;[5] while the Five Star Movement was excluded from the runoffs in all the most important cities.
If the Mayor resigns, dies, lose a motion of confidence, or a majority of the municipal councillors step down at the same time, an early election (for the Mayor and for all municipal councillors) is called.
Majority of each coalition in 161 municipalities (comuni) with a population higher than 15,000:[9] Notes: almost all political parties and coalitions in local (municipal and regional) elections usually run with the support of some minor allied list active in local politics forming coalitions under the same nominee as the mayoral candidate, only M5S ran in all elections with a single list (that is the list of M5S under the M5S nominee as the mayoral candidate without forming coalitions with minor local lists or other national parties).