National-level elections in Italy are called periodically to form a parliament consisting of two houses: the Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) with 400 members; and the Senate of the Republic (Senato della Repubblica) with 200 elected members, plus a few appointed senators for life.
The last general election was held on 25 September 2022 The centre-right coalition, in which Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy emerged as the main political force, won an absolute majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate of the Republic.
The centre-left coalition, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the centrist Action - Italia Viva came in second, third and fourth respectively.
[7] This graph shows the results of elections held in Italy from 1946 to 2018, with the percentages of consensus gathered by the various parties and movements displayed by color.
This other graph shows, instead, the elections from 1946 to 2022 relative to the total eligible voters; providing an illustration of the phenomenon of electoral abstentionism.
A legislative referendum can be called in order to abrogate a law totally or partially, if requested by 500,000 electors or five regional councils.