# 2010 Piedmontese regional election

The 2010 Piedmontese regional election took place on 28–29 March 2010 as part of Italy's round of regional elections. Mercedes Bresso of the centre-left Democratic Party, the incumbent president of the region, lost her seat to Roberto Cota, leader of the Northern League Piedmont (Lega Piemonte) and floor leader of Lega Nord (Northern League) in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, who was backed also by The People of Freedom.
Cota's lead of Bresso was of only 0.4%, in one of the region's narrowest elections ever. The League thus secured a second region, after having conquered the presidency of Veneto with Luca Zaia with a much more convincing margin.
In January 2014, the election results were annulled on the grounds that the Pensioners' Party list in Cota's center-right alliance had been submitted with forged signatures. Although the Cota government filed an appeal, it was overturned by the Council of State on 11 February 2014 and the government was ordered to call new elections. On 6 March, the Piedmontese regional administrative court upheld an appeal from the Five Star Movement and ordered Cota to hold new elections within one week of the notification of the ruling.

## 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

Bresso was one of the last bulwarks of the country's centre-left coalition in Central Italy and thus all Democratic Party members endorsed her in a key test of the coalition's strength after two years in opposition in Rome. For his part, Cota's choice was a little bit surprising as Piedmont is not really a stronghold for his party, which is much stronger in Veneto and Lombardy. The day after his bid was announced, Cota explained that it is time to rewrite the history of Italian unification, that was led by the Kingdom of Sardinia under the House of Savoy. Cota underlined that Piedmont was once an independent state and told that even Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, did not intend to unify the whole Italian Peninsula and later favoured a federal reform of the new Kingdom of Italy.
Cota, who is a republican and has no nostalgia of the House of Savoy, said his message would do well in Piedmont and that he would overcome the weakness of Lega Piemonte that usually gets far fewer votes than Liga Veneta in Veneto and Lega Lombarda in Lombardy. In Cota's view, most of his support would come from industrial workers, including those of Southern Italy descent, and Catholics embarrassed by Bresso's secularism. The Union of the Centre, whose main aim in the election was to fight back the Northern League, chose to support Bresso, turning down the chance of running its own candidate, the most likely being Michele Vietti. Most Catholic voters disagreed.

## Parties and candidates

| Political party or alliance | Political party or alliance | Constituent lists | Constituent lists | Previous result | Previous result | Candidate |
| Political party or alliance | Political party or alliance | Constituent lists | Constituent lists | Votes (%) | Seats | Candidate |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Democratic Party | 30.4 | 17 | Mercedes Bresso |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Federation of the Left | 9.0 | 5 | Mercedes Bresso |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Union of the Centre | 4.6 | 2 | Mercedes Bresso |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Together for Bresso | 2.9 | 1 | Mercedes Bresso |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Federation of the Greens | 2.8 | 1 | Mercedes Bresso |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Italian Socialist Party – United Socialists | 2.4 | 1 | Mercedes Bresso |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Italy of Values | 1.5 | 1 | Mercedes Bresso |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Left Ecology Freedom | — | — | Mercedes Bresso |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Moderates | — | — | Mercedes Bresso |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Bonino-Pannella List | — | — | Mercedes Bresso |
| | Centre-left coalition | | Others | — | — | Mercedes Bresso |
| | Centre-right coalition | | The People of Freedom | 31.9 | 16 | Roberto Cota |
| | Centre-right coalition | | Northern League Piedmont | 8.5 | 4 | Roberto Cota |
| | Centre-right coalition | | Greens Greens | 1.2 | 1 | Roberto Cota |
| | Centre-right coalition | | Consumers | 1.1 | 1 | Roberto Cota |
| | Centre-right coalition | | Pensioners' Party | 0.6 | – | Roberto Cota |
| | Centre-right coalition | | Others | — | — | Roberto Cota |
| | Five Star Movement | Five Star Movement | Five Star Movement | — | — | Davide Bono |

## Results

28–29 March 2010 Piedmontese regional election results :
| Candidates | Candidates | Votes | % | Seats | Parties | Parties | Votes | % | Seats |
| | Roberto Cota | 1,043,318 | 47.33 | 12 |
| | Roberto Cota | 1,043,318 | 47.33 | 12 | | The People of Freedom | 474,431 | 25.05 | 13 |
| | Roberto Cota | 1,043,318 | 47.33 | 12 | | Northern League Piedmont | 317,065 | 16.74 | 9 |
| | Roberto Cota | 1,043,318 | 47.33 | 12 | | Greens Greens | 33,411 | 1.76 | 1 |
| | Roberto Cota | 1,043,318 | 47.33 | 12 | | Pensioners' Party | 27,797 | 1.47 | 1 |
| | Roberto Cota | 1,043,318 | 47.33 | 12 | | The Right | 12,581 | 0.66 | – |
| | Roberto Cota | 1,043,318 | 47.33 | 12 | | To the Centre with Scanderebech | 12,154 | 0.64 | – |
| | Roberto Cota | 1,043,318 | 47.33 | 12 | | Alliance of the Centre – Christian Democracy | 5,704 | 0.30 | – |
| | Roberto Cota | 1,043,318 | 47.33 | 12 | | New Italian Socialist Party | 3,947 | 0.21 | – |
| | Roberto Cota | 1,043,318 | 47.33 | 12 | | Consumers | 8,826 | 0.15 | – |
| | Roberto Cota | 1,043,318 | 47.33 | 12 | Total | Total | 889,916 | 46.98 | 24 |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | | Democratic Party | 439,663 | 23.21 | 12 |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | | Italy of Values | 130,649 | 6.90 | 3 |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | | Union of the Centre | 74,412 | 3.93 | 2 |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | | Together for Bresso | 61,476 | 3.25 | 1 |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | | Moderates | 58,010 | 3.06 | 1 |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | | Federation of the Left | 50,191 | 2.65 | 1 |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | | Left Ecology Freedom | 27,198 | 1.44 | 1 |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | | Federation of the Greens | 14,575 | 0.77 | – |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | | Italian Socialist Party – United Socialists | 14,077 | 0.74 | – |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | | Bonino-Pannella List | 13,572 | 0.72 | – |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | | Pensioners and Disabled for Bresso | 12,564 | 0.66 | – |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | | PiedmontYes – Populars – Autonomous Region | 4,150 | 0.22 | – |
| | Mercedes Bresso | 1,033,946 | 46.91 | 1 | Total | Total | 900,537 | 47.55 | 21 |
| | Davide Bono | 90,086 | 4.09 | – | | Five Star Movement | 69,448 | 3.67 | 2 |
| | Renzo Rabellino | 36,999 | 1.68 | – |
| | Renzo Rabellino | 36,999 | 1.68 | – | | List of Talking Crickets – No Euro | 13,186 | 0.70 | – |
| | Renzo Rabellino | 36,999 | 1.68 | – | | Lega Padana Piemont | 7,805 | 0.41 | – |
| | Renzo Rabellino | 36,999 | 1.68 | – | | Forza Toro | 3,494 | 0.18 | – |
| | Renzo Rabellino | 36,999 | 1.68 | – | | New Force | 2,151 | 0.11 | – |
| | Renzo Rabellino | 36,999 | 1.68 | – | | Tricolour Flame | 1,998 | 0.11 | – |
| | Renzo Rabellino | 36,999 | 1.68 | – | | UDEUR – Christian Democracy – Others | 1,670 | 0.09 | – |
| | Renzo Rabellino | 36,999 | 1.68 | – | | No Nuclear – No TAV | 1,553 | 0.08 | – |
| | Renzo Rabellino | 36,999 | 1.68 | – | | Alliance for Turin | 1,237 | 0.07 | – |
| | Renzo Rabellino | 36,999 | 1.68 | – | | Young People Under 30 | 1,076 | 0.06 | – |
| | Renzo Rabellino | 36,999 | 1.68 | – | Total | Total | 34,170 | 1.80 | – |
| Total candidates | Total candidates | 2,204,349 | 100.00 | 13 | Total parties | Total parties | 1,894,071 | 100.00 | 47 |
| Source: Ministry of the Interior – Historical Archive of Elections ||||||||||