2016 Rome municipal election

Snap municipal elections were held in Rome on 5 and 19 June 2016 to elect the mayor of Rome and 48 members of the City Council of Rome, as well as the fifteen presidents and more than 400 councillors of the 15 municipi in which the municipality is divided. The elections were called following the fall of the former mayor of Rome Ignazio Marino, who was elected with the Democratic Party in 2013 but was ousted from office after more than half of the members of the City Council resigned in October 2015.
The first round of voting on 5 June produced no outright winner, resulting in a run-off election on 19 June between the Five Star Movement cnaiddate Virginia Raggi and the centre-left coalition and PD candidate Roberto Giachetti. Raggi won the mayoral election with two-thirds of the vote, and her party alone won a majority in the City Council, with 29 of the 48 seats. The results were widely reported as a major breakthrough for the M5S, which had previously been seen as a protest party rather than a significant political force. At the same round of elections, the M5S also won the mayoralty of Turin.

Background

On 12 October 2015, the incumbent mayor Ignazio Marino announced his resignation amidst an accusation of expense scandal that had been made by some opposition parties. On 29 October, he retired the resignation. On 30 October, he was ousted from his position after 26 of the 48 members of the City Council resigned. The mayor was replaced by a government-appointed commissioner and snap municipal elections were called.

Centre-left coalition primary election

As in 2013, the centre-left coalition decided to hold a primary election on 6 March 2016 to decide its mayoral candidate. There were six main candidates, all from the Democratic Party since the left-wing parties decided to break the alliance and present their own mayoral candidate. Among the most popular candidates were deputies Roberto Giachetti and Roberto Morassut. More than 47,000 citizens took part to the primary election, which was won by Giachetti.

Five Star Movement primary election

As it previously did in different occasion, the Five Star Movement decided to hold a primary election to choose its mayoral candidate. Many candidates took part in the closed primary, which was held online on 23 February 2016. Virginia Raggi, one of the four members of the City Council elected for the M5S in 2013, won the primary with 45% of votes.

Voting system

The voting system is used for all mayoral elections in Italy in the cities with a population higher than 15,000 inhabitants. Under this system, voters express a direct election for the mayor or an indirect election voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives 50% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate may be able to claim majority support, although it is not guaranteed. The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote; the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally.

Opinion polling

Second round

; Giachetti vs. Raggi

Date	Polling firm	Giachetti	Raggi	Lead
Date	Polling firm			Lead
19 May 2016		42.8	57.2	14.4
17–19 May 2016		40.0	60.0	20.0
9–18 May 2016		45.8	54.2	8.4
17 May 2016		43.0	57.0	14.0
16–17 May 2016		42.0	58.0	16.0
12–13 May 2016		42.2	57.8	15.6
11 May 2016		40.6	59.4	18.8
3–5 May 2016		40.0	60.0	20.0
2 May 2016		40.0	60.0	20.0
2 May 2016		45.0	55.0	10.0
28 April 2016		39.9	60.1	20.2
20–23 April 2016		39.0	61.0	22.0
19 April 2016		41.0	59.0	18.0
17–18 April 2016		44.0	56.0	12.0

; Meloni vs. Raggi

Date	Polling firm	Meloni	Raggi	Lead
Date	Polling firm			Lead
19 May 2016		45.2	54.8	9.6
17–19 May 2016		50.5	49.5	1.0
9–18 May 2016		43.3	56.7	13.4
17 May 2016		46.5	53.5	7.0
16–17 May 2016		48.0	52.0	4.0
12–13 May 2016		42.2	57.8	15.6
11 May 2016		45.6	54.4	8.8
3–5 May 2016		51.0	49.0	2.0
2 May 2016		47.0	53.0	6.0
2 May 2016		49.0	51.0	2.0
28 April 2016		47.1	52.9	5.8
20–23 April 2016		51.5	48.5	3.0
19 April 2016		48.0	52.0	4.0

; Marchini vs. Raggi

Date	Polling firm	Marchini	Raggi	Lead
Date	Polling firm			Lead
19 May 2016		45.9	54.1	8.2
17–19 May 2016		48.0	52.0	4.0
17 May 2016		48.0	52.0	4.0
16–17 May 2016		51.0	49.0	2.0
12–13 May 2016		34.5	65.5	31.0
11 May 2016		46.6	53.4	6.8
3–5 May 2016		51.0	49.0	2.0
2 May 2016		48.5	51.5	3.0
2 May 2016		51.0	49.0	2.0
28 April 2016		49.6	50.4	0.8
19 April 2016		50.0	50.0	0.0

''Municipi'' election

All the presidents were elected on the second round, since none obtained more than 50% of votes on the first round of voting. The president of Municipio X was not elected since the municipio was under the administration of a Special Commissioner nominated after the municipal council had been dissolved in 2015 due to mafia association.
Source: