The 2021 Italian local elections were held on 3 and 4 October. Originally scheduled as usual between 15 April and 15 June with run-offs two weeks later,[1] the Government of Italy announced on 4 March that they were postponed to after the summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.[2] Elections took place in 1,293 out of 7,903 municipalities, 20 of which are provincial capitals. Mayors and city councils have been elected for the ordinary five-year terms, lasting till 2026.
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 choice for the mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives 50% of votes during the first round, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. The winning candidate obtains a majority bonus equal to 60% of seats. During the first round, if no candidate gets more than 50% of votes but a coalition of lists gets the majority of 50% of votes or if the mayor is elected in the first round but its coalition gets less than 40% of the valid votes, the majority bonus cannot be assigned to the coalition of the winning mayor candidate.
The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a maximum of two preferential votes, each for a different gender, belonging to the same party list: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally, using D'Hondt seat allocation. Only coalitions with more than 3% of votes are eligible to get any seats.[3]