South Tyrolean citizens challenge new Italian electoral law

Thirty-two citizens from South Tyrol and Trentino have filed a legal challenge against Italy’s new electoral law, Law No. 180/2026, at the Court of Trento. The group is requesting that 13 questions regarding the law's constitutionality be submitted to the Italian Constitutional Court.

The legal challenge, presented by constitutional law experts and former Senator Oskar Peterlini, is part of a broader national initiative by the “Rete per un voto libero ed uguale” network. This network has filed appeals at 25 different court locations across Italy.

Key concerns include the potential distortion of the ratio between votes and mandates, specifically regarding a majority bonus that could award significant additional seats to coalitions reaching 42 percent of the vote. Furthermore, the plaintiffs argue the law involves ethnic gerrymandering that threatens linguistic minorities. In South Tyrol, changes to constituency boundaries are alleged to diminish the political weight of German and Ladin speakers, with claims that a vote in the Bolzano-Leifers constituency is worth approximately 1.7 times more than a vote in the Meran constituency.