Municipal elections were held in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

on 15 and 16 May 2011. The centre-left candidate Virginio Merola was elected mayor at the first round with 50.47% of votes. The turnout was just 71%, a decrease compared to 2009 and 2004 elections.

Background

The election took place before the end of the legislature because the incumbent mayor

Flavio Delbono Flavio Delbono (born 17 September 1959) is an Italian politician and economist. He served as the mayor of Bologna from 25 June 2009 until 28 January 2010, when he was forced to resign as he was being investigated for crimes such as embezzlement, ...

, who was under investigation after the ''Cinziagate'' scandal. Delbono was forced to announce his resignation as mayor on 25 January 2010 following the revelation that he was being investigated for crimes such as embezzlement, fraud and aggravated abuse of office. The investigation followed Delbono's former assistant's claim that he had spent public money on her— the pair had been having an affair. Investigators subsequently questioned Delbono about the purchase of a property near St. Julian's,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. Delbono denied all the allegations made against him and said that resigning as mayor was the right thing to do. He has announced that he will return to lecturing and is working to clear his name. His resignation was confirmed on 28 January following the approval of an emergency budget, the election to appoint Delbono's successor must take place by 28 March 2010. For 15 months,

was governed under a special commissioner, Anna Maria Cancellieri, an exceptional event in post-war Italian politics.

Voting system

The voting system is used for all mayoral elections in Italy, in the city 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, 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.

Parties and leaders

Results

{{bar box , title=Mayor , titlebar=#ddd , width=500px , barwidth=350px , bars= {{bar percent, Merola, {{party color, Centre-left coalition, 50.47 {{bar percent, Bernardini, {{party color, Centre-right Coalition, 30.35 {{bar percent, Bugani, {{party color, Five Star Movement, 9.50 {{bar percent, Aldrovandi, #FF7F00, 5.08 {{bar percent, Corticelli, lightskyblue, 3.06 {{bar percent, Others, {{party color, Other, 1.54

References

2011 elections in Italy

Elections in Bologna May 2011 events in Italy