In 2001, 2006, 2016, and 2020, there were the four previous confirmatory constitutional referendums in the history of the Republic.
The first was on October 7, 2001 , when a referendum was held to confirm or reject the reform of Title V of the Constitution, approved by the Union majority during the Prodi, D'Alema, and Amato governments. It passed with 64.2% of the vote in favor, although turnout was just over 34%. Since it was a confirmatory, not abrogative, referendum, a quorum was not required.
On 25-26 June 2006, Italians were called to vote on the constitutional reform introduced by the Berlusconi government (inspired by Umberto Bossi's League and with Roberto Calderoli as Minister of Reforms): it was the so-called " devolution " which was rejected by 61% while the voters reached 52%.
On December 4, 2016, the third constitutional referendum in the history of the Republic took place : a majority of voters rejected the constitutional bill known as the Renzi-Boschi reform, definitively approved by the Chamber of Deputies in April 2016. The reform aimed to abolish perfect bicameralism, revise the division of legislative powers between the state and the regions, eliminate the reference to the provinces from the constitutional text, and abolish the National Council for Economic and Social Contributions (CNEL). 59.11% voted no to the reform, compared to 40.89% who voted yes. The 2016 referendum saw a record turnout: nearly 69% of voters turned out, with a significant percentage in the North. This was well above the 2001 results and even higher than the 2006 vote on devolution, with a turnout of 53.6%. The first political consequence of the rejection of the reform was the resignation of the Renzi government.
On September 20 and 21, 2020, voters will vote to approve or reject the constitutional amendment bill entitled "Amendments to Articles 56, 57, and 59 of the Constitution regarding the reduction of the number of parliamentarians, " proposed by the Conte II government. The turnout was 51.12%, with the "yes" vote winning 69.96% of the valid votes.
(Unioneonline)
