2000 Venetian regional election

The Venetian regional election of 2000 took place on 16 April 2000.

2000 Venetian regional election

← 1995 16 April 2000 2005 →
All 60 seats to the Regional Council
Majority party Minority party   Leader Giancarlo Galan Massimo Cacciari Party Forza Italia Democrats Alliance Pole for Freedoms The Olive Tree Seats won 37 23 Seat change 8 3 Popular vote 1,484,585 1,032,255 Percentage 54.96% 38.22% Swing 0.72%[1] 5.87%
President before election Giancarlo Galan Forza Italia Subsequent President Giancarlo Galan Forza Italia

Giancarlo Galan (Forza Italia, Pole for Freedoms) was re-elected for the third time President of the Region by a landslide over the centre-left candidate Massimo Cacciari (The Democrats).

Forza Italia, this time in alliance also with the Northern League, had its best result ever and was by far the largest party in the election, receiving 30.3% of the regional vote.

Electoral system

Regional elections in Veneto were ruled by the "Tatarella law" (approved in 1995), which provided for a mixed electoral system: four fifths of the regional councilors were elected in provincial constituencies by proportional representation, using the largest remainder method with a droop quota and open lists, while the residual votes and the unassigned seats were grouped into a "single regional constituency", where the whole ratios and the highest remainders were divided with the Hare method among the provincial party lists; one fifth of the council seats instead was reserved for regional lists and assigned with a majoritarian system: the leader of the regional list that scored the highest number of votes was elected to the presidency of the Region while the other candidates were elected regional councilors.

A threshold of 3% had been established for the provincial lists, which, however, could still have entered the regional council if the regional list to which they were connected had scored at least 5% of valid votes.

The panachage was also allowed: the voter can indicate a candidate for the presidency but prefer a provincial list connected to another candidate.

Parties and candidates

Political party or alliance		Constituent lists		Previous result		Candidate
				Votes (%)	Seats
	Pole for Freedoms		Forza Italia	24.0	15	Giancarlo Galan
			Northern League – Venetian League	16.7	9
			National Alliance	10.7	6
			Christian Democratic Centre	3.6	3
			United Christian Democrats	—	—
			Socialist Party	—	—
			The Liberals Sgarbi	—	—
			Venetian Democratic Union	—	—
	The Olive Tree		Democrats of the Left	16.5	9	Massimo Cacciari
			Communist Refoundation Party	5.0	2
			Federation of the Greens	4.0	2
			Italian Democratic Socialists – Italian Republican Party	0.5	–
			Cacciari List (incl. PPI, Dem, RI)	—	—
			Party of Italian Communists	—	—
	Bonino List			1.2	–	Marco Cappato
	Venetians of Europe			—	—	Fabrizio Comencini
	Marco Polo Front			—	—	Fabio Padovan

Results

16 April 2000 Venetian regional election results

Candidates		Votes	%	Seats	Parties		Votes	%	Seat
	Giancarlo Galan	1,484,585	54.96	6
						Forza Italia	696,358	30.38	17
						Northern League – Venetian League	274,472	11.97	6
						National Alliance	225,194	9.82	5
						United Christian Democrats	102,967	4.49	2
						Christian Democratic Centre	53,580	2.34	1
						Socialist Party	16,249	0.71	–
						The Liberals Sgarbi	12,413	0.54	–
						Venetian Democratic Union	1,730	0.08	–
					Total		1,382,963	60.33	31
	Massimo Cacciari	1,032,255	38.22	1
						Cacciari List	312,347	13.63	9
						Democrats of the Left	282,644	12.33	8
						Communist Refoundation Party	68,375	2.98	2
						Federation of the Greens	53,464	2.33	1
						Italian Democratic Socialists – Italian Republican Party	29,355	1.28	1
						Party of Italian Communists	23,349	1.02	1
					Total		769,534	33.57	22
	Fabrizio Comencini	71,878	2.66	–		Venetians of Europe	56,448	2.46	–
	Marco Cappato	66,457	2.36	–		Bonino List	54,844	2.39	–
	Fabio Padovan	45,975	1.70	–		Marco Polo Front	28,568	1.25	–
Total candidates		2,701,150	100.00	7	Total parties		2,292,357	100.00	53
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Aftermath

After the election, Giancarlo Galan formed his second government, while Enrico Cavaliere (Liga Veneta) was elected President of the Regional Council. Forza Italia had the lion share in the government, including the posts of President, Vice President and Minister of Health.

Second Galan government
Office	Name	Party
President	Giancarlo Galan	FI
Vice President	Fabio Gava	FI
Minister of Budget, International Relations	Luca Bellotti (until 10 April 2001) Maria Luisa Coppola (since 18 September 2001)	AN
Minister of Security and Immigration	Raffaele Zanon	AN
Minister of Health	Fabio Gava	FI
Minister of Industry	Marino Finozzi	LV
Minister of Social Affairs	Antonio De Poli (until 5 August 2004) Sante Bressan (since 12 November 2004)	CCD/UDC CDU/UDC
Minister of Agriculture and Commerce	Giancarlo Conta	FI
Minister of Public Works	Massimo Giorgetti	AN
Minister of Environment and Transport	Renato Chisso	FI
Minister of Culture and Venetian Identity	Ermanno Serrajotto	LV
Minister of Tourism and Mountain Affairs	Floriano Pra	FI
Minister of Occupation and Local Affairs	Raffaele Grazia	FI
Minister of Territorial Affairs	Antonio Padoin	CDU/UDC

Source: Veneto Region