ROME (AP) — Italy’s parliament gave final approval Thursday to a sweeping overhaul of the country’s electoral system, handing Premier Giorgia Meloni a key political victory while setting up a likely constitutional battle over the reform.
The proposal — dubbed by supporters and critics alike the “Stabilicum” or “Melonellum” — is widely viewed as an attempt to strengthen Italy’s political system while improving the electoral prospects of the center-right coalition led by Meloni, which last month celebrated its record as Italy’s longest-serving government since WWII.
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Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein delivers her speech during a Chamber of Deputies meeting ahead of the final vote on the electoral law bill in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Lawmakers protest as a display shows the results of a vote of the final vote on the electoral law bill at Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A view of the Chamber of Deputies during a meeting ahead of the final vote on the electoral law bill in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A display shows the results of the final vote on the electoral law bill at Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein protests during the Chamber of Deputies meeting ahead of the final vote on the electoral law bill in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Supporters say the law is designed to produce clearer election winners and more stable governments in a country known for frequent changes of administration. But the center-left opposition dubbed it “scam law," arguing the reform is unconstitutional. It has pledged to challenge it and bring it in front of Italy’s Constitutional Court once it takes effect.
The Chamber of Deputies approved the measure in a secret ballot by 227 votes to 164, giving definitive parliamentary approval to the legislation after months of heated debate.
The reform introduces a big majority prize that will award bonus parliamentary seats in both houses of parliament to the winning pre-election alliance, provided it wins at least 42% of the national vote.
Critics contend that such a “majority prize” distorts voter representation and could conflict with previous court rulings that struck down elements of earlier electoral laws. A successful challenge could force Meloni’s conservative government to revise the system before the next general election.
The new law abolishes Italy’s current mixed electoral system, in which about one-third of parliamentary seats are elected in first-past-the-post constituencies, and replaces it with a fully proportional system.
Meloni's coalition says the changes will make it easier for voters to identify a governing coalition before elections and reduce the post-election bargaining that has often produced fragile governments. To qualify for the majority prize, parties will have to agree on a common prime ministerial candidate and political platform before the election.
The reform puts additional pressure on the divided center-left opposition, where tensions between the Democratic Party and the populist Five-Star Movement have complicated efforts to build a unified alliance capable of challenging the government in next year's election.
Meloni had made the vote on the electoral law a test of coalition unity, warning lawmakers from her Brothers of Italy party and coalition partners Forza Italia and the League that the government could face a crisis if the reform were defeated.
Yet resistance to the law has emerged within Meloni’s own coalition.
Some lawmakers fear the measure could ultimately backfire as support for former general Roberto Vannacci’s nationalist National Future party threatens to siphon votes from the governing bloc, potentially making it harder for it to reach the 42% threshold required to secure the majority bonus.
Others have criticized provisions they say would increase campaign costs for individual candidates and reduce women’s representation in parliament.
The vote marks Meloni’s latest attempt to reshape Italy’s institutional framework after voters earlier this year rejected her proposed overhaul of the justice system in a constitutional referendum.
Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein delivers her speech during a Chamber of Deputies meeting ahead of the final vote on the electoral law bill in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Lawmakers protest as a display shows the results of a vote of the final vote on the electoral law bill at Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A view of the Chamber of Deputies during a meeting ahead of the final vote on the electoral law bill in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A display shows the results of the final vote on the electoral law bill at Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein protests during the Chamber of Deputies meeting ahead of the final vote on the electoral law bill in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The midterm elections are looming and the first hurricane of the Atlantic Season is menacing the Gulf Coast.
But President Donald Trump is really, really hoping the weather doesn’t stop him from going to another big college football game — this one in Alabama on Saturday night.
“Well, hurricane and football? I love Alabama. I gotta go to the game. It’d be awfully hard,” Trump said Wednesday, when asked if Hurricane Isaias — and a forecast track which has parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Florida bracing for significant impacts — might alter his plans.
Trump had been set to visit Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa when Alabama hosts Georgia in a Top 10 matchup, following an afternoon rally in Tennessee.
Officials are still discussing how the storm might affect the game. But if it happens and Trump is there, it would be the 10th college football game he’s attended as president since 2017 — including the late September game in Knoxville when Texas topped Tennessee 20-17.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday “if there’s a hurricane, I don’t want to do anything" to take the focus of first responders and law enforcement away from the storm, saying he wanted people to be safe.
“We'll have to see," he said.
A president trying to give his party a midterm boost typically wouldn't even contemplate going to two college football games so close to Election Day. But Trump's longtime love of sports — and big crowds — are often key factors in his travel schedule.
Live sports — especially big games that attract casual fans nationwide — are one of the few televised programs that can still draw large, real-time audiences. But mixing sports and politics can be tricky: Trump received cheers but also boos when he was shown on Tennessee's jumbotron, despite being in a deep red state.
“I think what they’re trying to do is get this broad cast: trying to raise enthusiasm, particularly among young men,” said University of Richmond political scientist Dan Palazzolo, who has researched, written and taught about the intersection of politics and sports.
Tennessee and Alabama are “safe turf,” Palazzolo said, and Trump “clearly sees sports as a kind of way to connect with a certain part of the base.”
While presidents usually visit key swing states leading up to elections, Trump's sinking approval ratings mean some GOP candidates may be looking to distance themselves from the increasingly unpopular Iran war and the higher gasoline prices it's caused.
The White House says Trump attending football games — even in reliably Republican states — can energize his core supporters around the country. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers described the president as “the greatest champion of college sports in American history" and said that Trump has used his executive powers and championed congressional efforts to try to overhaul how the sport is governed.
Trump is now a week into what he said would be 32 days of travel ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3 — including a visit last week to Alabama and other stops in Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio and Nebraska. Swings in coming weeks will take him to Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Kansas and Alaska, among other places.
Richard Nixon publicly leaned into his fierce love of football to ”make a difference politically by capturing the Midwest, working class values," Palazzolo said. His successor, Gerald Ford, was a standout University of Michigan center and used his playing days as a key component of his folksy personal style when campaigning.
But Trump has made sporting events a big part of his second term. A onetime owner of the USFL's New Jersey Generals, Trump recently attended the Presidents Cup and flew to his golf course for the Irish Open.
He was at the World Cup final, the NBA finals and the NCAA football championship game, while marking his 80th birthday with a UFC extravaganza on the White House lawn.
In 2025 alone, Trump went to the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, the Ryder Cup, a New York Yankees game and the U.S. Open men's final, as well as UFC fights and the NCAA wrestling championships.
“I think it helps the brand more than anything else. Because, I think his brand is ‘Sports Guy,’" said Dave Mowery, an Alabama-based consultant who has worked on campaigns for both parties.
“I know everything is political," Mowery said. “But it almost puts him above politics and into that type of guy that is seen in the box with the people.”
Mowery, a Georgia fan who plans to attend Saturday’s game against Alabama, said a presidential visit means fans have to cope with additional security and arriving early to sit in the stands long before the game begins.
He said not everyone there will support Trump, though few will be frustrated enough about the disruptions to vote for Democrats on that issue alone. Seeing the president flash on the scoreboard, or wave to the crowd from a private box, probably won't win him votes from the crowd, either, Mowery said.
Palazzolo said he thinks it’s a “time-drain” for a president to go to a football game when there's no evidence it can sway voter behavior — and he said it risks backlash, especially in parts of the country where football remains bipartisan with “conservatives and liberals finding common ground at the ballpark."
Mowery said the difference between attending a big game in the South versus other parts of the country is that college football is the top attraction. That's in contrast to NFL games, which might be bigger draws in other, more northern battleground states.
He also said it's no accident that Trump has stuck to attending marquee college matchups.
“If ‘Sports Guy’ helps drive the brand, then you want to be at the top of that food chain," Mowery said. “He wants to go to the best game on the board. He wants to go to the top of the pops."
FILE - President Donald Trump walks onto the field with Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland, Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, left, and Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte, Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, right, before the start of the 126th Army-Navy NCAA college football game at M&T Bank Stadium, Dec. 13, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump watches first half of the College Football Playoff national championship game between Miami and Indiana, Jan. 19, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Fla., with Dana White and Ivanka Trump. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - Surrounded by Army cadets, President Donald Trump watches the first half of the 121st Army-Navy Football Game, Dec. 12, 2020, in West Point, N.Y. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump walks from the Navy to the Army side of the field with Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland, superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, during halftime of the 126th Army-Navy NCAA college football game at M&T Bank Stadium, Dec. 13, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump, center, attends the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
President Donald Trump is displayed on the scoreboard as he attends the Tennessee-Texas NCAA college football game in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (Sara Diggins/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
