Elections, the opposition effect was lacking, both for Schlein and for Conte

The government emerges strengthened by the vote

By Alessandro Amadori, political scientist and pollster

The second round of the May 2023 administrative elections has just ended. Voting was taken for the runoff in 41 Municipalities, and for the first round of the municipal elections in Sicily and Sardinia. For the municipalities voting in the two islands, the ballot is scheduled for Sunday 11 and Monday 12 June. The first data to comment concerns the turnout, down due to the ballots in 7 provincial capitals and 34 municipalities: in fact, 49.64% of eligible voters voted, down compared to the first round (58.39%). If we focus on the major municipalities, the capital ones, the following table summarizes the political results:

Out of seven large Municipalities, three were confirmed for the centre-right, and two conquered by the centre-right itself. In all, therefore, the center-right takes home five cities. On the contrary, the centre-left wins only a Vicenza (which rips to the center-right). The last city, Terni, saw the outsider Stefano Bandecchi as the absolute protagonist, founder of Unicusano as well as patron of Ternana, who conquered the city with his own political project centered on a civic list.

In summary, the second round has rewarded the centre-right, which emerges strengthened from this electoral round, in terms of Italy’s control of the “provincial” cities (in a broad sense and with a positive value). A favorable signal for Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi; an indication of a lack of “opposition effect” for both Elly Schlein and Giuseppe Conte.

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