At the last consultations for the secretary, on March 3, 2019, around one and a half million voters went to the gazebos throughout the day. Outgoing leader Letta goes to the polls in the afternoon: “These primaries are a great choice of unity and participation. Talking about splits is just a political and journalistic game”
The polls in the primaries closed at 8pm to choose the new secretary of the Democratic party between the governor of Emilia-Romagna Stefano Bonaccini and the deputy Elly Schelin. “The data of some regions and some cities are still missing, but we can say that the turnout will be around one million voters”, said the deputy Silvia Roggiani, chairman of the National Congressional Commission. At 13 the voters were close to quota six hundred thousandsto be precise 598.121. At the last consultations for the secretary, on March 3, 2019, they went to the gazebos throughout the day about a million and a half of voters. Voting in Rome, the outgoing leader Enrico Letta he said he was optimistic about the turnout: “We will well exceed one million participants“. And in the evening Dario Nardella, mayor of Florence and coordinator of the Bonaccini motion, gives the goal as achieved: “More than a million votes in the Pd primaries. An extraordinary proof of democratic participation and vitality!”, he writes on Twitter.
More than a million votes at #PrimariePD An extraordinary proof of democratic participation and vitality!
— Dario Nardella (@DarioNardella) February 26, 2023
In the 154 seats set up in Romacommunicates in particular the president of the local Commission Giovanni De Lupis, “at 2 pm they voted in 27.642. A great celebration of democracy that will continue until 8 pm (the closing time of the votes, ndr) thanks to the thousands of militants at work throughout the city”. In the metropolitan city of Milano at 13 they had voted in about thirty thousand. In Emilia Romagnaa region where the party is historically very strong and where both challengers for the leadership come from, at 1 pm the voters were 73.384: in 2019, at 12, there were about eighty thousand.
During the day, Letta sent the last messages as secretary via social media: “Files everywhere to our gazebos. Thanks to the thousands of volunteers who are making an amazing day of democracy and participation with the Pd primaries,” he wrote on Twitter, posting images of voters in line. On the sidelines of the vote in his club in Testaccio, Letta claimed: “These primaries are a great choice of unity and participation. There have been months where I have been subject to thousand ironyof a thousand criticisms. I believe he was a right method because today whoever is elected will have strong legitimacy and I am convinced that they will be able to manage this party as a unit, which needs unity and a leadership that is able to devote itself more to what happens outside from the party to what happens inside, between the different souls”. But on this issue he specifies: “Talking about splits is just a political and journalistic game, it’s a game enjoyed by Transatlantico”.
Today thanks to #PrimariePd a great hymn to democracy and participation. #Primaries pic.twitter.com/0RMPEO6NNi
— Enrico Letta (@EnricoLetta) February 26, 2023