Peak turnout in municipal elections, voting until 3 pm today – Politics

This morning at 7 am the polling stations for the election of mayors in 595 municipalities in the regions with ordinary statute opened. They will close at 3 pm and the counting of ballots will begin immediately afterwards. Peak turnout in this round of administrative elections: even the choice of the mayor, once deeply felt and shared, today has to deal with strong disaffection on the part of the electorate. The final turnout at 11pm, for the municipalities followed by the Viminale, is 46.39%, down by almost 14 points compared to the previous counterparts in which 59.89% of those entitled had voted.

In almost 30 years, the drop in voters was 25%, 1 out of 4 voters no longer went to vote: just think that in the municipal elections of June 1993, 79% of eligible voters had voted, while in the local elections of June last year 54.72% voted, in practice only one voter out of two chose the mayor.

The polls are open for administrative elections in 790 municipalities overall, although between yesterday and today votes are cast in 595 municipalities in the regions with ordinary statute and there is only one regional capital, Ancona, while there are 13 provincial capitals. There are no large centers involved but it is still an important political test for the government majority, 8 months before the general elections, and for the opposition. StA total of 6.3 million voters are called to vote to elect the mayor and renew the city council. Voting takes place in Sicily and Sardinia on 28 and 29 May, in Trentino and Valle d’Aosta on 21 May. In the ‘special’ regions, voting takes place in 195 municipalities overall. The focus is above all on the results in the thirteen capital cities: in addition to Ancona, the only regional capital city, Brescia, Brindisi, Imperia, Latina, Massa, Pisa, Siena, Sondrio, Teramo, Terni, Treviso and Vicenza. The spring round of the municipal elections will then be completed on 21 May with the vote scheduled in Valle d’Aosta (1 Municipality) and Trentino-Alto Adige (3 Municipalities), and on 28 and 29 May with the elections in Sicily (128 Municipalities) and Sardinia (39 Municipalities). The counting of ballots will begin immediately after the polls close.

As for the turnout, going back in time, in 2017 (1,004 Municipalities voting) the turnout was 60.07%. In 2020 (764 municipalities) the turnout was 65.62%; in 2019 (3,685 municipalities) by 67.68%. In the 2016 round, 61.52% of those entitled voted. Among the curiosities of the election day, one concerned a woman of 100 years and 4 months, Teresa Righini, retired restaurateur and founder of the Osteria del Pozzo in Ancona, who despite her advanced age, has not renounced to exercise her right -duty to vote and went to polling station number 27 in Falconara Marittima, leaning on a stick and accompanied by her son-in-law. Two people were instead reported in the Neapolitan area for taking photos of the ballot papers they had voted for

Overall, there are 18 provincial capitals where votes are held, one of which is the regional capital, Ancona. Tomorrow we vote in 13 provincial capitals (Ancona, Brescia, Brindisi, Imperia, Latina, Massa, Pisa, Siena, Sondrio, Teramo, Terni, Treviso and Vicenza). Any run-off round is scheduled for Sunday 28 and Monday 29 May (Trentino and Valle d’Aosta on 4 June, Sicily and Sardinia on 11 and 12 June). Seven of the provincial capitals are currently governed by the centre-right and five by the centre-left, while Latina is governed by a prefectural commissioner following the fall of the centre-left administration led by Damiano Colletta last year.

Alliances to the test, therefore, with the unknown abstention, in continuous growth in the last consultations. In fact, 54% of those entitled to vote in the June 2022 administrative elections, 5.4% fewer voters went to the polls than in the previous round. Pd and M5S are allies in 4 capitals (Latina, Pisa, Brindisi and Teramo); Action and Italia Viva in 6 (Brescia, Vicenza, Ancona, Pisa, Treviso, Brindisi); the government majority splits only in Massa where Fdi expresses its own candidate different from that of Lega, Forza Italia and civic lists. In Ancona – the outgoing mayor is Laura Mancinelli (Pd) – Ida Simonella (centre-left) and Daniele Silvetti (centre-right) challenge each other, while the 5-star Movement supports Enrico Sparapani (RPT: Enrico Sparapani). In addition to Latina (where the outgoing Coletta returns), the situation is also anomalous in Massa, where the center-right mayor Francesco Persiani – the first in the history of the city – was discouraged on 1 March. He is running again for this round with Lega, Forza Italia and civic lists; However, Fratelli d’Italia supports another name, Marco Guidi.

Il centre-left try to win back Massa with Enzo Romolo Ricci. The two main opposition forces in Parliament are united in 3 cities: in Pisa there is a convergence between Pd, M5S and the United Left in support of Paolo Martinelli, who challenges the outgoing mayor, center-right, Michele Conti; also in Teramo Pd and Cinquestelle together behind the outgoing mayor, Gianguido D’Alberto; Carlo Antonetti challenges him for the centre-right. In Brindisi, neither the centre-right nor the centre-left managed to express joint candidacies. Pd and M5s will support Roberto Fusco, while the outgoing mayor Riccardo Rossi is supported by only one list: Brindisi Bene Comune – Alleanza Verdi Sinistra.

For the centre-right, Giuseppe Marchionna is the candidate of Forza Italia, Fratelli D’Italia and Lega, while Pasquale Luperti is supported by the Salento Region Movement and Citizen Equality. Curiosity in Imperia, where the outgoing center-right Claudio Scajola, former Minister of the Interior, is challenged – for the center-left – by the deputy police commissioner Ivan Bracco, who since 2010 has investigated Scajola for six different investigations, all archived except one, the one in which the politician would have favored the fugitive of the former FI deputy Amedeo Matacena (in the first instance he was sentenced to 2 years). The only party present everywhere with a list is the Democratic Party, the others are not present in at least one municipality.

The polls are open until 3 pm. The counting will begin immediately after the verification of the turnout.