Ballots open from 7 in Fvg: everything you need to know about municipal elections and voting in referendums

UDINE. To vote with the mask. It is not an obligation, but a strong recommendation contained in the circular sent to the prefects, in recent days, by the Ministers of Health and of the Interior, Roberto Speranza and Luciana Lamorgese, following the changed epidemiological framework. Today, from 7 am to 11 pm, the 220,941 voters called to the polls to elect the 33 new mayors and municipal councils are invited to wear a mask before entering the polling stations. The same applies to the 938,180 voters who decide to vote for or against the five referendum questions.

The counting of votes will begin at the close of the polls for the referendum and at 2 pm tomorrow for the administrative elections. The real unknown remains that of reaching the quorum in the referendum, while it is unlikely that 50 percent plus one of the voters in the municipalities with a single mayoral candidate will not be registered: Arta Terme, Cimolais, Montenars, Preone, Sagrado, Savogna, Sutrio and Vito d’Asio. Yesterday afternoon the commissions took office without any problem.

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The administrative ones

In the 33 voting municipalities there are 220,941 voters to which must be added 31,234 resident abroad. Among the 82 candidates, 33 will be chosen. Only four municipalities exceed 15,000 inhabitants and therefore, if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes, they will go to the ballot. These are Azzano decimo, Codroipo, Gorizia and Monfalcone. In the 33 municipalities, in addition to the mayors who will appoint 161 councilors, 528 councilors will be elected. Today and the municipalities that go to the vote, the electoral offices are also open to give voters the opportunity to receive the card if they have lost or run out of it.

The same applies to the identity document without which it is not possible to access the voting booth. The vote must be expressed in the electoral section of the municipality of residence in which you are registered as voters. Only voters with walking problems can vote in a different section if architectural barriers prevent them from entering the official section. Voters admitted to hospital can also express their preferences in the polling station set up inside the structure. Only the disabled can enter the voting booth accompanied. Those who are unable to reach the polling station autonomously can ask to take advantage of the special means that each municipality makes available to the weakest people.

Anti Covid rules

To the usual electoral rules are added the anti Covid measures which, as mentioned, provide for the use of the mask. The measure is not mandatory, but in the face of the increase in cases of infection it is easy to imagine that many people will choose to protect themselves. SarsCov2 positive voters can vote in the municipality of residence after obtaining the authorization from the mayor, to whom the request and a medical certificate must be sent between the tenth and fifteenth day before the voting date.

How to vote

The vote for the administrative elections provides three options: the choice of the candidate for mayor, the choice of a candidate for mayor and a list or candidate for mayor, a list and one or two candidates for directors. In the first case, by simply choosing a candidate for statutory auditor, the vote should not be extended to the linked lists, even in the presence of only one. The chosen one is indicated with a cross drawn over his name. In the second case, on the other hand, you vote for a candidate for mayor and for a list by drawing a sign on the name of the candidate and on the symbol of the list. Finally, in the third and last case, the names of the directors are written next to the symbol of the list in which they are candidates.

Referendum

Five referendum questions on justice. Also in this case the vote must be expressed in the municipality of residence. Whoever crosses the no is opposed to the abrogation of the disputed provision, whoever believes that the article as it was written should be corrected must express themselves in favor of the repeal. The voter who realizes that he has made a mistake in voting can ask the president of the polling station to replace the ballot itself, being able to cast his vote again. In that case, the president will receive a new card, while the replaced one will end up among the deteriorated cards.