On the eve of the elections it was known that abstention numbers would be one of the themes. First of all for the national data, then for the data of Southern Italy and the Islands, finally for the young people with the eighteen year olds who for the first time also voted for the Senate. The data from the Interior Ministry leave no doubt: the abstention factor weighed, as feared, on the 2022 elections. Compared to the 2018 edition, the data are merciless, especially in the South and in the Islands. At 11 pm (the data are still partial) 63.94% of those entitled voted, when the data of all the municipalities were scrutinized. It can be seen from the website of the Ministry of the Interior. The turnout is at an all-time low with the decline of about 10 points: in the previous election round of 2018 at the same time, 73.83% of the voters for the Chamber went to the polls. Only three regions stood at 70%, Emilia Romagna, Lombardy and Veneto, despite worsening the 2018 result.
The 12 o’clock data, 19.21% turnout compared to 19.43% in 2018, had given hope that during the day there would be a recovery, with consequent improvements, compared to four years ago but this was not the case. In the morning some regions had proved virtuous: Emilia-Romagna was 23.46% against 22.7% four years ago, Lombardy to 22.42% compared to 20.90%, Lazio from 18.89% to 20.83% and, finally, Tuscany from 21.33% to 22.17%. The comparison of data for Liguria, Marche, Piedmont, Sicily, Umbria and Veneto is stable. Already from the first surveys on who had gone to the polling station, a sharp decline due to: Abruzzo (from 17.17% to 19.39%), Calabria (from 15.11% to 12.89%), Campania (from 16.96% to 12.44%), Molise (from 17.89% to 13.00%), Sardinia (from 18.35% to 15.58%), Trentino (from 20.82% to 18.83%), Friuli-Venezia-Giulia (from 22.57% to 21.68%), Puglia (from 17.98% to 16.8% ) and Valle d’Aosta (from 21.24% to 19.92%).
At 7 pm, however, the Ministry of the Interior began to certify a large decline in voters. The turnout across the country dropped from 58.4% in 2018 to 51.16%. A drop of more than seven points, with no region improving from last election figures. The most virtuous, with a percentage well over 55%, were Emilia Romagna (at 59.76% the highest figure of the entire peninsula), Friuli-Venezia-Giulia (56.23%), Lombardy (58.35%), Marche (55.69%), Tuscany (58.07%) and Umbria (56.07%). Data in sharp decline instead in Calabria (36.92%; -13% compared to 2018), Campania (38.72%; -14%), Molise (44.04%; – 12%), Puglia (42.58%; -11%), Sardinia (40.97%, -12%) and Valle d ‘Aosta (48.76%; -11%).
One from Italy in sync with the data that have arrived in recent months from the rest of the world. The new low marked by the turnout in the Italian political elections has rekindled the debate on the crisis of representation. The figure is striking because it refers to a country that was used to a strong participation in the vote but is in line with a trend that is found in many of the main democracies and often in a much more pronounced way. A very important first example is that of France, which in the legislative elections last June recorded a turnout of 47.5% in the first round and 46.2% in the second round.