Discontent has won, attendance is at historically low levels. Italians who didn’t vote are on the front page today. Last September 25, more than one in three Italians did not go to vote. This time it will be worse.
More than 12 million voters were called to vote in regional elections in Lazio and Lombardy. The polls, which were closed at 23:00 yesterday, will open again at 07:00 today at the end of the first day of voting, and you can vote until 15:00. Immediately after – after the voting and feedback process – the counting will begin. For this round of elections, there are 9,254 branches in a total of 1,504 municipalities for Lombardy and 5,306 branches for Lazio, which are divided into 378 municipalities. Voters are invited to express their preference for the renewal of the governor and district council. According to data released by Viminale at 11 pm, 29.72% voted (compared to 70.63% in previous municipalities. In Lombardy 1,504 municipalities out of 1504) turnout was 31.78% (at the same time in 2018 and with the same number of municipalities voted 73.11.) In Lazio (378 out of 378 municipalities), this rate is 26.28% (66.55%).
Regional elections: turnout collapsed
“This is an important election, so I hope the turnout is sufficient for an election for the nation as it should be for such strategic regions. So go and vote”: that was the call of Giorgia Meloni. These are the lowest turnout figures ever recorded in similar elections in the two districts (but we will be voting until 3 PM today). Just over 70 percent of those eligible voted for the latest policies in Lombardy. 64 percent in Lazio. In Lombardy, turnout at the 2018 Regionals (but voting took place in a single day) was just over 73 percent, while in 2013 it rose to over 76 percent instead. He voted 66 percent in the 2018 regionals in Lazio, 72 percent in 2013, and just 60 percent in 2010 (when Polverini won). There is a feeling that new lows may be reached this time around, and the crash of around 9 points, the lowest ever recorded, in the last policy of September 2022 will seem like a “little thing.”
It’s true that voting took place over two days, but the first alarm bell in all election committees’ offices rang at 12 o’clock yesterday when the 9 percent figure against 18 five years ago was announced. However, it cannot be said that a decrease in public participation is not expected. The election campaign lacked private flashes everywhere (and one notes that the fact that the last week of the campaign coincided with the Sanremo Festival did nothing but divert public and media attention even more from the election assignment in general).
What can change with less than 50 percent participation?
With a final turnout of well below 50 percent, could anything change compared to the almost obvious expectations? The results haven’t looked suspicious in recent weeks. The fear circulating on the centre-right is that the wild variant might somehow punish Attilio Fontana in Lombardy and Francesco Rocca in Lazio. But according to all the polls published by all institutes before the election stance two weeks ago, the chances of victory are in any case only and only for the centre-right. The gap was so wide that any turnaround would have been the biggest surprise in republican Italy’s electoral history.
In Lombardy, according to an analysis of the regional participation map by youtrendCompared to the 25 September elections, the decline in turnout is more pronounced in municipalities where the centre-right outperformed the 2022 elections (the reverse for the centre-left and M5s). On the other hand, Fontana and Gori plus Violi do not seem to have any significant correlations with their 2018 percentages. In Lazio, the 7pm turnout decline compared to 5 months ago is less pronounced in municipalities where the centre-right is outperforming in 2022 policies (center left plus reverse for the third pole). On the other hand, there do not seem to be any significant correlations with the percentages of the 2018 regional elections, in which the candidates were Zingaretti and Parisi.
Voting continues until 3 pm. Meanwhile, calls are being made to force Italians to participate in the consultation. “Opinion voting is becoming increasingly rare in mass society: I would say that the only correct view is that of those who do not vote because they understand or believe that elections are a ritual that can be avoided without serious harm, and like all rituals, such as Sunday’s ritual, is ultimately a nuisance.” . Norberto Bobbio wrote this thirty-nine years ago: it was 1984.
Voting guides in Lazio and Lombardy
- Lazio election 2023: candidates and information on how and when to vote
- Lombardy elections 2023: candidates and information on how and when to vote
Regional competitions #Lazio: Municipalities with the highest participation in Rome are 2 (Parioli and Trieste, 23.9%), 8 (Garbatella and Ostiense, 22.0%) and 1 (Centro Storico and Prati, 21.6%). The lowest participation is in District 6 (Delle Torri, 16.3%).#MarathonYouTrend pic.twitter.com/5yLXpRYx1r
— YouTrend (@you_trend) February 12, 2023
Source: Today IT
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
