Polling stations open at 7 a.m. and close at 11 p.m.
(Photo: dpa)
Rome In the first hours of the parliamentary elections in Italy, only a few citizens cast their votes. As announced by the Ministry of the Interior in Rome, the turnout at 12 p.m. was around 19 percent. That was even a little less than in the 2018 election – at that time the country had registered the lowest turnout in parliamentary elections in the post-war period at just under 73 percent.
Experts predicted an even lower voter turnout of even less than 70 percent this time. The polling stations have been open since 7 a.m. and do not close until 11 p.m. in the evening.
Some of the top candidates already cast their votes in the morning, such as Matteo Salvini from the right-wing populist Lega in Milan, the social democrat Enrico Letta in Rome or central politician Matteo Renzi in Florence.
According to polls, the right-wing alliance, which is led by Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia party, looks set to win. Meloni had also announced that he would be voting in a school in southern Rome in the morning, but then did not appear as planned. According to a spokeswoman, she only wants to vote shortly before the bars close. The nationalist and EU-critical politician could become the first woman to become Prime Minister in Italy.
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“Let’s make history together,” Meloni tweeted that morning. Their allies, such as the Lega, also posted a number of election messages on social networks on Sunday, as they had done the day before. They ignored a requirement to refrain from such statements on the day before and on the day of the election.
The EU-critical politician could become the first woman to become Prime Minister in Italy.
(Photo: AP)
There were long lines in front of some polling stations, which caused some outrage. This was also due to the fact that a strip had to be carefully torn off the two filled out ballot papers – one each for the House of Representatives and one for the Senate – before they could be thrown into the ballot box. This additional procedure to combat voter fraud delayed the process.
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