Why do Italy’s regional elections matter – and who can vote in them?

With regional elections coming up in Italy, here's a look at what they're actually for and who is allowed to vote in them.

Published: 16 September 2020 14:45 CEST

Why do Italy's regional elections matter - and who can vote in them?

A polling advisor casts a ballot in Milan. File photo: AFP

Can I vote in an Italian regional or local election?

You can vote in regional elections if you have Italian citizenship, are over 18 years of age, and are registered on the electoral roll in your municipality.

You must vote in the town in which you’re registered to vote, unless you’re in a special category such as soldiers or police officers stationed elsewhere.
comune are legally entitled to vote.

An EU citizen may also stand as a candidate at municipal elections, under the same conditions as an Italian national.

You must be at least 18 years old, and must not have been banned from voting in another EU member state.

A man walks past campaign posters ahead of regional elections held in Emilia-Romagna in January 2020. Photo: AFP

The regional polls elect the president of each region – roughly the equivalent of a state governor in the US.

The regional president appoints and heads a committee of councillors that help govern the region. There is also a regional parliament elected separately by voters.

Most candidates are aligned with Italy’s biggest political parties – which are currently the Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia), the League (Lega), the Democratic Party (partito democratico, or PD), the Five Star Movement (movimento Cinque Stelle (or M5S), Forza Italia. But many candidates are often from other, smaller parties and regional groups such as the Sardinian Action Party.

The situation is similar in local (municipal) elections, in which a mayor is elected for each comune, though there are usually fewer candidates in the running, with the main players often backed by a coalition of left- or right-wing parties.

You’ll find details of each candidates manifesto and upcoming appearances on their party’s website, or on the candidates’ own social media pages. Italian politicians are often particularly active on Facebook, so it may be worth checking there first for updates.

Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi shows his ballot at a polling station in Milan. Photo: AFP

What powers do local governments have?

While regional and local powers have been expanded temporarily under covid-19 emergency measures, most regional administrations usually answer to the national government in Rome.

The majority of the regions don’t have much power, particularly when compared to federal states such as Germany.

They keep only 20 percent of tax revenue, and the constitution grants them ” legislative powers in all subject matters that are not expressly covered by State legislation”, which in practice doesn’t amount to much.

But five regions (Aosta Valley, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol) have special status, meaning their governments have special constitutional powers and greater control over local laws and money.

If you look at a map, you’ll see these regions all lie on Italy’s borders, and the special status helps them preserve cultural differences.

Italy was only unified in 1861, and its 20 administrative regions more or less correspond to the historical regions. Italy is further divided into 110 provinces and almost 8,000 comuni.

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The strike comes after Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama — who is close to Meloni — called a top RAI editor to complain about a television report into Italy’s controversial migration deal with his country.

The Usigrai trade union called the strike from May 6 to May 7 saying talks with management had failed to address their concerns.

It cited numerous issues, including staff shortages and contract issues, but in first place was “the suffocating control over journalistic work, with the attempt to reduce RAI to a megaphone for the government”.

It had already used that phrase to object to what critics say is the increasing influence over RAI by figures close to Prime Minister Meloni, who leads Italy’s most right-wing government since World War II.

However, another union of RAI journalists, Unirai, said they would not join what they called a “political” strike, defending the return to “pluralism” at the broadcaster.

Funded in part by a licence fee and with top managers long chosen by politicians, RAI’s independence has always been an issue of debate.

But the arrival in power of Meloni — leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, who formed a coalition with Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party and the late Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia — redoubled concerns.

Tensions erupted at the weekend amid accusations RAI censored a speech by a leading writer criticising Meloni ahead of Liberation Day on April 25, when Italians mark the defeat of Fascism and the Nazis at the end of World War II.

Both RAI’s management and Meloni have denied censorship, and the premier posted the text of the monologue on her social media.

In another twist, Albania’s premier confirmed Thursday he called senior RAI editor Paolo Corsini about an TV report on Sunday into Italy’s plans to build two migration processing centres on Albanian territory.

Rama told La Stampa newspaper the report was “biased” and contained “lies” — adding that he had not raised the issue with Meloni.

The “Report” programme claimed the costs of migrant centres, which are under construction, were already “out of control” and raised questions about criminals benefiting from the project.