ROMA. We vote today all day and tomorrow until 3 pm We vote all over Italy for the referendum while in Campania, Liguria, Marche, Puglia, Veneto, Tuscany and Valle d’Aosta we also vote for the Regionals; and in 958 municipalities, including 15 provincial capitals, the mayor is also voted on. In fact, all Italians are called upon to express themselves on the referendum with a Yes or a No to the cut in the number of parliamentarians. It is a confirmatory referendum, so this time there is no quorum. The majority wins. If Yes, a law already approved by Parliament will be confirmed which reduces the number of elected officials from 945 to 600. If No, things will remain as they are.
Vote in times of Covid
The danger of contagion made special precautions necessary in the polling stations. The Ministry of the Interior recalled that the use of a mask is mandatory to enter, both for voters and for any other person authorized to enter. Presidents and tellers will have to replace personal protective equipment every 4-6 hours. The ban on gatherings within sections is reiterated; there will be waiting areas outside.
Mass package
The fear of the pandemic, and the prospect of wearing the mask for the whole day, forced the municipalities to run after polling presidents and tellers. An escape that has taken place almost everywhere. In Turin, out of 918 presidents in charge, 506 gave up: out of 2800 tellers, 1500 evaded. The Municipality had to make up for it by appointing hundreds of municipal employees. In Rome, 530 seat presidents out of 2600 resigned from office and that the Capitol had to quickly replace. The Municipality still has lists of voluntary municipal employees available to replace them, but it can also fish from lists of university students who, thanks to agreements with universities, have given their availability.
Even in the Marche region, 10% of the polling presidents were missing, especially among those in charge of collecting the vote in the Covid departments and at the home of those in quarantine. The Region solved it by relying on the staff belonging to the voluntary organizations “which operated during the health emergency”. The defection in the South was heavier. In Bari 70% of the presidents of seats and 40% of the tellers gave up: all replaced in a few hours.
The use of social media
In Milan, to cover a hundred seats left uncovered, the Municipality has launched a last minute appeal on social media. “We are looking for seat presidents for the Constitutional #Referendum”. In all, there were about a hundred resignations of presidents out of 1,248 seats in the city. Also in Genoa, the electoral offices have replaced 855 scrutineers and seat presidents, practically one in three, thanks to an appeal launched via social media.
Covid, already. In Potenza, a president discovered that he was positive shortly after having installed the seat: he immediately left the school, which will be sanitized overnight. The four tellers will be replaced and swabbed.
In Naples, there are 242 employees of the transport company committed to the polling stations, mostly in the role of representative: repercussions for users are feared. Even in Taranto, the buses could be affected as many employees have communicated to the company that they will be busy at the seats as presidents, secretaries, tellers and list and candidate representatives.
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