Administrative elections, polls closed: turnout down to 60.59%
Almost 750 municipalities are voting, 661 in ordinary statute regions and the rest in special statute regions
The turnout at the close of polling stations for the local elections in 748 municipalities in more than 50 per cent of the sections (3,787 out of 6,278) was 60.59 per cent compared to the previous round's figure of 65.37 per cent. 6.3 million voters were called to the polls. This is the last major election before next year's political elections. The possible runoff, in municipalities with more than 15,000 inhabitants, will take place on 7 and 8 June.
At 11pm on Sunday 24 May, the turnout was 46.31%. The previous figure at the same time was 50.20%. The 7 p.m. survey was also down: turnout at 34.5% against the previous one at the same time of 37%.
The stakes
Almost 750 municipalities are going to the polls, 661 in the regions with ordinary statutes and the rest in those with special statutes. From North to South, among the main capitals involved are Venice and Reggio Calabria, where several national bigwigs have made a stop for the last miles of this election campaign. The objective of both the centre-right and the centre-left is to hold on to their cities and trigger reversals, bringing home as many mayors as possible.
The wide field aims to wrest Venice from the centre-right
In this light, the governing majority would like to wrest Reggio Calabria from its opponents, while the wide field aims to conquer Venice, after 11 consecutive years of Luigi Brugnaro.
In a panorama that is inevitably composite and complicated by local specificities, the presence of civics and harlequin coalitions, the two main alignments are already preparing for a different reading of the results: while no one in the majority reads this round as a great test at national level (some predict a more or less zero-sum reshuffling of the cards), the broad camp is keeping its lights firmly on Venice, a municipality considered particularly relevant not only for its uniqueness, but also for the political value of a possible shift to the left: La Serenissima is the capital of the Veneto region, the League's stronghold par excellence. This is not to say that the centre-left has neglected other challenges, with PD secretary Elly Schlein campaigning in sweeps from Avellino to Lecco. Giuseppe Conte (M5s), Angelo Bonelli and Nicola Fratoianni (Avs), Arianna Meloni and Giovanni Donzelli (FdI), Antonio Tajani (FI) and Matteo Salvini (Lega) did not spare themselves either.
