Public Notice data

Administrative elections 2026, clans in action to intimidate candidates

Threats to candidates, from north to south, recorded by Avviso Pubblico. In the crosshairs especially municipalities with under 15,000 inhabitants and those dissolved for mafia reasons

by Patrizia Maciocchi

14 May 2026

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Election campaigns, critical moment
Intimidation ahead of the vote on 24 and 25 May
From increased exposure to social media, the reasons for increased vulnerability

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

At risk of falling into the crosshairs of clans and criminality, ahead of the administrative elections, it is mainly the local authorities under 15 thousand inhabitants, where the highest number ofintimidating acts against those who are running for mayor, councillor and councillor are registered. And in the next round there are 760. On 24 and 25 May 2026, there will, in fact, 882 Italian municipalities will go to the vote. Among these, there are five - two in Campania: Melito di Napoli (Na) and Quindici (Av); two in Calabria: Tropea (Vv) and Cerva (Cz) and one in Sicily, Randazzo (Ct) - that are going back to the polls after a long commissioning for mafia infiltration, a context that historically exposes candidates and communities to higher risks.

According to data collected by Avviso Pubblico in sixteen years of monitoring the phenomenon, of the more than 6,000 cases of threats and intimidation recorded from 2010 to 2025, over 400 saw candidates and candidates come under fire. If we consider the decade 2016 - 2025, there were 317 out of 4,305 (7.4% of the total).

Election campaigns, critical moment

Election campaigns following the dissolution of municipalities for mafia infiltration are particularly delicate and vulnerable. The main reasons:

1) Criminal organisations attempt to regain control of municipalities by bribing and intimidating. The clans violently control the territory, nominate and support people close to them, threaten the opponents of their candidates in election campaigns to prevent their election;

2) Post-dissolution municipalities often find themselves in a condition of financial distress generated by years of mismanagement; in order to sort out public finances, which the extraordinary commissioners are not always objectively able to manage in 18-24 months, the new administrators who will be elected are often forced to resort to unpopular measures;

3) Communities experience dissolution not as a remedial and protective action by the state to restore legality, but as a disgrace that negatively affects the reputation of the authority and the territory.

In the last five years, among the municipalities affected by intimidation, 15-20% have suffered at least one dissolution for mafia reasons. This impact is most evident in recent years, marked by a dramatic drop in voter turnout. In communities where there is crime capable of managing and directing packets of votes, as abstentionism increases, there is an increase in the specific weight of piloted preferences. In many of the reports attached to the dissolution decrees analysed in recent years, the involvement, in various ways, of mafia clans in electoral campaigns emerges, an attention aimed at obtaining or consolidating relations with future administrations with a view to securing advantages of an economic nature.

Intimidation in the run-up to the vote on 24 and 25 May

The election campaign for the next local elections started a few days ago, and Avviso Pubblico has already recorded episodes ofintimidation and threats against some candidates and candidates, both in the South and in the North. In particular:

1) Ceglie Messapica (Brindisi): a former councillor withdrew his candidature for mayor after receiving, at his home, an anonymous letter with clearly threatening and intimidating contents;

2)Messina: a candidate for mayor received insults and threats via social media. This is the content of the messages: 'Try to go to Tehran where they put a bag over your head with a hole in it to see where you put your feet' or 'communist m...';

3)Pontboset (Valle d'Aosta): a candidate, a former deputy mayor, publicly denounced that he had been threatened because he wanted to run again. 'A person has intimidated me not to run again, claiming that if I run, I may have legal problems because he will disclose documents in his possession,' said the candidate whose resignation caused the fall of the previous junta;

4)Venice: offensive and intimidating tickets were posted at the electoral headquarters of a mayoral candidate. One of them reads: 'Muso di m...'. The candidate did not withdraw from the electoral competition.

From increased exposure to social media, the reasons for increased vulnerability

In its sixteen years of collecting data on the phenomenon of 'administrators under fire', Avviso Pubblico has observed how election campaigns represent the most delicate period for outgoing administrators and new candidates. The data collected show that the number of intimidations increases significantly. There are several reasons for this

1) Greater public exposure of candidates, more easily approached. Attempts at conditioning by criminal groups interested in influencing the outcome of the vote, in particular by managing the preference vote;

2)Personalised and radicalised political competition, especially in smaller municipalities where, in several cases, part of the electoral campaign is based on the demonisation of opponents. This is also favoured by a lack of political proposals, party references, intermediate bodies or other forms of collective solidarity;

3)Exasperated social climate, generated in particular by distrust in politics and the economic crisis, which amplifies conflicts and aggressive behaviour, also due to an amplification fuelled by social networks, which convey hate speech and foment social anger. In some contexts, rather than a democratic confrontation between opponents, we are witnessing a battle between enemies.

The President of Avviso Pubblico

"The electoral campaign is the ideal time for those who intimidate: it allows them to approach candidates, push them to take a step back or try to make deals. Even a few episodes can pollute the democratic process and condition the freedom of voters - says Roberto Montà, president of Avviso Pubblico - Intimidation does not only affect candidates, but alsocitizens called to the polls. In some territories, the threat is a tool to influence political choices, in others it is the symptom of an exasperated social climate, where electoral competition degenerates into hostility. For this reason," Montà concludes, "Avviso Pubblico calls on the political forces, the police and the media to maintain the utmost attention to any signs of pressure, intimidation or conditioning. And it invites candidates who suffer intimidation acts to immediately report them to the competent authorities. These people cannot and must not be left alone. Ensuring a free and informed vote means protecting democracy, especially in the most fragile and exposed territories'.