Referendum, final turnout close to 59%
More than 45 million voters in Italia were expected at the polls, to which must be added the 5.5 million Italians who have the right to vote abroad
Key points
The almost final turnout figure of 61,431 out of 61,533 sections for the Constitutional Referendum on Justice indicates a figure close to 59% (58.93%). Emilia Romagna is the region with the highest turnout at 66.67%, followed by Tuscany 66.27% and Umbria 65.06%. The region with the lowest turnout is Sicily with 46.15%, followed by Calabria 48.38% and Campania 50.38%.
Referendum turnout at 46.07% at 11pm on 22 March
The turnout was 46.07% at 11pm on Sunday 22 March. At the constitutional referendum when voting in 2020 to cut MPs the turnout at the same time was 39.37%.
Meloni to the vote: participation is important
'Ready to vote. Remember: there is time until 3pm today to go to the polling station. Participating is important." Premier Giorgia Meloni tweeted this on X, with a photo of her holding her voting card to vote on the constitutional referendum on justice reform.
More than 45 million voters at the polls, plus the 5.5 abroad
At the polling stations - the scourge of abstentionism aside - over 45 million voters in Italia were expected, to which must be added the 5.5 million Italians who have the right to vote abroad. A total of 51,424,729 voters, of whom 5,477,619 abroad. Those registered with Aire, the registry office of residents abroad, vote by mail. The electoral packages sent by diplomatic bag arrive in Rome, at the central office of the foreign constituency, which holds those from Latin America and sorts the others in the decentralised offices at the courts of appeal in Milan, Bologna, Florence and Naples.
The defections of polling station presidents and tellers
The municipalities had to cope with numerous defections of presiding officers and tellers. To give a few examples, in Rome 20 per cent of scrutineers and presiding officers were replaced, in Naples 6 per cent. In Florence, the municipality raised the alarm over the defection of about half of the staff needed to keep the city's 360 polling stations open. The Messina municipal election office replaced four polling station presidents and 313 tellers, while a further 13 presidents were replaced by the Court of Appeal.
