From digital signatures to out-of-office voters, the House's final green light for the elections decree: it's law

The application to exercise "away from home" the right to vote in the referendum must contain the full address of the temporary residence; where possible, an e-mail address; a copy of a valid identity document; a copy of the personal electoral card; certification or other documentation attesting to the voter's status as a "away from home" voter for study, work or care reasons.

The Commune of temporary domicile, having received the voter's application, acquires - no later than the twentieth day prior to the date of the poll - the communication, from the Commune of residence, of the possession of the right to vote by the 'out-of-office' voter. The Commune of temporary residence issues the 'away' voter, also through the use of telematic tools, with a certificate of admission to vote, indicating the number and address of the section at which to vote.

Off-premises' electors vote on presentation of the certificate of admission to vote issued in this manner, as well as a valid identity document and personal polling card. Municipalities are authorised to establish special polling stations in the number of one polling station for every 800 'out-of-office' electors admitted to vote.

The elections and referendums to be held in 2025, thus excluding those already held on the date the decree law came into force (20 March 2025) will be held on Sunday, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and on Monday, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The remuneration of the members of the sectional election offices is defined when there is a combination of referendum and administrative election. In that case, the amount of the remuneration is determined by the regulations for local elections. The president of the section electoral office is paid (by the municipality in which the office is located) a fixed flat-rate fee of €150, plus mission expenses, if due. Each of the tellers and the secretary of the section electoral office is paid (by the same local authority) a fixed flat-rate fee of €120. A surcharge of €33 for the president and €22 for the other members of the section electoral office, per referendum, up to a maximum of four surcharges.

In the technical report accompanying the measure, the combination of electoral and referendum consultations leads to cost savings. The cost of a polling station is estimated at 1,030 euro for the five abrogative referendums; at 750 euro for local elections. In the hypothesis of simultaneous referendums and administrative elections, the cumulative cost is 1,322 euro. As for the special polling stations, each has a cost of €185 for the referendum; €212 for the administrative election (with a smaller gap, since the surcharges enjoyed by the sectional electoral offices are not provided for the special polling stations). The Technical Report estimates the total costs for holding the abrogative referendum and the local elections on different dates in 2025 at €90.19 million. For the hypothesis of simultaneous referendum and local government elections, the burdens are estimated at EUR 88.33 million. Consequently, the savings in terms of public finance burdens are estimated at EUR 1.85 million. It is understood that this quantification is commensurate with the number of administrative consultations planned in 2025. It should be recalled that the referendum will require the deployment of 61,557 sectional electoral offices and 1,492 special polling stations.

The Ministry of the Interior transmits to the Chambers (within one hundred and eighty days from the holding of the referendums in the year 2025) a report on the data collected in application of the experimental regulations introduced for the referendum vote for 'out-of-office' voters.

It is established, by way of derogation from current legislation, that, limited to 2025, for the election of the mayor and the municipal council in municipalities with a population of up to 15,000 inhabitants, where only one list has been admitted and voted for, all the candidates included in the list and the candidate for mayor attached to it are elected, provided that the list has obtained a number of valid votes of no less than 50 per cent of the voters and the number of voters has been no less than 40 per cent of the voters registered on the municipality's electoral lists. If these percentages are not reached, the election is null and void. Lastly, it is provided that, in determining the number of voters registered on the electoral lists of the municipality, voters registered with the Registry of Italians living abroad (AIRE) who have not exercised their right to vote are not taken into account.

The distinction of electoral lists by gender is abolished. The same distinction is also abolished: for lists, prepared by mayors, of young people of voting age; for lists, prepared by municipal electoral commissions, proposing the registration of new voters or the cancellation of voters expelled from the registers. The provision that, in the case of married women or widows, their husband's surname must also be indicated on the electoral roll is abolished.

Provision is made for the establishment of a Fund in the estimate of the Ministry of the Interior for the enhancement of the services provided by the Electoral Information System (SIEL). The Fund is allocated an endowment of €800,000 for each of the years 2025, 2026 and 2027. The Siel platform collects and disseminates electoral data for political, regional, administrative and referendum elections. Using the Siel technology infrastructure, the Ministry of the Interior collects and disseminates unofficial electoral data, in particular through the Eligendo website and related applications.

Voters who are unable to sign their autograph signature due to a serious physical impediment or who are in the condition to exercise their vote at home are permitted to sign the lists of candidates for the elections digitally. The digitally signed document is delivered to the offices in charge on a digital medium, accompanied by the medical certificate attesting to the serious physical impediment or the condition to exercise home voting.

It should be recalled that the Budget Law 2021 (Law 178/2020) provided for the introduction of a digital platform for the digital collection - also by means of SPID, electronic identity card or national services card - of the signatures required for the submission of requests for popular abrogative referendums (Article 75 of the Constitution) and constitutional referendums (Article 138, second paragraph, of the Constitution), as well as for the submission of popular initiative bills.