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Towards the referendum

The elections dl is law: from voting in two days to the new remuneration for tellers, what changes

It was in this decree that the oppositions tried to include the possibility of voting for out-of-towners, i.e. those who do not live in their municipality of residence for study, work or care: proposals rejected on 'technical' grounds by the government

by Lorenzo Pace

3' min read

Translated by AI

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english@ilsole24ore.com

Versione italiana

Key points

3' min read

Translated by AI

For feedback, please contact
english@ilsole24ore.com

Versione italiana

The final green light is given to the elections decree, which, with its approval in the Senate (87 yes, 58 no and one abstained), becomes law and introduces, for 2026, a series of derogations and organisational measures in view of the electoral calendar. The measure establishes the holding of voting operations on two days - Sunday and Monday - overcoming the current rule that elections are held on Sunday only. And, consequently, the fees are increased by 15 per cent.

Voting until 3pm on Monday

According to Article 1(1), the 2026 elections and referendums will be held on Sundays from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and on Mondays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. The dates, of course, include the referendum on the separation of careers, set for 22 and 23 March.

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But that's not all, because in 2026 there will be two by-elections for the Chamber of Deputies in the uninominal constituencies of Rovigo and Selvazzano Dentro (replacing Stefani and Bitonci) and the ordinary round of local elections in 800 municipalities.

Previous in recent years

Already in the course of the health emergency caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, during the 2020 and 2021 rounds of elections, emergency measures were taken to extend voting time to Monday as well. The extension of voting time to Monday was intended to dilute the polling time in order to facilitate social distancing in relation to the epidemiological situation.

In 2022, elections were instead held according to the ordinary rules on a single day: 12 June for local elections and 25 September for parliamentary elections. For the election rounds of the following years, on the other hand, the derogatory regulations were reintroduced on a transitional basis. In particular, Decree-Law No. 190 of 12 December 2022 provided that the elections and referendums of 2023 would be held not only on Sunday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., but also on Monday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Decree-Law No. 7 of 29 January 2024 similarly extended the voting operations for the 2024 elections to Monday.

The increase in fees

In view of the extension of voting operations, Article 1(2) provides for a 15 per cent increase in the fixed flat-rate fees payable to polling station members, without prejudice to the surcharges already provided for in the case of the simultaneous holding of several polls.

On the financial level, Paragraph 5 quantifies the higher charges resulting from the implementation of the decree at EUR 6.1 million for 2026, mainly related to the fees of the members of the polling stations. Coverage is ensured by reducing the special current-purpose fund entered in the 2025-2027 three-year budget of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Surveillance costs entrusted to the Police Force are excluded from the calculation.

The other points

The decree also intervenes on the coordination of procedures in the event of a combination of referendum and by-elections. Paragraph 3 stipulates that, for the common fulfilments, the rules laid down for by-elections apply, including those concerning the composition and functioning of the sectional electoral offices. As for the ballot, a precise sequence is established: first the referendum, then - without interruption - the by-elections. Similar rules are laid down in paragraph 4 in the case of the simultaneous holding of by-elections and local elections, with priority given to the counting of by-elections; for constituency elections, the counting is postponed to 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

In the course of parliamentary scrutiny, Article 1-bis was also inserted, which introduces an exception to the Consolidated Text of Local Authorities for municipalities with up to 15,000 inhabitants. For 2026, in cases where only one list has been admitted, the election of the mayor and the municipal council will be valid if the list has obtained at least 50 per cent of the valid votes and if the turnout has reached 40 per cent of the registered voters, instead of the usual 50 per cent.

No voting for out-of-towners

It is in this decree that the oppositions have tried, by means of amendments, to include the possibility for out-of-town residents to vote, i.e. those who do not live in their municipality of residence for study, work or care reasons (exactly as happened with last June's referendum). Proposals rejected for 'technical' reasons by the government, i.e. the impossibility of preparing the administrative machine in time for the vote.

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