Italy is about to shift to the right – and all of Europe is looking forward to Rome. More than 50 million citizens were invited to vote in Sunday’s parliamentary elections. At noon, turnout was rather weak. First forecasts and then extrapolations are expected shortly after the polling stations close at 11 p.m.
The post-fascist Giorgia Meloni with her far-right Fratelli d’Italia party is considered the favourite. The Roman woman and the right-wing bloc she led were clearly ahead in the polls, which were last published on September 9th. Meloni could become Italy’s first female prime minister. The alliance of the 45-year-olds also includes Matteo Salvini’s right-wing populist League and ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative Forza Italia. After the resignation of the previous head of government, Mario Draghi, the country faces a hard jolt to the right.
While most party leaders voted in the morning, Meloni spontaneously postponed their voting until the evening. “Let’s make history together,” she tweeted that morning. Their allies also posted a number of election messages on social networks on Sunday, as they had done the day before. They ignored a requirement to refrain from such statements on the day before and on the day of the election. The Lega, for example, published some insulting tweets about their political opponents.
Meloni cast her ballot on Sunday evening.
Overall, the turnout is historically low. At 7 p.m., four hours before the polling stations closed, only around 51 percent of those eligible to vote in the Mediterranean country had cast their votes, the Interior Ministry announced. In the 2018 elections, it was around 59 percent at the time. At the end of the day, Italy registered the lowest voter turnout of its post-war period at just under 73 percent – this value could now be significantly undercut again.
Nevertheless, there were queues in front of some polling stations on Sunday, which caused some outrage. This was also due to the fact that one strip of the two completed ballot papers – one each for the House of Representatives and one for the Senate – had to be carefully torn off before they went into the ballot box. This additional procedure to combat voter fraud delayed the process. “I’ve never seen a snake like that,” said Forza Italia boss Berlusconi.
