by In Trieste
With mayoral elections coming up in Trieste on October 2-4, here’s a look at who is allowed to vote in them.
How do the mayoral elections work?
The voting system is used for all mayoral elections in Italy, in the cities with a population higher than 15,000 inhabitants. Under this system, voters express a direct choice for the mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate’s coalition.
If no candidate receives 50% of votes during the first round, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. The winning candidate obtains a majority bonus equal to 60% of seats.
During the first round, if no candidate gets more than 50% of votes but a coalition of lists gets the majority of 50% of votes or if the mayor is elected in the first round but its coalition gets less than 40% of the valid votes, the majority bonus cannot be assigned to the coalition of the winning mayor candidate.
The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a maximum of two preferential votes, each for a different gender, belonging to the same party list: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally, using D’Hondt seat allocation. Only coalitions with more than 3% of votes are eligible to get any seats.
Who can vote in the mayoral elections?
You can vote in municipal elections if you have Italian citizenship, come from a EU country, are over 18 years of age, and are registered on the electoral roll in your municipality.
In order to vote in municipal elections, foreign EU citizens residing in Italy must register on the electoral roll in the city or town where they live. Registration must be completed within five days of the elections being called.
You must declare:
Your nationality
Your place of residence and address in your country of origin
Your request to be entered in the resident population register
How to register on the electoral roll
l’Ufficio Elettorale located in Passo Costanzi 2 is open (no need for appointment): Monday- Friday, 9 am – 12 pm; Monday- Wednesday, 2 pm – 4 pm.
When to Vote
The elections will take place on Sunday, 3 October and Monday, 4 October; polling stations will be open 08.00-22.00.
How to Vote
Registered voters should receive, at the address they provided when registering, a voting card (tessera elettorale) and a letter of instruction telling them where to vote. Voters need to take the card and a valid identification document to the polling station indicated.
