Not just European. The election day of 8 and 9 June will also bring 961 Lombardy municipalities to the polls, including the capitals of Bergamo, Pavia and Cremona. Thirty days to vote. And these are moments of turmoil for the parties and civic formations, which are collecting the last signatures, in view of the presentation of the lists: they will have to deliver the list of candidates, the electoral symbol and the program to their respective municipalities by tomorrow at 12.
Once the deadline has expired, the Prefecture will examine the materials and, if everything is in order, the lists will be admitted and the electoral campaign can officially begin. This is an important round, which involves 64 percent of Lombardy’s municipalities, which are 1502 in total. The smaller towns, however, are the large majority: 924 out of 961, or 96.1 percent. Here we vote in a single round. However, there are only thirty-seven municipalities with more than 15 thousand inhabitants. Alongside the three capitals, there are other towns, such as Dalmine and Seriate in the Bergamo area, Montichiari in the Brescia area, Cantù and Mariano Comense in the Comasco area, Casalpusterlengo in the Lodi area, Suzzara in the Mantua area, Malnate and Tradate in the Varese area, Muggiò and Concorezzo in the province of Monza and Brianza. In the Milan area, where there are 68 municipalities voting, there is also the highest number of municipalities with a double round: among these Cesano Boscone, Trezzano, Paderno Dugnano, Rozzano, Peschiera Borromeo, Cormano, Lainate, Novate Milanese and Settimo Milanese. In these centers, if none of the candidates exceeds 50 percent of the preferences, there will be a run-off on 23 and 24 June.
For three municipalities, Agrate Brianza, in the Monzese area, Casalpusterlengo (Lodi) and Concesio (Brescia), it will be the debut of double-round voting: the growth of residents has led to the threshold of 15 thousand inhabitants being exceeded. The opposite situation, however, is in the municipality of Casalmaggiore, in the province of Cremona. Here the number of residents has fallen below the threshold and therefore the Municipality will return to voting in a single round. First ever elections, however, for the new municipality of Uggiate con Ronago, in the Como area, born from the union of Ronago and Uggiate Trevino and established on January 1st. Mergers must be approved by citizens with a referendum: from 2001 to today, 61 referendums have been held in Lombardy, but only one in two (54 percent) had a positive outcome. In other cases, therefore, the Municipalities remained distinct.
It is not at all uncommon for, in smaller towns, only one aspiring mayor to show up. However, he will have to deal with the worst of opponents. That is, the quorum obstacle which, however, since the pandemic, has fallen from 50 to 40 percent of those entitled to vote. If this minimum voter threshold is not reached, the country is placed under administration. A danger that the provincial capitals should not run, where, a few days after the delivery of the lists, the picture already seems well defined.
Three candidates will compete in Bergamo: the two mandates of the outgoing mayor Giorgio Gori (who will run for a seat in the European Parliament) have been archived,the center-left fielded Elena Carnevali, while the united center-right chose Andrea Pezzotta. The agreement between the Democratic Party and the 5 Star Movement, presented by Vittorio Apicella, failed.
In Pavia there was a five-man race with Marco Anselmetti of Pavia Civica, Alessandro Cantoni, standard-bearer of the centre-right, Michele Lissia (Pd and allies), Francesco Signorelli of Potere al Popolo and Paolo Walter Cattaneo for Rifondazione Comunista.
But the record number of candidates belongs to Cremona, with six contenders for the tricolor band. These are Alessandro Portesani for the centre-right, Andrea Virgilio for the centre-left. The agreement between Pd and M5s presented by Paola Tacchini also failed here. They are joined by Maria Vittoria Ceraso (Lista Oggi per Tomorrow), Ferruccio Giovetti (Lista Giovetti, safety and common sense for Cre
