The litmus test, or more concretely the roll call, is for this morning from 8.30 to 9 in the registry office, in Office Building: the last scrutineers are being sought, and anyone who wishes can show up for that “appointment” to formalize their candidacy.
After the round of appointments, in fact, 50 scrutineers recruited by the Municipality of Bergamo presented a resignation (out of a total of 170 scrutineers hired), and now it is time to replace them, very soon after the opening of the polls set for 3pm.
However, the patrol of polling station presidents is substantially defined. There are a total of 103 ordinary polling stations into which the city is divided, in addition to 8 special polling stations (set up to allow voting in hospitals, retirement homes, prisons, etc.). Side note: the compensation for an ordinary polling station scrutineer is equal to 163 euros net flat rate (i.e. for the entire duration of the voting and counting operations), for the president of the ordinary polling station it rises to 209.50 euros; for special seats, however, the compensation is set at 56.35 euros for scrutineers and 103.50 euros for presidents; all figures are always to be understood as net and flat-rate.
Work in the municipality
In short, the electoral machine is warming up its engines, the departure is imminent: «There is great work by all the Municipality staff – underlines Giacomo Angeloni, councilor for demographic services of Bergamo -. We renew the appeal for the last scrutineers». In theory, while waiting to understand the turnout response, the city’s electoral match could potentially attract up to almost 100 thousand people: the “ordinary list” of voters is made up of 96,139 people, to which are added – depending on the ballot – a list of 134 people for EU citizens who have opted to vote for the Italian members of the European Parliament and a list of 188 EU citizens who can vote for the municipal elections.
Marathon
For those involved in the electoral machine, it will essentially be a “marathon” that will unfold over three days: today and tomorrow the voting operations for municipal and European elections will take place, with the completion of the counting on Monday. Tomorrow evening from 11pm, after the polls close, we will begin with the counting of the European elections; Once that procedure has been completed, the polls will be “sealed” and the counting of the municipal elections will resume on Monday from 2pm (mayor, list voting, preferences for councilor candidates).
Service for disabled people
It is an organization that is therefore made up of several details. For example, transport to the polling stations for disabled people and those with reduced mobility: for these cases the Municipality of Bergamo has set up a free transport service, upon reservation to be made on 035/399228 from 8.30 to 12.30 and from 2.30pm to 5.30pm.
A great “classic” is the bureaucracy linked to the issuing or renewal of electoral cards and identity cards. «In recent months – recalls Angeloni – around 25 thousand voters have received their electoral cards at home for seat changes, and around 200 of these have returned because the recipients could not be found: still a low number. To deal with any eventuality, extraordinary openings have also been arranged for the decentralized offices of the Registry, as well as for the central headquarters”.
The doors open
Specifically, the “Bergamo Facile” multifunctional help desk in Palazzo Uffici will be open today from 8.30am to 12.30pm and from 3pm to 11pm, while tomorrow it will be active from 7am to 11pm. Tomorrow, in fact, four decentralized offices will also be open ( all open from 9am to 1pm and 3pm to 6pm): those of Loreto, Redona, Colognola and Celadina.
Documents
Pay attention to the dates: as specified by the Ministry of the Interior, the identity document to be shown together with the electoral card is considered valid to access the vote even if it has expired no more than three years ago, «provided that they are regular in every other respect and ensure the ‘voter’s identification/hours’ (i.e. if it is not damaged or illegible). Furthermore, “the presentation of the temporary paper form following the request for the electronic identity card is also permitted”.
