It’s voting day for the European Parliament election. In constituency 5 Sicily and Sardinia 8 MEPs are elected. Polls open from 3pm today Saturday 8 June until 11pm and also tomorrow Sunday 9 June from 7am to 11pm. At the same time, in 37 municipalities the mayors and municipal councils are also renewed, but not in Palermo nor in any of the capitals with the exception of Caltanissetta, called to the administrative elections.
The necessary documents
The voter must show up at the polling station with a valid identification document (which has not expired) and with the ballot paper. Anyone who does not have the ballot paper, has lost it or has filled it with vote confirmation stamps can obtain a new or duplicate one by going to the civil registry office of their municipality. The offices will be open at the same times as the polling stations
The European elections, the ballot
For the European elections, voting is done with a single pink ballot containing the symbols of the 11 lists admitted to voting. You vote by drawing an X on the symbol to choose your party. For the European elections, a preference vote is also expressed. The voter will be able to indicate, next to the symbol on the three pre-printed lines, up to a maximum of three surnames of the candidates he wishes to vote for.
Gender alternation
There is a rule in force that provides for gender alternation so it will be necessary to have two men and a woman or two women and a man. If the voter indicates only men or only women, the second and third preferences will be cancelled. However, the first preference expressed will remain valid.
The voter has the right not to express all three preferences but can also limit himself to one or two. if there are two, gender alternation will always apply.
Voting for administrative elections
In municipalities where administrative elections are also held, the voter will be given a second ballot to vote for mayor and city council. In this case the voting method is the one already known in Italy. The symbol/name of the chosen mayor must be crossed out. Then you can cross the symbol of a connected list and indicate next to it the name of the councilor you intend to elect or apply the split vote by crossing the symbol of an unconnected list.
Drag effect
If the voter chooses only the list without crossing the symbol of a mayor, the vote will extend to the mayor connected to the chosen list.
In 29 smaller municipalities there will be voting using the proportional system. In the remaining 8 municipalities, those above 15 thousand inhabitants, with the majority system. For these municipalities it may be necessary to resort to the ballot which will be held on Sunday 23rd and Monday 24th June.
The scrutiny
The counting of the ballots will begin at 11pm on Sunday when the polls close, from the pink ballot, the one for the European elections. At 2pm on Monday the counting of the administrative ballots will begin where there will also be voting for the mayor and city council
