Rome, 8 June. (askanews) – Not just European elections: in 3,708 municipalities, almost 17 million voters (16,798,420) are called to choose a new mayor and around 42,900 municipal councillors. Voting will also take place in six regional capital cities, Campobasso, Perugia, Potenza, Bari, Cagliari and Florence. The latter three are also Metropolitan Cities. The largest municipality that will vote is Florence, with 361,619 inhabitants, the smallest is Pedesina, in the province of Sondrio with 35 souls. Another 12 municipalities that will renew their mayor and councils exceed 100 thousand inhabitants: Bari, Prato, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Perugia, Livorno, Cagliari, Ferrara, Sassari, Bergamo, Pescara and Forli. The newly established municipalities that will be there are four voting: Uggiate con Ronago in the province of Como, Setteville in the province of Belluno, Santa Caterina d’Este in the province of Padua and Sovizzo in the province of Vicenza. Lombardy is the region with the highest number of municipalities voting, 961 , followed by Piedmont with 801. The region with the fewest municipalities called to the polls is Sardinia with 27, one of the three regions with special statute with Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Sicily. In Valle d’Aosta there will only be a vote to renew the EU Parliament, while for Trentino Alto Adige Rovereto is added with the run-off of the municipal elections, between Giulia Robol, supported by the centre-left and Giampiero Lui, candidate for the centre-right, without FdI. Even if all attention will be focused on the European elections, the result of the polls in the six regional capital cities will not leave the leaders of the national parties indifferent. Let’s see the situation in detail. BARI: after Antonio Decaro, the center-left has not found a solution for a unified candidate and so for the race for the highest seat in Palazzo di Città there is Michele Laforgia, M5s candidate, supported by six lists and Vito Leccese, indicated by the Democratic Party, supported by Verdi and Action together with eight civic lists, including Decaro for the mayor, who runs only for the Municipalities. The centre-right, on the other hand, arrives compactly and is banking on Fabio Romito, chosen by the governing parties Fratelli d’Italia, Forza Italia, Noi moderato, Udc-Prima l’Italia and some other civic lists. Then there are Sabino Mangano, former M5s and former municipal councilor with the Oltre list only and Nicola Sciacovelli, also a former municipal councilor, supported by the Sciacovelli mayor-We like it lists! and Noi for Bari-Italexit for Italy for Sciacovelli mayor.CAGLIARI: Zedda against Zedda. It’s a derby (of names) in Cagliari for the position of mayor. Alessandra Zedda, for the centre-right, and Massimo Zedda, for the broad camp of the centre-left, are the most accredited candidates (not relatives) to succeed Paolo Truzzu of FdI, who left Palazzo Civico for the Sardinia Region.
Alessandra Zedda, former president of the Sardinian regional council, who moved from Forza Italia to the League is supported by FdI, Lega, FI and four other civic lists. Massimo Zedda, former mayor of Cagliari from 2011 to 2019, is the candidate of the same ‘very large’ center-left field (10 lists) that led Alessandra Todde to win the regional elections. Then there are three independent candidates: Giuseppe Farris (Movimento CiviCA 2024), Emanuela Corda, ex M5s, (Alternativa), Claudia Ortu (Potere al Popolo and PCI).CAMPOBASSO: the centre-right, after having conquered, in June last year, the Molise Region, thanks to Francesco Roberti, is now also aiming for the municipality of Campobasso with Aldo De Benedittis, former budget councilor, supported by six lists: Fratelli d’Italia, Lega, Forza Italia, Popolari per l’Italia, Noi moderates and Udc . The decision of the M5S leaders not to grant an exemption to the outgoing mayor, Paola Felice, in her second term, led the center-left coalition to bet on Marialuisa Forte, supported by the Pentastellati, Pd and Alleanza Verdi-Lenistra. Also in the race for Palazzo San Giorgio is Pino Ruta, candidate for mayor of three lists: Costruire democracy, Unica terra Molise and Confederazione civica. FLORENCE: the centre-left has not been able to find a synthesis for the post-Nardella period and so, for the mayor’s seat in Palazzo Vecchio, arrives at the starting line jagged with different candidates: the Democratic Party, with Sinistra Italiana, +Europa, Azione, Europa Verde, Movimento Laburista, Volt and Movimento Centro, has chosen Sara Funaro, former councilor for the Education. Matteo Renzi with Italia viva has fielded the former regional vice-president, Stefania Saccardi. M5s has decided to focus on Lorenzo Masi, outgoing city councilor. Then there is Cecilia Del Re, former councilor of the Nardella council, with the Firenze Democratica list, Dmitrij Palagi, supported by Rifondazione Comunista, Possibile and Potere al Popolo. A completely different story in the centre-right which, thanks to a united decision, pulled the former director of the Uffizi, the German, Eike Schmidt, now at the helm of the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples, out of the hat. Also running for the position of mayor of Florence are Andrea Asciuti supported by Gianni Alemanno’s Independence Movement and the Popolo della Famiglia, Alessandro De Giuli with Firenze Rinasce, Francesco Zini, with Firenze Cambia and Francesca Marrazza, with Ribella Firenze.PERUGIA: the center-right lines up Margherita Scoccia (FdI) to continue leading the municipality of Perugia, after 10 years under Andrea Romizi. Scoccia, current councilor for urban planning, is supported by eight lists including Fratelli d’Italia, Lega and Forza Italia. On the left, a wide field bets on Vittoria Ferdinandi, clinical psychologist, nominated Knight of Merit of the Republic in 2021 for her commitment to people with mental disorders. Ferdinadi is supported by seven lists including Pd, M5s, Avs and Azione. Also running for the office of mayor are Massimo Monni (Perugia Merita), the former senator Leonardo Caponi (Pci), and the former Perugia and Juventus footballer, Davide Baiocco (Forza Perugia, Alternativa Riformista – Italexit). POWER: you don’t change the team that wins. And so the centre-right for the municipal elections in Potenza returns with the same expanded field, to Azione e Italia viva, which led to Vito Bardi’s encore as President of the Region. For the mayoral race, the centre-right coalition proposes Francesco Fanelli, a member of the League and former vice-president of the outgoing regional council. A different story in the centre-left, which, having not reached an agreement, appears fractured and without the PD symbol on the ballot paper: there is Francesco Giuzio, former city councillor, supported by the Basilicata Possibile list; there is Pierluigi Smaldone, former city councilor, supported by Potenza Ritorna, M5s and Città nuova; there is Vincenzo Telesca, former municipal councilor, mayoral candidate for Let’s unite for Potenza-Telesca mayor, La Potenza dei Cittadini-Democratic Potenza, Insieme per Potenza, Basilicata Casa Comune, Potenza first and on one side of the Democratic Party. HOW TO VOTE FOR THE SEATS they will be open today (from 3pm to 11pm) and tomorrow (from 7am to 11pm), coinciding with the European and regional elections in Piedmont, as decided by the government with the Elections Bill. The start of counting operations is set for 2pm on Monday 10 June. In municipalities with up to 15,000 inhabitants, voting will take place in a single round. Voters can express a preference for the mayor and a preference for the list of municipal councilors linked to the chosen candidate for the office of mayor. The mayor who obtains the majority of votes is elected. In the event of a tie in votes, a run-off will be held between the two candidates who have obtained the highest number of votes, to be held on the second Sunday following. In the event of a further tie, the oldest person is elected. In municipalities with more than 15,000 inhabitants, the voter has three voting options: making a mark only on the symbol of a list, assigning one’s preference to the marked list and to the candidate for mayor connected; draw a mark on the symbol of a list (party), simultaneously drawing a mark on the name of a mayoral candidate not connected to the voted list, the latter case is the so-called ‘split vote’; draw a mark only on the name of the mayoral candidate, thus voting only for the mayoral candidate and not for the list or lists connected to the latter. Furthermore, each voter can express, in the appropriate lines next to the list symbol, one or two preference votes, writing the surname of no more than two candidates (one man and one woman, under penalty of cancellation of the second preference) included in the list to be he voted. Whoever obtains the absolute majority of valid votes (50%+1) in the first round becomes mayor. If no candidate reaches this threshold, there will be another vote on Sunday 23 June (from 7am to 11pm) and Monday 24 June (from 7am to 3pm) for the run-off, choosing between the two candidates who obtained the highest number of votes in the first round. In the second round, the candidate who obtains the highest number of votes is elected mayor.
