First day of voting without problems, even though there were many substitutions of scrutineers that the electoral office had to make at the last moment to allow the regular opening of the sections, with 35 polling station presidents having their first test. The curtain at the seats set up at the Copernico was nice. Shortly after the opening, the centre-right mayoral candidate Gianni Cenni showed up to vote. Excited, he headed towards section 56 only that his name was not there. But how? Everything was resolved in a few seconds, the right section was 54, just a stone’s throw away. General laughter and vote. Ilaria Bugetti, candidate for mayor of the centre-left, voted instead for Cesare Guasti, also shortly after the polls opened. All the candidates for mayor for the Municipality (Targetti, Daneri, Battaglieri and Castellani also running) voted yesterday afternoon.
A vote which last night at 11pm saw a turnout of 21.34% in the European elections in the province, a decrease compared to the comparable figure of 2009 and 2004, when voting took place on a Saturday (but until 10pm). In Prato 22% voted, the highest figure in Vaiano (24.53%) and the lowest in Carmignano (14.79%) where people do not vote for the Municipality (in fact Poggio also stopped at 15.81 %). In the local elections yesterday, 21.75% voted in the province, 21.64% in Prato, down on the previous ones, 24.32% in Vaiano, 23.64% in Vernio, 20.76% in Montemurlo and 19.49% in Cantagallo.
To trace the previous vote on Saturday and Sunday we need to go back to 12 and 13 June 2004, also in that case European and administrative elections. The turnout in Prato for the European elections on Saturday at 10pm was 26.13%, in the province it was 25.77%. The final one on Sunday 77.57% in the city and 77.86% in the province. For administrative elections on Saturday 26% in the city and 26.13% in the province. The final results after the Sunday vote were: 77.10% in the city and 77.55% in the province. In 2009, however, 24.3% of eligible voters in the province voted for the European elections (25.17% in the city), while in the administrative elections on Saturday 6 June at 10pm in Prato, one in four voters (25%) voted.
Today the polls will open at 7am and close again at 11pm. Counting operations for the European elections will begin immediately afterwards. Counting for the administrative elections will begin tomorrow at 2pm.
LB
