End of voting operations. At 3pm today, June 24, the polls closed and counting of the second round of the municipal elections began. Turnout is decreasing: the definitive data from the Viminale Eligendo platform say that 47.71% of those entitled to vote went to the polls. In the first round, participation stood at 62.83%. There are 105 cities with more than 15 thousand inhabitants for which a ballot was necessary. Compared to the first round of 8 and 9 June. Among the municipalities in which polling stations have reopened, nine are provincial capitals and five regional capitals. The first round match ended with an overall victory for the centre-left, which had won in ten provincial capitals, while the centre-right had obtained five.
En plein of the center-left in the five regional capitals
First the certainties Florence and from Barithen the tear to the center-right of Perugia And Power. Finally, also the reversal a Campobasso: the centre-left won all five regional capitals in the run-off. The Tuscan Sara Funaro, the Apulian Vito Leccese, the Umbrian Vittoria Ferdinandi, the Lucanian Vincenzo Telesca and the Molise Marialuisa Forte were elected first citizens. With the victory of Massimo Zedda a Cagliari in the first round, the center-left won the administration of the six regional capitals for which it was voted in this round.
The victory of the Democratic Party in Bari and Florence
After the outcome of the first round, the contestability of the two largest cities in the vote seemed difficult. When the data from the sections began to arrive, the victory of the center-left was revealed to be by a large margin. So much so Youtrend, just before 4pm, had already called the victory of Vito Leccese in the Apulian capital and of Sara Funaro in the Tuscan one. It’s the first time that a Palazzo Vecchio a woman enters as mayor: at the end of the counting, Funaro obtained 60.56% of the votes, while the centre-right candidate Eike Schmidt stopped at 39.44%. Thus, the advantage that the center-left had in the first round is doubled. Even more crushing gap a Bari, with 70.27% of the votes cast for Leccese. The centre-right candidate, Fabio Romito, confirmed the result of the first round, with a few more decimals: 29.73%.
The center-right loses Perugia and Potenza
In the Umbrian capital, where in the first round the two candidates were tied just under 50%, Vittoria Ferdinandi of the centre-left won the ballot thanks to 52.11% of the votes. The centre-right, which governs the Region here – but the Regional Council will be renewed next autumn – has lost Perugia after 10 years of mayoralty: his candidate, Margherita Scoccia, stopped at 47.88%. In Basilicata, however, there was a reversal compared to the first round. Vincenzo Telesca, from the centre-left, had an exploit, with 64.92% of the votes in his favour. Francesco Fanelli, from the centre-right, remained anchored at 35.08%. Compared to the vote two weeks ago a PowerFanelli lost around 5 thousand votes in absolute terms, while Telesca gained over 7 thousand.
Surprise in Campobasso
In the Molise capital, the centre-left candidate Marialuisa Forte won with 50.97% of the votes. The centre-right candidate Aldo De Benedittis did not get more than 49.03%. It is a difference of 399 votes that gives the fifth capital to the candidate supported by Pd, M5s and Avs. In the first round, De Benedittis, supported by six lists – Fratelli d’Italia, Popolari per l’Italia, Noi Moderati, Forza Italia, Lega and Udc – had obtained 47.90% of the preferences, Marialuisa Forte 32.16% . Ahead of the second round a CampobassoForte managed to reach an agreement, without any formal appearance, with Giuseppe Ruta’s Cantiere civico, which in the first round had come close to 20% of the votes.
Schlein teases Meloni: «The cities reject the right, it’s a message to the government»
«A historic victory for the Democratic Party and for the progressive camp. We won in all six regional capitals, taking three from the right – Cagliari, Perugia And Power – and with three new mayors. From Florence to Barifrom Campobasso to Perugiafrom Power to Cagliari. It is irrevocable: the cities have rejected the governing right and sent a clear message to Giorgia Meloni. No more cuts to healthcare, no more low wages and no more differentiated autonomy.” This is one of the key passages of the speech that the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, gave at the Nazarene, to comment on the results of the ballots.
Cremona, centre-left victory close to the ballot
There is a 192 vote difference between the outgoing deputy mayor Leonardo – known as Andrea – Virgilio, supported by the centre-left, and Alessandro Portesani, of the centre-right. To become mayor of Cremona he is first, with 50.37% of preferences and 13,013 votes. Portesani, however, obtained 49.63% of the votes, in absolute numbers 12,821 votes. “We have 5 years of opposition ahead of us which will be tenacious, competent, convinced and without hesitation to test those who have been called to govern”, said the defeated centre-right candidate.
The provincial capitals where the centre-right wins
Of the nine provincial capitals up for vote, the center-right confirms Urbino And Vercelli. Breaks with the centre-left Lecce, Rovigo And Caltanissetta, concluding the second round of the ballots with five victories. The centre-left, however, confirms the administrations of Cremonaremoves Vibo Valentia to the centre-right and finally loses Verbaniawhich passes to a civic. Avellinofinally, it remains governed by a civic. To underline the victory in Lecce of Adriana Poli Bortone, who will be mayor of the Salento capital for the third time.
The turnout in the five capitals
TO Bari, voter participation dropped from 58.17% in the first round to 37.53% in the run-off. TO Campobasso, the turnout figure drops by about fifteen votes, going from 65.28% to 49.12%. Also to Florence there was a collapse in turnout, which fell from 64.44% to 47.96% in the second round. TO Perugia, where on 8 and 9 June the round ended with a head-to-head between the two candidates, voter turnout remains high: 60.64% today versus 65.83% two weeks ago. Finally, a Power – the first city to send the data for all sections – the turnout stopped at 54.51%, against 69.12% in the first round.
Tensions in Lecce
As announced on Saturday 22 June, with the polls open, Adriana Poli Bortone actually presented herself at the prosecutor’s office. The centre-right candidate made a complaint against the president of the Puglia Region, Michele Emiliano. According to the accusation of Poli Bortone – who in the first round came close to being elected mayor by a handful of votes -, Emiliano would have violated the electoral silence. The complaint reads: «On June 22, a report was broadcast on the local television station TeleRama in which it was acknowledged that the president of the Puglia Region had gathered, in the morning, all the hospital heads of the city of Leccecandidly admitting into the reporter’s microphone that he had come to Lecce to support Carlo Salvemini’s candidacy.”
Read also:
