Low turnout. On average, the presence at the polls in the 105 municipalities where people vote to elect mayors in the run-offs reached 37% of those entitled to vote. The data, released yesterday by the Interior Ministry, refers to 11pm yesterday and if compared to that of the European elections at the same time and in the same 3,586 electoral sections, it is even 16 points lower. And there is also a decline compared to the first round. Voting operations reopened at 7am this morning and there is still time until 3pm to fulfill your duty as citizens. Then the counting of ballots and the first screenings will begin immediately.
There are fourteen provincial capitals in which citizens are asked to choose their mayors in the second round. In Perugia and Lecce the percentage of voters was close to 50%, a sign that the challenge between the candidates of the centre-right and centre-left is more felt. In the Umbrian capital, in fact, fifteen days ago the two aspirants to the tricolor band who are now playing the match in the run-off had obtained 49% Vittoria Ferdinandi, of the centre-left, and 48.3% Margherita Scoccia of the centre-right with a gap of just a few hundreds of votes apart. And there could be a close result even when the polls close. Uncertainty about the outcome of the vote also in Florence, where Sara Funaro (from the centre-left plus 5 Stars: 43% in the first round) and Eike Schmidt (from the centre-right, at 32.86%) are competing and in Bari with the challenge between Vito Leccese ( “campulargo” Pd + 5 Stelle, with 48%) and Fabio Romito (centre-right, 29%). Other capitals where voting is held are Campobasso, Avellino, Caltanissetta, Cremona, Rovigo, Potenza, Urbino, Verbania, Vercelli and Vibo Valentia.
At the polling stations, during voting operations, something curious and unexpected always happens: this time in Lecce a voter showed up at the section of the “Quinto Ennio” school accompanied by a sheep which however was held back by the scrutineers outside the booth.
