Polls open at 3pm for the renewal of the European Parliament as well as the Piedmont Region and the administrations of Bari, Florence, Cagliari and approximately 3,700 other municipalities. Voting takes place today until 11pm and tomorrow from 7am to 11pm: counting begins immediately after the polls close. Polling stations also open today in the Czech Republic, Latvia, Malta and Slovakia. In Italy, more than 51 million Italians are called to the polls to elect 76 out of 720 MEPs. The obligation of electoral silence has been in force since midnight. Five years ago the turnout threshold was 54.50 percent, down compared to 2014 (57.22%). For some pollsters, the risk of this round is that we will fall below the 50% threshold.
12.56pm
The shadow of corruption investigations is on the face of Malta
In Malta, where the European elections are being voted on today alone, the outgoing president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola is running, having voted this morning and in her country, with the Nationalist party (member of the EPP), she is however at opposition. The government, in fact, is in the hands of Prime Minister Robert Abela’s Labor Party. The party, however, could suffer the consequences of the corruption investigation that recently implicated Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne, forcing him to resign. Malta is one of the 4 EU countries in which over 16s can also vote. The island has the right to 6 seats in Strasbourg.
12.19pm
There are 569 lists running across the European Union, over 15 thousand candidates
In total, there are 15,749 candidates for the European elections and the lists registered for the elections are 569 overall. This was reported by Ansa, citing European Chamber sources. However, around sixty thousand volunteers were deployed by the European Parliament, with the collaboration of schools, institutions, NGOs and personalities, to raise awareness among the continent’s population against abstentionism. This is double the total number of volunteers from the last election round, in 2019.
11:48
Slovakia to vote in the name of Fico, recovering after the attack: the prime minister voted in hospital
In Slovakia the vote is in the name of Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is still recovering from the attack that seriously injured him on May 15th. Fico voted in the hospital where he is hospitalized. His party, Smer, could repeat the success of recent policies by confirming a populist, anti-European majority, little inclined to military support for Ukraine and anti-Russian sanctions. And the attack on Fico, according to pollsters, has multiplied his party’s chances of victory. The main opponent remains the progressive, pro-European and liberal Slovakia movement, which sits in the Renew group in the European Parliament and has Michael Simecka as its leader. Furthermore, the ultra-extremists of Republic are growing and could form a new parliamentary group with AfD and other affiliated movements, positioned even further to the right of ID. Slovakia has the right to 15 seats in the European Parliament.
11.43am
The outgoing president of the European Parliament Metsola voted in Malta
Roberta Metsola, outgoing president of the European Parliament, voted in her polling station in Valletta, Malta. She announces it herself on X (formerly Twitter). “Use your vote or others will decide for you,” her message.
11.40am
Giacomelli (Agcom): respect for electoral silence is the responsibility of the Interior Ministry
“I see several warnings and informal reports to Agcom regarding compliance with electoral silence. The responsibility for respecting electoral silence does not belong to Agcom but to the Ministry of the Interior”. Agcom commissioner Antonello Giacomelli specifies this on Facebook. “As far as we are concerned – he continues -, we limited ourselves to reminding, upon request or in any case in agreement with the ministry, that this obligation, provided for by law 212 of 1956, “extends to all electoral propaganda activities, direct and indirect, even if conveyed on online platforms”. Therefore anyone who intends to report violations of the law, even for those online, must contact the Ministry of the Interior, directly or through the competent prefectures, according to the methods established by the ministry itself”.
11:37
Salvini breaks the electoral silence on
The leader of the League Matteo Salvini broke the electoral silence with a post on X (formerly Twitter) with explicit electoral content.
11:00 am
How to vote: times and what to know, amid fear of abstentionism and challenges between leaders
More than 51 million Italians are called to the polls today to elect the 76 members of the European Parliament that belong to Italy. Three million eighteen-year-olds voted for the first time, in a match where abstentionism could play a key role.
10.30am
In Palermo over 1700 scrutineers give up and replacements are sought
There are over 1,700 people from Palermo who renounced their letters of appointment as scrutineers a few hours before the elections. Out of 2,400 people drawn, more than half gave up and now the Municipality is looking for replacements. The scrutineers show up at schools to take up their duties, but there are those who fear that the chaos that occurred in the 2022 elections could be repeated, when several polling station presidents were missing, coinciding with a football match.
10:02
Meloni circumvents the electoral silence with a post on Instagram
The post was published just before midnight, the electoral silence was not broken. But Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni posted a video on Instagram showing her at the greengrocer while she tasted some cherries. “Oh Daniè, don’t say anything that we are in the election campaign”, says the prime minister, who then tastes a cherry and comments: “Delicious, what variety is it?”: the greengrocer turns over a card on which it is written: “Variety Giorgia” . And the prime minister, without saying anything, winks.
10:00
Polling stations also open in the Czech Republic, Latvia, Malta and Slovakia
Of the 27 EU countries, after Holland, the day before yesterday, Ireland yesterday, the Czech Republic yesterday and today, today there are also votes in Latvia, Malta and Slovakia. In the other 20 EU countries voting takes place only on Sunday. At a European level, turnout in 2019 was 50.66%, but 42.61% five years earlier. There are approximately 370 million people entitled to vote.
