We kick off the New Year with some good news for all communities of Italians living abroad. In November, the Italian government decided to postpone elections for the renewal of Comites (Committees of Italians Living Abroad). The new election date is set for April 17, 2015. In the end, common sense prevailed. Postponing the vote is the first true and strong sign of attention from the government toward the needs of Italians living abroad.
When the decision to renew Comites was taken at the end of summer, a lot of problems had not been taken into account. The government did not consider the difficulties of giving such short notice for an election with a totally new approach to voter registration — an approach voters had never had to deal with before.
Along with my fellow senators elected abroad, I pointed out these problems several weeks before the government’s decision. If the elections had taken place in December, as originally planned, it would have significantly limited voter participation and would have created an unimaginable chaos that had already played out during the registration of the candidates
To avoid all of this, the committee for the issues of Italians living abroad in the Senate sprung into action, and for this I thank my colleagues in the senate who have embraced the cause.
My dearest thanks, however, goes to the newly appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, who took to heart the issue of Comites just a few hours after entering office and decided to move the elections to the spring. Now we all need to get back to work and make sure all Italian citizens living abroad are well informed on how to vote.
The last day to register for the Comites election will be March 18, 2015, one month before the actual election. All those registered by that date will receive an envelope at home with the ballot papers. The registration is the most important part of the entire election. To sign up, contact your district’s Consular office, which has mobilized all the necessary resources to make the process as smooth as possible. You will need to fill out the registration form, which can be found on your Consulate’s website; attach a copy of an ID; and send it by mail, fax or email to the Consulate.
I’ve already underlined in the past how important these elections are. This vote will require a bit of effort from voters, but at least the many communities of Italians living abroad will finally have the possibility to express their preference for committees that will represent them in front of government institutions.
In the past, many Italians living abroad have asked me what the goals and functions of Comites are. Unfortunately, there never really was an effective campaign to make those answers clear. I believe the official description given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still the best:
“Pursuant to Article 1., comma 2 of law n. 286/2003, Comites are representative bodies of Italians abroad in front of diplomatic-consular representatives. Through studies and research, they contribute in identifying the needs for social, cultural and civil development of their community of reference; they promote, alongside consular authorities, regions, local governments, groups, organizations and other associations within the Consular district, appropriate social and cultural initiatives, with special attention to the issues of youth, equal rights, welfare, education, professional formation, recreation, sport and spare time.”
As you can tell by these last lines, Comites can play an important role within our communities. That is why I urge you to contact your Consular office to ask how to register to vote and who the candidates are in your district. Only with the full participation of the community will we be able to send a strong message to the government: Italians abroad are here!
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