In late January, the Italian Senate approved a new electoral law that will hopefully help our country find more political stability and leave behind a system that produced too much bureaucracy. There are certainly many positive aspects to the new law, but other important points were left out that I and my fellow senators elected abroad would have wanted. Let’s take a look at the good and the bad.
This particular vote determines the future of the Chamber of Deputies. A law passed last year transformed the Senate into a sort of non-elected regional chamber. There will be no more senators elected outside of Italy, but there will still be 12 deputies representing Italians living abroad, two of which will be elected in North and Central America. This is a significant change that I do not agree with, as I have mentioned in the past, and which I will oppose until it is approved by a referendum, which is still to be set.
Going back to the electoral law, a positive new element that we had been pushing for months is the opportunity to vote when staying abroad for a short period of time. This measure affects military personnel, professionals and students, among others, who find themselves living outside of Italy for a period of three months. It will be the voter’s responsibility to communicate with his or her town of residence, specifying an address to which a ballot can be sent.
The request must be made within 10 days of the election’s official announcement, and the right to vote would be valid for only one election. The measure will add several thousand voters per election and address a controversial issue that had made waves during the last election, especially among students studying abroad for a semester.
What we really wanted to see in the new law, however, are a series of measures aimed at making the whole voting process abroad more transparent and accountable. We proposed to set up an overview committee in every consular office for each election, with each Consul General heading the committee. These committees would have several individuals overseeing the voting process, making sure everything goes according to law. We also wanted to limit as much as possible any risk of voter fraud.
In the past, we’ve heard stories of people sending in their votes by mail and then showing up at their Consular office to vote again. These committees would guarantee more transparency during the elections and would also help with the many tasks that currently burden an overextended consular network.
We also proposed setting up four additional centers in Italy where votes could be counted. Rome is — and still will be — the only center to receive votes from all around the world. This has the negative effect of overtaxing a limited staff and creating unacceptable delays.
Although the government has not included these measures in the final law, it has nevertheless promised to consider them in the upcoming months.
One big question remains: It’s not clear, in fact, how exactly future deputies will be elected. Luckily, the government’s initial proposal to have voters choose from closed lists has been surpassed. The new voting system still isn’t very clear on how many deputies will be elected through preferences and how many will instead win a seat thanks to the votes obtained by their party. Although the problems and protests this new law will generate will be minor compared to the previous “porcellum” law, they still risk opening the gates to a new appeal from the Constitutional Court.
In closing, I want to congratulate our new President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, on his well-deserved election on Jan. 31. I will have a chance to welcome him properly in my next column, along with a fond farewell to former President Giorgio Napolitano.
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