Centre Right projected to win majority in Italian national elections
Initial results are beginning to come in after official closing of polls at 23:00.
As polls have just closed at 23:00, results of the Italian elections are beginning to trickle in, and the picture is becoming clear. It may not be surprising after everything we have seen so far, but the projected percentages show the majority of votes going to the Centre Right Coalition, followed by the Centre Left, the Five Star Movement, and the Third Pole as the top four contestants. Full results will be projected approximately after 23:50 for the Chamber and 2:00 at night for the Senate. At 19:00, the average turnout was 64.09%, 10 points less than the 2018 elections at this time.
The results so far for the Chamber look as follows:
Between 7:00 and 23:00 Italians had the opportunity to cast their votes all over Italy for their candidates at the Chamber and the Senate. There also seemed to be a turnout of more men voting compared to women, who may not feel that policies align with their expectations and that parties respond to their needs.
Until now, polling results were put on standstill for the past two weeks in order to give Italians a moment to make their decision before their elections without further noise. In addition, 24 hours before the vote, politicians were supposed to observe a period of silence with no slogans, posts, interviews and incitements to convince their voters. But of course, this silent treatment was immediately broken by party leaders such as Berlusconi, Letta and Calenda, with other political figures criticizing this rule as obsolete.
Upon casting their vote, politicians began pronouncing their messages of self-assurance such as, “I play to win, not to participate”, as Matteo Salvini put it, or “I will be the director of the next government,” boasted by Silvio Berlusconi.
However, besides their confidence in today’s outcome, today, politicians continued to encourage Italians to exercise their right to vote as 35% of the Italian population was still unsure or abstaining from going to the polls and 1 out of 10 Italians still decided last minute today. It was not just an invitation to choose their party, but an urgent appeal to have a say in their democracy, to make the most of their rights. For example, the minister for work Andrea Orlando wrote on Facebook: “Never take democracy for granted, let’s go vote.” Or Emma Bonino, from +Europa, part of the Centre Left coalition: “Today will be a determining day for our country. I hope that the biggest party, namely the abstaining, will become smaller and that many will go vote. Emptiness does not exist. Who does not choose will allow someone else to choose in their place.”
With results becoming clearer in the next few hours, that appeal may have been answered predominantly by those who wanted to shake the country anew, or not answered by those who did not perceive their vote to count as a game changer for Italian democracy. Nonetheless, the numbers speak clearly about the preference of Italian voters in this year’s elections, albeit a small part.
Hi Laura! Thank you for the update.
I'd like to get in touch to run an idea by you, but I couldn't find an email. Would you mind dropping me a note at n.ottens@gmail.com? (And feel free to delete this comment once you've seen it.)
Merci!