The Electoral Services Office is responsible for managing all national and European elections and referendums in which eligible voters residing within the consular jurisdiction are called upon to participate.
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS AND REFERENDUMS
Italian citizens residing abroad are entitled to vote in elections for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic, as well as in abrogative and confirmatory referendums. Voting from abroad is not available for regional, municipal or provincial elections, or for local referendums.
In parliamentary elections, voters residing abroad cast their ballots in the Overseas Constituency (Circoscrizione Estero), which is divided into the following four geographical areas: (a) Europe; (b) South America; (c) North and Central America; and (d) Africa, Asia, Oceania and Antarctica.
ELIGIBILITY TO VOTE
Italian citizens residing abroad are entitled to vote if they are at least 18 years of age and are included in the electoral registers compiled on the basis of an updated list of residents abroad, obtained by consolidating the AIRE registers maintained by Italian municipalities with consular records. Candidates included in the electoral lists submitted for each geographical area must both reside and be registered to vote in that area.
To ensure that records are kept up to date, voters are required by law (Law No. 459 of 27 December 2001) to notify the Consular Office of any changes to their personal details.
Italian citizens temporarily residing abroad for a period of at least three months for work, study or medical treatment may also be eligible to vote. To vote by post, these citizens must submit a specific application to their Italian municipality of residence no later than the 32nd day before the date of voting in Italy.
VOTING BY POST
Italian citizens residing abroad cast their votes by post.
The Consular Office sends each voter an electoral package containing:
- the electoral certificate;
- the ballot paper or papers, together with an envelope in which to place them;
- a postage-paid envelope bearing the address of the Consular Office;
- the lists of candidates;
- an information sheet explaining how to vote;
- the text of Law No. 459/2001.
If the electoral package has not been received by the fourteenth day before the date of voting in Italy, voters may contact the Consulate to request a duplicate.
Once the ballot has been completed, the voter must return it to the Consular Office by the deadline specified in the instructions received. The Consular Office will then promptly forward the ballots to Italy, ensuring that they can be counted at the same time as ballots cast within Italy.
Please note: Diplomatic Missions enter into agreements with the governments of countries where Italian citizens reside to ensure that voting by post takes place under conditions of equality, freedom and secrecy, and that voters suffer no adverse consequences in relation to their employment or their rights as a result of voting. Italian citizens residing in countries where such agreements cannot be concluded may vote only by returning to Italy. Electoral campaigning is likewise governed by specific forms of cooperation with foreign governments. However, unlike the agreements referred to above, the absence of such cooperation does not prevent voters from exercising their right to vote by post.
OPTION TO VOTE IN ITALY
Italian citizens residing abroad are not required to vote by post. The law allows voters to choose instead to exercise their right to vote in Italy by returning to the country and voting for the candidates standing in the constituency corresponding to the electoral district in which they are registered.
Voters wishing to return to Italy to cast their ballot must notify their Consular Office in writing within the deadline established by law for each election or referendum. This choice is valid only for the specific election or referendum to which it relates.
Please note that no reimbursement is provided for travel expenses incurred by voters who choose to exercise their right to vote in Italy.
COUNTRIES WHERE VOTING BY POST IS NOT PERMITTED
In countries where it has not been possible to conclude the agreements referred to above, as well as in countries where the political or social situation does not guarantee, even temporarily, the conditions of equality, freedom and secrecy required for voting, voters may exercise their right to vote only at the Italian municipality in whose electoral register they are enrolled.
In such cases, voters are entitled to reimbursement of 75% of the travel expenses incurred in returning to Italy. To claim reimbursement, voters must submit a specific application to their Consular Office, together with their electoral certificate and travel ticket.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS
European Parliament elections are governed by Law No. 18 of 24 January 1979, as subsequently amended.
Voting by post does not apply to European Parliament elections. Voting arrangements differ depending on whether the voter’s country of residence is a Member State of the European Union:
- Residents of an EU Member State: eligible Italian voters permanently residing in an EU Member State may vote at the designated polling stations established locally by the Italian diplomatic and consular network. Alternatively, they may choose to return to Italy and vote in their municipality of electoral registration, taking advantage of any applicable discounted travel fares.
- Residents of non-EU countries: Italian citizens residing in countries outside the European Union, such as Sri Lanka and the Maldives, may vote for the Italian representatives to the European Parliament only at the Italian municipality in whose electoral register they are enrolled, in accordance with the procedures laid down by the applicable legislation.