In the municipal elections held on May 28 and 29 in several Italian regions, some in the first round and others in a ballot, voting is markedly low and shows a growing disinterest of the electorate, analysts said Monday.
An Interior Ministry report published on the website of the newspaper Il Giornale indicates that on Sunday only 27.65 percent of voters were registered in the second round, which is being held in 42 municipalities and seven provincial capitals, whereas two weeks ago no candidate reached more than 50.0 percent of the votes at the polls.
A similar situation was observed in localities in Sicily and Sardinia, where the first round of municipal elections was held on May 28 and will continue until 3:00 p.m. local time today.
Sicilian and Sardinian polling stations reported on Sunday only 33.39 and 36.88 percent voter turnout, respectively, far lower than the 40.95 and 45.93 percentage points recorded in each five years ago.
The right-wing shows favorable results so far in these local elections, since in the first round of May 15 it won in four of 12 provincial capitals in dispute, while the left wing triumphed in two, and the control of another seven will be defined in this second round.
The most important bet is in Ancona, the capital of the Marche region, where the right wing is advancing towards the conquest of this traditional bastion of the left, after during the first round the conservative candidate Daniele Silvetti obtained 45.1 percent of the votes, and surpassed his rival, Ida Simonella, by four points.
In Latina, Imperia, Treviso, and Sondrio the right-wing candidates won on that occasion, while in Teramo and Brescia, the progressive candidates won. According to analysts, among the seven cities where the ballot is being held until Monday, only in Siena the left has a better chance of winning.
The second round of the elections in Sardinia and Sicily, where no candidate reaches the required percentage of votes, will be held on June 11 and 12, and the final results will be defined in Italy as the right-wing consolidation or recovery of the left-wing, adds the source.
