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DW
9 hours ago
- Politics
- DW
Italy: Low turnout sinks citizenship, labor referendums – DW – 06/09/2025
Low voter turnout in Italy appears to have sunk reform referenda brought to ballot by center-left opposition groups and labor organizations. The result is a victory for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who rejected them. Italian citizenship and labor reform referendums look likely to fail due to low voter turnout. As two-day voting wound down in Europe's fourth-largest economy only about 30% of Italy's 51 million eligible voters had turned out to cast ballots in five referendums championed by center-left opposition groups as well as the country's labor unions. Referendums require 50% plus one voter participation to be legally binding in Italy. The result is seen as a major victory for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who vehemently opposed the measures. Meloni arrived at a Rome polling station on Sunday — when turnout was 22% — to declare that she would not cast a vote. Meloni then once-again encouraged her supporters to likewise boycott the ballot. Poll observers said voter participation numbers were well 'below the expectations and targets set by the promoters' Image: Matteo Minnella/REUTERS What were Italy's referendums about? Four of the referendums centered on workplace protections including better protections against firing, increased severance pay, unemployment benefits, the end of fixed-term contracts and better workplace accident compensation. A fifth referendum addressed whether voters wanted to ease citizenship laws in the country, allowing non-EU immigrants to apply for Italian passports after five rather than the current 10 years. At the moment, the rule would apply to roughly 2.5 million non-EU immigrants. Arguments for easing citizenship requirements were driven by the demographic fact of Italy's dwindling birth rates and calls for better integrating foreign workers in an effort to boost the country's economy. Data compiled by the polling organization YouTrend said voter turnout was higher in the country's industrialized north than the agricultural south, as well in cities and in areas where left-leaning parties preformed best in Italy's most recent general and EU elections. "The opposition wanted to turn this into a referendum on the Meloni government," said Cabinet undersecretary and Meloni ally Giovanbattista Fazzolari. "The response is very clear: The government emerges from this stronger and the opposition weaker." Speaking of the vote's failure, YouTrend's Lorenzo Pregliasco said, "Whether just above 30% or just below, this is a low figure… below the expectations and targets set by the promoters." Edited by: Zac Crellin
Euronews
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Referendum in Italy to fail as turnout far below threshold, poll shows
A referendum in Italy on citizenship requirements and job protection is likely to have failed, as turnout was far below the required threshold, polling agency YouTrend said on Monday. Turnout needed to be at least 50% plus one vote to make the referendum results binding, but based on data collected from 60,000 polling stations, turnout was around 30%. The referendum, proposed by trade unions and civic organisations, addresses issues that have generated political debate in Italy in recent years, particularly labour market reform, primarily the 2016 Labour Act, as well as migrant reception and integration policies. The first four questions relate to labour issues and concern the increasing protection of workers, small enterprises and their obligations towards employees, short-term contracts, and the responsibility of clients towards subcontracting parties and employees' safety. The fifth question concerns the period of time necessary for non-EU nationals residing in the country to be eligible for Italian citizenship, proposing to reduce it from 10 to five years. The parties of the ruling coalition, led by Premier Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy, opposed the referendum, with some politicians urging citizens not to participate in the vote. According to the advocacy group International Democracy Community, although opposition parties have supported the referendum, it is primarily a citizens' initiative and not a political matter. "The referendum questions were proposed through a bottom-up approach, and did not come from parliament," the International Democracy Community said in a statement. "Members of the Europa+ party launched the initiative on the citizenship question, whilst the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) has been the initiator of the Labour Act ones, with support from the Democratic Party, the Five Star Movement, and the Green and Left Alliance." According to exit data after polls closed at 3 pm, the "yes" vote for the four labour law questions stood at around 85%, while 60% of voters said yes to the citizenship question. The referendum coincided with local elections in several Italian regions and municipalities.
France 24
10 hours ago
- Politics
- France 24
Italian referendums on citizenship, labour laws fail due to low turnout
Italian referendum proposals to ease citizenship laws and tighten job protection rules failed on Monday due to low voter turnout, the YouTrend polling agency said, in a setback for the centre-left opposition and unions that had championed them. Official data from about half of the polling stations showed slightly less than 30 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots at the end of two days of voting, far short of the 50 percent plus one of the electorate needed to make the vote legally binding. The outcome is a blow for the coalition of centre-left opposition parties, civil society groups and the CGIL trade union behind the referendum questions, and a win for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who strongly opposed them. Meloni and her right-wing allies encouraged their supporters to boycott the vote. The prime minister visited a polling station in Rome on Sunday but did not cast a vote, a tactic she had indicated that she would adopt. Opposition forces had hoped that latching on to the issues of labour rights and Italy 's demographic woes could help them challenge Meloni, something they have struggled to do since she came to power in 2022. "The opposition wanted to turn the referendum into a vote on the Meloni government. The response is very clear: the government emerges from this stronger and the opposition is weaker", said Giovanbattista Fazzolari, a cabinet undersecretary and a close aide to Meloni. 02:13 Low turnout One of the five referendums was about reducing the period of residence required to apply for Italian citizenship by naturalisation to five years from 10 years, which according to organisers would have affected about 2.5 million people. In a country suffering a sharp decline in the birth rate, some economists believe attracting more foreigners is vital to boosting an anaemic economy, while rights groups campaigned for a "Yes" vote to promote the integration of migrant workers. The other four referendum questions concerned a reversal of labour market liberalisations introduced a decade ago, and a broadening of liability rules on accidents at work for companies relying on contractors and subcontractors. "Whether just above 30 percent or just below 30 percent, this is a low figure, below the expectations and targets set by the promoters," YouTrend's Lorenzo Pregliasco told Italian news channel SkyTG24. According to data analysis late on Sunday by the YouTrend polling agency, turnout was higher in wealthier northern and central regions and in larger cities, and lower in the less developed south. A higher turnout was also observed in areas where leftist parties performed well in the last general elections and in the 2024 European elections, YouTrend said.
