How to vote in Italy

The European elections take place in Italy on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June 2024.

Voters will elect 76 Members of the European Parliament as in 2024.

According to the European electoral law, all member countries must use a proportional electoral system. This means that the allocation of seats is done to ensure that different lists receive a number of seats proportional to the votes received. Italy uses the preferential vote, which gives voters the opportunity to indicate, within the same list, one to three preferences, voting, in the case of two or three preferences, for candidates of different genders. Once the number of seats assigned to the list in each constituency is determined, candidates with the highest number of preference votes are declared elected.

Candidates for European elections, presented on the list by each party or political group, are Italian citizens who must have reached the age of 25 by the day set for the elections. Alternatively, citizens of other EU countries residing in Italy and registered in the appropriate additional lists must meet the eligibility requirements for the European Parliament as prescribed by the Italian legal system and must not have been disqualified from the right to stand for election in their home country.

You can vote for parties or political groups that have regularly deposited their symbol at the Ministry of the Interior and have subsequently submitted their lists of candidates to the electoral offices established at the Courts of Appeal in the capital cities of the districts. The lists of candidates must be endorsed by no fewer than 30,000 and no more than 35,000 voters in the district. Each region within the district must be represented by at least 10% of the endorsers.

Political parties have to clear at least 4% of the votes in order to be elected to the European Parliament. The number of Members of the European Parliament elected for each constituency is established in advance, according to proportional criteria.

In Italy, there are five electoral constituencies of supra-regional size. Each electoral constituency is assigned a number of seats based on the resident population. Every political party or political group can present in its list a maximum number of candidates equal to that assigned to the electoral constituency. Voters choose among the candidates presented in the lists of their residential constituency: Northwestern, Northeastern, Central, Southern, and Insular.

There is no legal obligation to vote in Italy. However, according to Article 48 of the Italian Constitution "Its exercise is a civic duty".

You are eligible to vote in the European elections in Italy if you are:

1. at least 18 years old on election day;
2. an Italian or an EU citizen with a legal residence in Italy or an Italian citizen residing abroad;
3. registered as a voter by the deadline (for EU citizen voting in Italy).

Italian or EU citizen voting in Italy
You have to vote at the polling station in which you are registered, which is indicated on your electoral card and corresponds to your place of residence.
If you do not yet receive your electoral card and would like to know where is your polling station, you need to contact your electoral municipality.
Special conditions to allow voters to vote in sections other than their own may apply: for example, hospital in-patients, voters with disabilities preventing them from leaving their home or detainees. Military, police forces, fire brigades and sailors may vote in the municipality where they are located for duty reasons.

Italian citizen voting from another EU country
If you have transferred your residence to another EU Member State and are registered with AIRE (the Register of Italians Resident Abroad), you may vote at the polling stations set up abroad by the Italian diplomatic-consular offices of the country in which you live.
The Ministry of the Interior will send an electoral certificate to your foreign residence. It will contain information on the polling place and the date and time of voting. If you do not receive any electoral card, you should contact your consulate of reference to verify your electoral status.
Alternatively, you may choose to vote for the representatives of the EU country where you reside, according to the specific provisions dictated by the legislation of your country of residence.
Finally, if you wish to vote in Italy, you can do so in the Italian commune where you are registered on the electoral roll. To do this, you need to inform the mayor of your municipality of your intention and to present the electoral card received for voting abroad.
For all information on voting abroad, please refer to this webpage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Italian citizen voting from a country outside the EU
You may vote only in the municipality in Italy in which you are registered.
For all information on voting abroad, please refer to this webpage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Italian citizen voting in Italy
You do not need to register in advance as your municipal authorities automatically register you. However, we advise you to check that you are on the correct voting list if you have recently moved house.

EU citizen voting in Italy
You have to register on beforehand by submitting an application to the mayor of your municipality of residence in order to be enrolled in its designated electoral list.

Italian citizen voting from another EU country
If you are resident in another EU country, you are automatically registered on the electoral roll of your commune of origin.
If you live temporarily in another EU country, you are automatically registered on the electoral roll of your Italian commune of residence.
For all information on voting abroad, please refer to this webpage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Italian citizen voting from a country outside the EU
If you are a resident of a non-EU country, you remain registered in the Register of Italians Resident Abroad (AIRE) of your municipality of origin and will only be able to vote by returning to that municipality, upon receipt of a notice informing you of the date and time of the vote.
For all information on voting abroad, please refer to this webpage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

At the relevant polling station, you must present a valid identity document and your electoral card.

Voters in hospitals and nursing homes, who are enrolled in the electoral list of any municipality in the national territory, may be admitted to vote at the place of hospitalisation, presenting their electoral card and a specific certificate issued by the mayor at the request of the concerned person.
Voters who suffer from serious infirmity for whom it is not possible to leave their homes may exercise their vote from home during the opening voting hours, by presenting a health certificate issued free of charge by the ASL (local health authority) upon request to the mayor of the municipality.
Non-ambulatory voters, if registered at a polling station that is not accessible, may exercise their right to vote in another section of the municipality that is located in a location with the appropriate characteristics, by presenting a medical certificate issued free of charge by the ASL directly to the president of the chosen polling station. Some municipalities also organise public transport services to facilitate reaching the alternative polling station.
Physically impaired voters may exercise their right to vote with the assistance of another voter from their family or a different accompanying person who may be registered on the electoral roll of any Italian municipality. For this purpose, it is necessary to present the health documentation issued free of charge by the ASL. Alternatively, it is possible to obtain from the electoral office of your municipality a permanent record, on the electoral card, of the right to assisted voting. Blind voters can accede to the assisted voting by producing the nominative booklet issued by INPS.

You may find easy-to-read information about elections on the European elections easy-to-read page of this website.

At European elections, the postal voting system does not apply: eligible Italian voters who are permanently or temporarily living in another EU country for work or study reasons (as well as cohabiting family members with voters temporarily living in the same EU countries) can go to the designated polling stations established by the diplomatic and consular network.

No, you cannot vote online in the European elections in Italy.

No, you cannot vote by proxy in the European elections in Italy.