What is happening
At the close of polling, turnout across the 71 municipalities in the Reggio Calabria constituency stood at 22.34%, a 27.06% decrease compared with the 2022 general election. AGI reported that this was not the lowest turnout recorded in Italy for a by-election. According to an Openpolis analysis of Interior Ministry data, the lowest was 9.52% in a Naples-area constituency in February 2020, followed by Terni at 14.51% in March 2020 and Cagliari at 15.54% in January 2019. Turnout was 19.23% in the 2023 Monza-Brianza Senate by-election and 35.59% in the Siena by-election that elected Enrico Letta to the Chamber of Deputies.
Why is it on the Radar?
The figures indicate that by-elections attract substantially fewer voters than general elections. Analysts cited by AGI attributed the low participation both to a longer-term decline in voting and to limited communication about these contests, which are held separately from national, regional or local elections.