No one expected huge crowds of voters to flock to the polling stations set up in the 487 sections of the 71 Municipalities involved in the by-elections, however such a lack of interest on the part of the people of Reggio in choosing Ciccio Cannizzaro’s heir to Montecitorio was difficult to predict. Moreover, an electoral campaign conducted on the edge of insults and foul language, peppered with empty slogans and poor in content but above all conducted under the banner of “he is worse than me” will not even have encouraged some undecided people to go to the polls. Indeed, those who were hesitant about exercising their right and duty as a voter while listening to the latest rallies in Piazza Duomo will have found valid reasons to remain comfortably seated on the sofa in front of the TV, perhaps thinking back to which insult made them laugh the most (so as not to cry). In short, an electoral campaign that seemed tailor-made to encourage abstentionism.
The result was that at midday on Sunday just 3.43% of those entitled to vote had gone to the polls; at 7pm only 10.26% (just 1 voter in 10) and at 11pm just 14.97%. Four years ago, at the same time, the turnout was 49.40% but on that occasion voting was only held on Sunday. Faced with this widespread abstentionism, obviously the usual “expert analysts” were already unleashed with predictions that not even Maurizio Mosca’s pendulum or the magician Otelma would have got right: if Cannizzaro’s “camel troops” vote, Roscioli wins; if the discontented are voting, Benedict wins; Surprisingly, only the Futurists from Vannaccia are voting… in short, whoever has more, brings more, raising the bar of ridiculousness ever higher.
Some disaggregated data worth evaluating: in Reggio at 11pm just 19.29% had voted; again taking 11pm as a reference, the town where the most votes were cast was Laganadi with 40.19%; the one where Platì voted the least with 2.34%, followed by many other towns (Antonimina, Ciminà, Mammola, San Luca) in the Ionian area.
Another important number to take into consideration is that of people from Reggio entitled to vote which in total in the Reggio-Locri constituency are 345,788 but of these 58,729 are resident abroad.
Curiosity
The only certainty yesterday is that the broad candidate in the by-elections for the Chamber in constituency 5 Reggio Calabria-Locri Frank Benedetto, voted at 10 am in the section 22 polling station set up in the Principe di Piemonte elementary school, in Piazza Castello in the historic center of Reggio. The curious note lies in the fact that Benedetto is the only one of the four candidates who can vote. Fabio Roscioli, supported by the centre-right, is not resident in Reggio Calabria or in the town of the college; while the other two competitors for the seat in Montecitorio, Domenico Giannetta for Futuro Nazionale con Vannacci and Francesco Toscano for Democracy Sovereign Popolare, reside in the Reggio area but in the Piana di Gioia Tauro in municipalities that do not fall within the constituency interested in the vote: Giannetta in Oppido Mamertina and Toscano in Gioia Tauro.