On the eve of the referendum on the autonomy of Lombardy and Veneto to be held on 22 October, the controversy on the usefulness of such a consultation continues. At the center of the dispute is not so much the purpose, i.e. obtaining popular consensus on the proposal to activate article 116 which allows virtuous Regions to negotiate with the Government a greater margin of action on the management of their own resources, but the price of these two consultations which has now reached respectable heights. On the other hand, the cost is high: 64 million euros in total, of which 50 spent by the Pirellone, 14 by Palazzo Balbi.
Figures too high if one takes into account that the'Emilia Romagna it took the same path towards autonomy, in turn activating Article 116 of the Constitution at no cost. The reason for this difference is obvious: Governor Bonaccini has decided to go ahead without going through the referendum. The result could therefore be the same, the bill not.
Ma why was the price of these consultations so high? Let's see one by one the various items of expenditure.
Referendum on autonomy: how much has Lombardy spent?
Doing the lion's share in terms of "crazy spending" was Lombardy which totaled around 50 million euros in costs.
The decision to carry out a "digital referendum" contributed to increasing the bill, making citizens vote not through traditional paper expenditure, but on tablets.
For the electronic devices have in fact been spent 11 million euros including VAT, plus 4,4 million for the software and the same amount for the assistance service. In fact, for the referendum, the Pirellone has foreseen the presence of 7 thousand "digital assistants" to be employed in the various provinces of Lombardy in order to assist chairmen of polling stations and tellers.
As for the other items: 600 euros is the price paid for posters and commercials, 1,7 million euros for communication, while the provisional budget provides for the allocation of no less than 24,6 million euros for the consultative referendum. Not to mention that last Thursday the Viminale presented the security bill to both Regions, which for Lombardy amounts to 3,5 million euros.
Referendum on autonomy: how much has Veneto spent?
The Governor of the Veneto is more moderate Luca Zaia who employed 14 million euros, a figure which also includes the purchase of 4,5 million forms and receipts, over 62 posters, 10.500 thousand reports, etc.
To the figure must be added the 2 million euros requested by the Ministry of the Interior to reimburse the expenses of the Central State for the overtime of the police forces called to supervise the polling stations which, however, Zaia said he did not want to pay.
