Sunday 22 October the citizens of Lombardy and Veneto are called to the polls for the referendum on regional autonomy.
Given the latest cases of political news coming from Catalonia, it is better to specify immediately: in both cases we are dealing with legal consultations, called in agreement with the Government, the purpose of which is not to obtain independence from Italy, but to start a procedure provided for by article 116 of the Constitution, through which the Regions can request more autonomy to manage their own resources.
Being consultative referendums, the result will not be binding neither for the central Executive nor for Lombardy and Veneto, but their weight will be more political than anything else. Therefore, no autonomy will be triggered, but in the event of a Yes victory, the two governors will be able to present themselves at the negotiating table to be entered into with the Government, strengthened by the support of the citizens.
Referendum on autonomy: who, how and when to vote
Anyone can go to the polls citizens residing in Lombardy and Veneto duly registered on the electoral roll. The seat will correspond to the one indicated on your electoral card. You can vote throughout the day of Sunday 22 October, from 7 in the morning to 23 in the evening.
In Veneto the paper form will be used while in Lombardy a new era will be inaugurated. It is no coincidence that in Milan there is already talk of a "tablet referendum". The vote will be expressed through an E-voting system (i.e. voting via electronic devices) managed by the digital platform of the US company Diebold-Nixdorf.
On the other hand, the temporary agency Manpower took care of training and hiring 7 "digital assistants" to be employed in the various provinces of Lombardy in order to assist chairmen of polling stations and tellers.
It should be emphasized that there is none in Lombardy quorum (as required by the law for consultative referendums), while as far as Veneto is concerned, the regional legislation establishes that in order for the result to be considered valid, at least 50 per cent plus one of the voters must go to vote.
Referendum on autonomy, what do we vote for? The questions
As previously mentioned, the purpose of the referendums is to ask the citizens of Veneto and Lombardy if they want their respective councils to request greater autonomy from the state.
In Lombardia the question will be as follows:
"Do you want the Lombardy Region, within the framework of national unity, to undertake the institutional initiatives necessary to request the State to grant further forms and particular conditions of autonomy, with the relative resources, pursuant to and for the purposes of the article 116, third paragraph of the Constitution?”.
In Veneto Instead, will voters have to answer this question?
"Do you want the Veneto Region to be given further forms and particular conditions of autonomy?".
Referendum on autonomy: what does the Constitution provide?
On the basis of the provisions of the constitutional charter and more precisely of thearticle 116 of Title V (the one that coordinates the relationship between the State and the Regions), local authorities with budgets in order have the possibility of requesting the Government for greater autonomy consisting in an expansion of their areas of competence.
It should be emphasized that to obtain more autonomy a referendum is not necessary, but the Regions can activate the envisaged procedure even without going through the polls. In the event that the State and the requesting bodies reach an agreement, the latter will have to be examined by the two parliamentary chambers who will have to give the go-ahead by an absolute majority.
What happens if Yes wins? And if the No wins? Autonomy should not be confused with self special status. Article 116 of the Constitution also establishes that there are five Regions with a special statute: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Valle d'Aosta.
Therefore, in order to obtain the same rights as the territories indicated above, a modification of the Charter would be necessary.
The purpose of these referendums is to obtain greater political force in the procedure. Even in case of yes victory therefore the result will be only and only this. No autonomy and not even the withholding of 27 billion euros in taxes feared by some politicians.
In case of victory of the No instead Maroni and Zaia will still be able to carry on the negotiations for autonomy, but with less political strength deriving from the lack of popular support.
However, the turnout will weigh in this case: the victory of the Yes seems in fact to be taken for granted, but it will be necessary to see how many citizens will go to vote and how many will decide to abstain. In case of high abstention the path to autonomy would still receive a heavy backlash.
Autonomy referendum: how much do they cost?
The cost of these referendums cannot be underestimated. As for Lombardy, the expected expenditure is almost 50 million euros, of which:
- 24,6 million euros to cover the expenses of the Municipalities and pay polling stations,
- 11,1 million for the purchase of electronic voting machines,
- $4,4 million for Diebold-Nixdorf software,
- 4,4 million for the technical assistance service and for the training of staff assigned to tablets.
- 3,3 million for communication and promotional activities
Not only that, in recent days the figures have risen further given that the Ministry of the Interior has asked both Regions to repay the expenses of the Central State for police overtime calls to watch over the seats. For Lombardy the bill is 3,5 million euros, for Veneto 2.
