A referendum vote among Italians living in South America it reached 34,6% participation, surpassing not only the rate for Italy, but also the figures from the last general elections.
The data was released this Wednesday, June 11, by deputy Fabio Porta (PD), who highlighted the expressive adhesion as “the best response to the government's offensive against the rights of Italians abroad”.
In Argentina, where the largest number of voters outside Italy are concentrated, more than 40% of citizens with the right to vote participated. In other countries in the region, turnout was also high, with percentages above 30%.
The parliamentarian, who represents the South American Constituency, criticized the Meloni administration. According to him, the recent changes to the citizenship law break the bond between Italy and its communities abroad.
Venezuela is left out
Despite the positive results, Porta drew attention to a serious incident that occurred during the electoral process. In the third country with the most voters in the region, the sending of votes from Venezuela was delayed and, as a result, there was no counting.
“This is an unprecedented violation of the right to vote of Italians abroad,” said Porta, who filed a question in Parliament demanding explanations.
The referendum comes amid tensions between the government and Italian emigrants. The recent enactment into law of a decree restricting the transmission of citizenship to future generations was seen by many as a severing of the historic link with communities outside Italy.
NUMBERS
REFERENDUM ON CITIZENSHIP
5,3 MILLION
voters registered outside Italy
1,1 MILLION
participated in the votes (20,7%)
YES: 725.268
NO: 417.702 (36,55%)
IN BRAZIL
561.765 eligible voters
166.167 voted
(29,58%)
YES: 91.007 (59,07%)
NO: 63.062 (40,93%)
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