Disconcerting Proposal for Reverse Voting Option
During the recent hearing in front of the Junta for the Elections, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Luigi Di Maio, hypothesized, among other things, the introduction of the inversion of the voting option applicable to Italian citizens resident abroad for all future political elections.
The proposal will apply the existing principle for the election of COMITES, that is, instead of citizens having an automatic right to vote, receiving an electoral card automatically as long as they were AIRE registered, they would need to proactively request to vote first. Everyone knows that the reverse system is the reason for the fiasco behind the election of the COMITES when only around 3% of the entitled citizens bother to register and therefore vote. Any system that represents such a small proportion of the electorate is deeply flawed, so extending it to all important political elections would be detrimental to the already poor representation of Italian citizens abroad.
Doubtless, Minister Di Maio read a prepared homework handed to him by the Farnesina officials, who for years have insisted on the so-called reverse option to save money. Obviously, the insignificant participation in the COMITES elections was not enough for the Ministry to be concerned with the democratic political representation of the six million Italians who live and work abroad, 1 in 10 of the total population of the country.
AIRE SOS is therefore deeply concerned by the development in question and invites every citizen to express their disquiet with their elected representatives to reverse the proposal in question. What the Italian community abroad needs is more electoral presence, not less. An electronic voting system would provide the solution, reducing costs while increasing democratic representation.
