Rome, June 2 (LaPresse) – Voters who "refuse to collect all the ballots," as announced today by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, "cannot be considered as voters and should therefore not be counted among the voters of the polling station." This is stated in the "Instructions for Polling Station Operations" drawn up by the Ministry of the Interior in preparation for the 2025 Referendums, which were reviewed by LaPresse. "Therefore, for an accurate count of the actual number of voters for each referendum, if the polling station has already 'registered' the voter in the section list and/or in the register for the annotation of the voter card number, an additional note (e.g., 'NON VOTING') should be made in the relevant boxes and columns of these documents," it is further explained. The same paragraph clarifies that "the polling station stamp should not be placed on the voting card (unless it has already been stamped)." The Viminale’s guidebook also equates abstention to the case where, "in the event of multiple referendums being held simultaneously," the voter "may abstain from voting in one or more of them and therefore may legitimately collect the ballot for some referendums and refuse it for others. The polling staff should then note, both in the printed boxes on the back of the cover page of the register and in the section list next to the voter’s name, the referendums in which the voter does not participate and for which they cannot be counted as a voter."
© Copyright LaPresse
