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Ministero dell'Interno, 22.02.2013

PRESS RELEASE - GENERAL AND REGIONAL ELECTION OF 24TH AND 25TH February 2013

The voting process for the renewal of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies will be held on Sunday, 24th February 2013, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and on Monday, 25th February, from 7 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.
On the same dates, the election of the President of the Regional Council and the Regional Council of the three regions of Lombardy, Lazio and Molise will also be held.
The scrutiny will begin on Monday, 25th February, at the end of the voting and matching process, beginning with the counting of the votes for the election of the Senate. On Tuesday, 26th February, starting at 2 p.m., the scrutiny of the votes for the regional election will begin.
The results will be available at the websites www.interno.gov.it and http://elezioni.interno.it.

1) Election 2013

HOW TO VOTE
The electoral law provides for the election of the Chamber of Deputies (Lower House) and the Senate, a form of party-list proportional representation with a series of thresholds. To guarantee a working majority, the coalition or party that obtains a plurality of the vote is assigned additional seats to reach the needed number of seats.
For the election of the Chamber of Deputies, people who have come of age (18) can vote. For the Senate only those who, at the date of Sunday, 25th February, have come of twenty-five years of age can vote.
For the election of the Chamber of Deputies (pink card) and for the election of the Senate (yellow card), the voter shall cast votes by marking with a pencil (e.g. by drawing a cross or a bar) the box that contains the symbol of the chosen list. It is forbidden to write on the ballot card the names of the candidates or any other indication.
In the Valle d'Aosta region (for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate) and the region Trentino-Alto Adige (only for the Senate) the voter shall cast votes by marking with a pencil (e.g. by drawing a cross or a bar) the symbol of the chosen candidate or by ticking the rectangle that contains the symbol.

ELECTORATE
The number of voters throughout the country, on the basis of data collected 15 days prior to the voting days (subject to minor changes at the end of the extraordinary revision of the electoral rolls currently in progress) is: for the Chamber of Deputies, 47.011.309, of which 22.569.269 males and 24.442.040 females; for the Senate 43.071.494, of which 20.547.324 males and 22.524.170 females. Voters will elect 618 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 309 Senators. Polling stations will be 61,597.
The number of voters of the foreign jurisdiction, on the basis of the special final list, is: for the Chamber of Deputies 3,438,670 and 3,103,887 for the Senate (They will elect 12 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 6 Senators).

2) Regional Elections 2013

HOW TO VOTE
Each voter (using a permanent pencil on the green card) can:

• vote for only one candidate for the office of President of the Region, by marking his/her name and / or (only in Lazio and Molise) the symbol of the regional party list. In this case the vote is valid only for the election of the President and does not extend to any provincial party list.
• vote for a candidate to the office of President of the Region and one of the provincial party lists related to him/her, by marking the symbol of one of these lists. In this case, the voter can express a preference for a candidate to the regional council of the chosen provincial party list by writing his/her surname, or the first name and surname in case of homonymy.
• vote for a candidate to the office of President of the Region and for one of the other provincial party lists which are not connected to him/her, by marking the symbol of one of the lists (the so-called "detached vote"). Even in this case, the voter can express a preference for a specific candidate in the chosen provincial party by writing his/her surname, or the first name and surname in case of homonymy.
• vote in favor of only a provincial list, in which case the vote is meant to be in favour of the presidential candidate of the region connected to it.

ELECTORATE
The elections in the three regions will involve a total of 12,838,939 voters (6,186,004 males and 6,652,935 females) and 14,894 polling stations.
In Lombardy, the number of voters will be 7,745,359, of which 3,742,475 males and 4,002,884 females. The number of polling stations will be 9,233.
In the Lazio region the number of voters will be 4,761,102, of which 2,280,131 males and 2,480,971 females. The number of polling stations will be 5,268.
In the Molise region the number of voters will be 332,478, of which 163,398 males and 169,080 females. The number of polling stations will be 393.

Voter Registration Card
The Ministry of the Interior reminds voters that, in order to exercise the right to vote at the polling section where he/she is enrolled, they must show their voter registration card, in addition to a valid ID.
Those who have lost their card can request a duplicate to the municipal offices which will be open for this reason from Tuesday 19th February through Saturday 23rd February, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Sunday, 24th February and Monday, 25th February (the voting days) throughout the duration of the voting process.
Voters are encouraged to make sure from now on whether they have a valid registration card and, failing that, to apply as soon as possible to get a duplicate of it in order to avoid an excessive number of requests during the voting days.