General Election, 25 September 2022

Severe Storms, 15 September 2022 

Violent storms impacted central Italy, particularly the Marche region, causing flash floods to sweep through towns and villages on 15 September 2022. About one third of the rainfall usually received in a year—400mm of rain——fell in the span of two hours, leading to at least 10 dead and several missing (Corvino 2022). Several areas were without electricity or telephone services, and bridges and highways were blocked. The Italian government declared a state of emergency for the Marche region on the 16 September (Povoledo 2022). 

Italy faced a drought, the worst in the last 70 years, during the preceding summer months. This dried up the land making it difficult for the soil to absorb the water (AFP 2022).  

Impact on the electoral process  

The floods hit Italy nine days before a snap general election to be held on 25 September 2022 to elect the Italian Senate and Chamber of Deputies.  

Voters who lost their voting cards could request a new— to be processed and given out immediately—from municipal offices. Some polling stations in flooded areas designated an additional staff member for this purpose. Most could function in their original locations (Resto del Carlino 2022), however some polling stations, for instance in the Arezzo area, were flooded and therefore relocated. This information was then shared in the local election authority’s social media pages to inform voters (Parrella 2022). 

In the Marche region, the turnout stood at 68.4 per cent for both the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. In 2018, the turnout for the region for the Chamber was 77.27 per cent and for the Senate 77.06 per cent (Cittadini 2022). The Marche region followed the national trend, as nationally, Italy had a voter turnout of 64 per cent, compared to 73 per cent in the 2018 election (Balmer and Amante 2022). In Naples, election officials partially blamed the low turnout on flood damage to roads and sewage services (Pellegrino 2022).