Implementing a system of remote or online voting for all European citizens is a topic of growing interest and discussion. Italy is the only European country that does not allow voting for those not present in their municipality of residence (with the exception of Cyprus and Malta, which are so small that they do not have this issue).
According to ISTAT, there are approximately 4.9 million people, primarily young individuals aged between 18 and 35, who relocate for study, work, and other reasons (such as attending a friend’s wedding) and are denied the opportunity to exercise their right to vote.
Those who live in a municipality 1,000 km away from their place of residence must undertake this absurd journey. In Spain, just as an example, you can vote by mail (even if you are in the city where you are registered, simply because you have other commitments that Sunday). A few days before the vote, you go to the post office, show your ID, submit the completed ballot – of course, the mailing is free – and you’re done.
This is the case throughout Europe, with methods more or less similar. It could be as simple as allowing people to “book” their vote at a polling station in a different city. But no, in Italy, in the midst of the digital age, we force millions of people not to vote or to travel using trains/planes/ferries, with only partial travel reimbursements, along with all the environmental, economic, bureaucratic, and physical inconveniences that this entails.
