The Vote of Italian-Argentinians in Italian General Elections (2006-2008-2013)

Abstract

The constitutional reforms introduced in 2000 and 2001 in Italy extended the right to vote to Italians living abroad. Since then, about 3.5 million citizens were able to choose 18 representatives to the Italian Parliament in the general elections of 2006, 2008 and 2013. Given the size of the Italian colony in Argentina, which consists of about 600,000 citizens, the country became one of the main foreign electoral scenarios, if not the most important, in terms of the rate of turnout in the above mentioned elections. This paper reviews the voting experience of Italians living Argentina and analyzes the implications of the implementation of this institution aldevice, on the Italian political system.