2011 Italian referendums

A nationwide popular referendum was held in Italy on 12 and 13 June 2011, on four questions concerning the repeal of recent laws regarding the privatisation of water services (two questions), a return to the nuclear energy which had been phased out after the 1987 referendum, and criminal procedure, specifically a provision exempting the Prime Minister and the Ministers from appearing in court. The first aim of those campaigning for a yes vote was to ensure that the quorum (50% + 1) of the electorate was reached.[1]

2011 Italian referendums

The Italians with the right to vote numbered 47,118,352 (22,604,349 men and 24,514,003 women), in addition to 3,300,496 Italians resident abroad. In order for the quorum to be reached, at least 25.209.425 votes for each question had to be cast.[2]

Turnout, while below general election records, was higher than it had been for any referendum since 1995; on 12 June 2011, turnout had reached 11.64% at midday,[3] and 30.32% at 19.00, indicating that the necessary quorum would likely be reached.[4] When polls closed on 13 June 2011, turnout was 56.9%, with clear majorities of 94.6% to 96.1% in favour on all questions[5] (meaning that about 53,8% to 54,7% of electorate approved them). Due to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's implicit invitation to boycott the vote (in the hope that the required quorum would not be met), the results don't accurately represent popular opinion.[6]

Position of main political parties

Parties with parliamentary representation
Party1st Question2nd Question3rd Question4th QuestionSource
Alliance for ItalyNoNoYesYes[7]
Future and FreedomNDNDNDND[8][9]
Italy of ValuesYesYesYesYes[10]
Lega NordNDNDNDND
Movement for AutonomiesYesYesYesYes[11]
Democratic PartyYesYesYesYes[12]
The People of FreedomNDNDNDND[13]
Italian RadicalsNDNDYesYes[14]
South Tyrolean People's PartyYesYesYesYes[15]
Union of the CentreNoNoNDYes[16]

ND = no direction.

The high offices of the Republic

The President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano declared he would take part to the referendums, without revealing his intentions regarding the votes.[17]

The President of the Senate of the Republic Renato Schifani underlined the importance of the vote as a form of democratic participation and said he would vote.[18]

The President of the Chamber of Deputies Gianfranco Fini declared he would vote.[19]

The President of the Council of ministers Silvio Berlusconi declared he wouldn't vote.[20] His statement "the Constitution gives the right to citizens to say yes or no to the referendum, but also to say "I do not mind this question, I do not vote." was considered an implicit invitation for his electorate to abstain, so that the referendums would fail quorum.[6]

Privatization of water services
  • Ballot Colour: red.
  • Description: Repeal of the law that allowed to entrust to the private sector the management of local public services.
Choice Votes %
Y For25,935,37295.35
N Against1,265,4954.65
Invalid/blank votes437,078–
Total27,637,945100
Registered voters/turnout50,594,86854.81
Source: Italian Ministry of the Interior
Popular vote
Y For
 
 95.4%
N Against
 
 4.6%

Profit on water services
  • Ballot Colour: yellow.
  • Description: Repeal of the regulations governing the determination of tariffs for water supply services, in the part where they provided that the amount must assure a return on the invested capital.
Choice Votes %
Y For26,130,63795.80
N Against1,146,6394.20
Invalid/blank votes365,181–
Total27,642,457100
Registered voters/turnout50,594,86854.82
Source: Italian Ministry of the Interior
Popular vote
Y For
 
 95.8%
N Against
 
 4.2%

Nuclear power
  • Ballot Colour: grey.
  • Description: Repeal of the new laws that allowed the operation of nuclear powerplants on Italian territory.
Choice Votes %
Y For25,643,65294.05
N Against1,622,0905.95
Invalid/blank votes359,180–
Total27,624,922100
Registered voters/turnout50,594,86854.79
Source: Italian Ministry of the Interior
Popular vote
Y For
 
 94.1%
N Against
 
 5.9%
  • Ballot Colour: green.
  • Description: Repeal of the provisions introducing legittimo impedimento, which allowed the President of the Council of Ministers and the Ministers to be excused from appearing in court if prevented from doing so by government commitments.
Choice Votes %
Y For25,736,27394.62
N Against1,462,8885.38
Invalid/blank votes422,785–
Total27,622,369100
Registered voters/turnout50,594,86854.78
Source: Italian Ministry of the Interior
Popular vote
Y For
 
 94.6%
N Against
 
 5.4%

Results by Region
RegionVoting %Question 1Question 2Question 3Question 4
Valle d'Aosta60.85%Yes 96.6%
No 3.4%		Yes 97.0%
No 3.0%		Yes 95.2%
No 4.8%		Yes 95.8%
No 4.2%
Piedmont59.00%Yes 94.7%
No 5.3%		Yes 95.2%
No 4.8%		Yes 93.1%
No 6.9%		Yes 94.3%
No 5.7%
Liguria59.45%Yes 95.7%
No 4.3%		Yes 96.2%
No 3.8%		Yes 94.0%
No 6.0%		Yes 95.0%
No 5.0%
Lombardy54.40%Yes 93.4%
No 6.6%		Yes 94.1%
No 5.9%		Yes 91.6%
No 8.4%		Yes 93.2%
No 6.8%
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol64.60%Yes 96.8%
No 3.2%		Yes 97.1%
No 2.9%		Yes 96.1%
No 3.9%		Yes 96.3%
No 3.7%
Veneto58.90%Yes 94.7%
No 5.3%		Yes 95.3%
No 4.7%		Yes 93.5%
No 6.5%		Yes 93.7%
No 6.3%
Friuli-Venezia Giulia58.20%Yes 95.0%
No 5.0%		Yes 95.6%
No 4.4%		Yes 93.4%
No 6.6%		Yes 93.9%
No 6.1%
Emilia-Romagna64.15%Yes 95.0%
No 5.0%		Yes 95.4%
No 4.6%		Yes 94.3%
No 5.7%		Yes 95.0%
No 5.0%
Tuscany63.60%Yes 95.7%
No 4.3%		Yes 96.0%
No 4.0%		Yes 95.1%
No 4.9%		Yes 95.5%
No 4.5%
Marche61.60%Yes 95.9%
No 4.1%		Yes 96.3%
No 3.7%		Yes 95.2%
No 4.8%		Yes 95.3%
No 4.7%
Umbria59.20%Yes 95.5%
No 4.5%		Yes 96.1%
No 3.9%		Yes 94.7%
No 5.3%		Yes 95.1%
No 4.9%
Lazio58.90%Yes 96.3%
No 3.7%		Yes 96.9%
No 3.1%		Yes 95.1%
No 4.9%		Yes 95.5%
No 4.5%
Abruzzo57.50%Yes 96.4%
No 3.5%		Yes 97.0%
No 3.0%		Yes 95.7%
No 4.3%		Yes 95.6%
No 4.4%
Molise58.70%Yes 97.4%
No 2.6%		Yes 97.8%
No 2.2%		Yes 96.8%
No 3.2%		Yes 96.5%
No 3.5%
Campania52.30%Yes 97.8%
No 2.2%		Yes 98.1%
No 1.9%		Yes 96.7%
No 3.3%		Yes 96.8%
No 3.2%
Basilicata54.35%Yes 97.3%
No 2.7%		Yes 97.7%
No 2.3%		Yes 96.8%
No 3.2%		Yes 96.7%
No 3.3%
Apulia52.50%Yes 97.3%
No 2.7%		Yes 97.6%
No 2.4%		Yes 96.7%
No 3.3%		Yes 96.4%
No 3.6%
Calabria50.35%Yes 98.0%
No 2.0%		Yes 98.3%
No 1.7%		Yes 97.3%
No 2.7%		Yes 96.9%
No 3.1%
Sicily52.70%Yes 97.6%
No 2.4%		Yes 97.9%
No 2.1%		Yes 96.5%
No 3.5%		Yes 96.2%
No 3.8%
Sardinia58.60%Yes 98.2%
No 1.8%		Yes 98.5%
No 1.5%		Yes 98.4%
No 1.6%		Yes 96.5%
No 3.5%

References
  1. Donovan, Jeffrey; Totaro, Lorenzo (1 June 2011). "Italy elections: Berlusconi losing grasp on power". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  2. "Referendum – Ministero dell'Interno". referendum.interno.it. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  3. "la notizia � stata spostata o eliminatadal Database". salernonotizie.it. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  4. "L'affluenza alle 19". Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  5. "Referendum popolare 12–13 giugno 2011 – la Repubblica.it".
  6. Di Caro Paola (12 May 2000). "Referendum, Berlusconi per l'astensione" (in Italian). il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  7. "Rutelli: Bene Cassazione, ora vittoria sì su nucleare". Alleanza per l'Italia. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  8. "Fini: ai Referendum andrò a votare, spero anche gli Italiani". Futuro e Libertà. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  9. "Referendum, Fini: importante andare a votare. Ma Fli si spacca". Il Messaggero. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  10. "Referendum: 'Non c'è più tempo. Ora, è ora!'". Italia dei Valori. Archived from the original on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  11. "Lombardo: no a nucleare e legittimo impedimento, sì all'acqua pubblica". Movimento per le Autonomie. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  12. "Cartolina referendum". Partito Democratico. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  13. "Nucleare: Pdl,liberta' voto su referendum". Il Secolo XIX. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  14. "Difendi i referendum del 12 e 13 giugno con una donazione". Radicali Italiani. Archived from the original on 28 May 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  15. "Abstimmungs- empfehlung der Südtiroler Volkspartei zu den Volksabstimmungen vom 12. und 13. Juni". Südtiroler Volkspartei. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  16. "Referendum: Cesa, bisogna andare a votare". Unione di Centro. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  17. "Napolitano: "Sono un elettore che fa sempre il suo dovere"" (in Italian). rainews24.rai.it. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  18. "Referendum: Schifani andrà alle urne, voterà a Palermo" (in Italian). La Provincia di Como. 10 June 2011. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  19. "Granata: "Fini invita a partecipazione attiva"". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  20. "Berlusconi annuncia: "Non andrò a votare al referendum"". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). Retrieved 10 October 2011.
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