The 2019 Abruzzo regional election took place on 10 February 2019. The election was for all 29 elected seats of the Regional Council of Abruzzo as well as the President of the region who, along with the second placed presidential candidate, would also become members of the Regional Council.
The ballot resulted in the election of Marco Marsilio, the centre-right candidate, as President of the Regional Council with 48% of the votes. Moreover, the League won a plurality of seats in the Regional Council.
Electoral law The candidate who obtains the majority of valid votes at the regional level becomes president. Every candidate must be linked to a party list or a coalition running for the regional council. A majority of 60% to 65% of the seats is then allocated to the party (or coalition) of the elected president.
The election of the Council occurs on a regional basis within the four districts of Abruzzo, coinciding with the four provinces of the Region. The district of Chieti elects eight councilors, while Pescara, L'Aquila and Teramo each elect seven councillors. The President of the Council and the presidential candidate, who received the second largest number of votes, also become members of the regional council.
The electoral system is proportional to the share of the votes each party revives, with an electoral threshold of 4% of the vote for parties that are not members of coalitions and 2% for those included in a coalition.
Campaign During the campaign, Marco Marsilio (member of FdI) was criticized for not being native to the region, with opponents accusing him of lacking knowledge about the specific regional issues. However Marsilio's parents are both natives of Abruzzo. Members of the Democratic Party (PD) also accused the League of violating Italian campaigning laws, after Matteo Salvini posted a tweet calling on voters to go and vote for his party, during the period of time in which the electoral campaign is officially closed.
Parties and candidate Political party or allianceConstituent listsPrevious resultCandidateVotes (%)Seats Centre-right coalition Forza Italia (FI)16.74 Brothers of Italy (FdI)2.9– League (Lega) Political Action (AP) (incl. EpI) Union of the Centre–Christian Democracy–IdeA – NcI Centre-left coalition Democratic Party (PD)25.410 Legnini for President Progressives–Free and Equal More Abruzzo–Democratic Centre (incl. AP) Forward Abruzzo–Italy of Values (incl. PSI and CP) Abruzzo in Common–Easy Region Centrists for Europe (CpE) Abruzzo Together–Future AbruzzoFive Star Movement (M5S)21.46 CasaPound (CPI)
Opinion polls Date Polling firm Legnini Marsilio Marcozzi Others Lead 21–24 Jan 2019 SWG 30% 37% 32% 1% 5% 20–22 Nov 2018 Quorum – YouTrend 23% 38% 35% 4% 3%
Results + Candidates Votes % Seats Parties Votes % SeatsMarco Marsilio299,94948.031League165,00827.5310Forza Italia54,2239.043Brothers of Italy38,8946.482Political Action19,4463.241UdC – DC – IdeA – NcI17,3082.881Total294,87949.1917Giovanni Legnini195,39431.281Democratic Party66,79611.143 Legnini for President33,2775.551Abruzzo in Common – Easy Region23,1683.861 Progressives – Free and Equal16,6142.77– Abruzzo Together – Future Abruzzo16,0552.67–More Abruzzo – Democratic Centre14,1982.36–Centrists for Europe7,9381.32– Forward Abruzzo – Italy of Values5,6110.93–Total183,63030.635Sara Marcozzi126,12520.20–Five Star Movement118,27319.737Stefano Flajani2,9740.47–CasaPound2,5600.42–Invalid votes18,808–Total candidates624,482100.002Total parties599,356100.0029Registered voters1,211,204 53.11 Source: Ministry of the Interior – Results
Voter turnout RegionTime 12:00 19:00 23:00Abruzzo13.42%43.00%53.11%ProvinceTime12:0019:0023:00Chieti13.17%40.46%50.17%L'Aquila13.01%44.56%54.70%Pescara14.13%43.98%54.83%Teramo13.45%43.96%53.84% Source: Ministry of the Interior – Turnout </onlyinclude>
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