2019 Abruzzo regional election

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.

2019 Abruzzo regional election

10 February 2019[1]
All 31 seats to the Regional Council of Abruzzo
Turnout	53.1% ( 8.4%)
Candidate Marco Marsilio Giovanni Legnini Sara Marcozzi Party Brothers of Italy Democratic Party Five Star Movement Alliance Centre-right coalition Centre-left coalition Seats won 18 6 7 Seat change 11 13 1 Popular vote 299,949 195,394 126,165 Percentage 48.0% 31.3% 20.2% Swing 18.7% 15.0% 1.2%
Maps of the results of the presidential election and legislative election
President before election Giovanni Lolli (acting) PD Elected President Marco Marsilio FdI

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.[2]

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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5][6]

Parties and candidate

Political party or alliance		Constituent lists		Previous result		Candidate
				Votes (%)	Seats
	Centre-right coalition		Forza Italia (FI)	16.7	4	Marco Marsilio
			Brothers of Italy (FdI)	2.9	–
			League (Lega)	N/A	N/A
			Political Action (AP)	N/A	N/A
			Union of the Centre–Christian Democracy–IdeA (incl. NcI)	N/A	N/A
	Centre-left coalition		Democratic Party (PD)	25.4	10	Giovanni Legnini
			Legnini for President	N/A	N/A
			Progressives–Free and Equal	N/A	N/A
			More Abruzzo–Democratic Centre (incl. AP)	N/A	N/A
			Forward Abruzzo–Italy of Values (incl. PSI and CP)	N/A	N/A
			Abruzzo in Common–Easy Region	N/A	N/A
			Centrists for Europe (CpE)	N/A	N/A
			Abruzzo Together–Future Abruzzo	N/A	N/A
	Five Star Movement (M5S)			21.4	6	Sara Marcozzi
	CasaPound Italy (CPI)			N/A	N/A	Stefano Flajani

Opinion polls

Date	Polling firm	Legnini	Marsilio	Marcozzi	Others	Lead
10 Feb 2019	Election Result	31%	48%	20%	1%	17%
21–24 Jan 2019	SWG	30%	37%	32%	1%	5%
20–22 Nov 2018	Quorum – YouTrend	23%	38%	35%	4%	3%

Results

10 February 2019 Abruzzo regional election results

Candidates		Votes	%	Seats	Parties		Votes	%	Seats
	Marco Marsilio	299,949	48.03	1		League	165,008	27.53	10
						Forza Italia	54,223	9.04	3
						Brothers of Italy	38,894	6.48	2
						Political Action	19,446	3.24	1
						Union of the Centre – Christian Democracy – IdeA	17,308	2.88	1
					Total		294,879	49.19	17
	Giovanni Legnini	195,394	31.28	1		Democratic Party	66,796	11.14	3
						Legnini for President	33,277	5.55	1
						Abruzzo in Common – Easy Region	23,168	3.86	1
						Progressives – Free and Equal	16,614	2.77	–
						Abruzzo Together – Future Abruzzo	16,055	2.67	–
						More Abruzzo – Democratic Centre	14,198	2.36	–
						Centrists for Europe	7,938	1.32	–
						Forward Abruzzo – Italy of Values	5,611	0.93	–
					Total		183,630	30.63	5
	Sara Marcozzi	126,125	20.20	–		Five Star Movement	118,273	19.73	7
	Stefano Flajani	2,974	0.47	–		CasaPound Italy	2,560	0.42	–
Invalid votes		18,808	–
Total candidates		624,482	100.00	2	Total parties		599,356	100.00	29
Registered voters		1,211,204	53.11
Source: Ministry of the Interior – Results

Popular vote Lega   27.53% M5S   19.73% PD   11.14% FI   9.04% FdI   6.48% Leginini List   5.55% AiC–RF   3.86% AP   3.24% UdC–IdeA–DC   2.88% LeU   2.77% IA–AF   2.67% Others   5.03%

President Marsilio   48.03% Legnini   31.28% Marcozzi   20.20% Flajani   0.47%

Voter turnout

Region	Time
	12:00	19:00	23:00
Abruzzo	13.42%	43.00%	53.11%
Province	Time
	12:00	19:00	23:00
Chieti	13.17%	40.46%	50.17%
L'Aquila	13.01%	44.56%	54.70%
Pescara	14.13%	43.98%	54.83%
Teramo	13.45%	43.96%	53.84%
Source: Ministry of the Interior – Turnout

References

1. "REGIONALI: LOLLI FIRMA IL DECRETO, ABRUZZO AL VOTO DOMENICA 10 FEBBRAIO". AbruzzoWeb.
2. "Elezioni Abruzzo, i risultati: vince il centrodestra, Marsilio governatore. Lega primo partito, crollo M5s". Repubblica.it. 10 February 2019.
3. "Regione Abruzzo - Osservatorio elettorale - Normativa Regionale". www.regione.abruzzo.it.
4. "Chi è Marco Marsilio, il senatore Fdi che governerà l'Abruzzo". Repubblica.it. 11 February 2019.
5. Borrelli, Silvia Sciorilli (10 February 2019). "Right-wing parties win regional Italian election". POLITICO. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
6. Salvini, Matteo (9 February 2019). "Io ce l'ho messa tutta! Oggi tocca a voi: dalle 7 alle 23, bastano 5 minuti del vostro tempo: una croce sul simbolo LEGA e vinciamo! #primagliitaliani pic.twitter.com/CRf93Rp8uf". @matteosalvinimi (in Italian). Retrieved 11 February 2019.