Specials

Italian politics was, and remains a fundamental aspect of my family life. Over the years, the daily RAI broadcast of the telegiornale, the Progresso Italo-Americano, and subsequently the America Oggi were permanent fixtures within my household. My formative years were therefore strongly influenced by Italian politics and culture, which subsequently led me to passionately vote in my first Italian election.

My stake in the 2006 Italian election as an Italian citizen, living abroad all his life, was surprisingly enough, multifaceted. First and foremost, I have a claim to family property that I will one day inherit and which I plan to pass on to my heirs. Since I have no intention of parting with this land, it is therefore imperative that I exercise my right to vote in order to indirectly protect my interests.

The second aspect of my Italian voting identity and probably more importantly from a nationalistic point of view was and is my antipathy for Silvio Berlusconi’s politics. It was very much my desire to see him defeated and I was, needless to say, very satisfied with the outcome of the election. I had been extremely dissatisfied with the direction he had taken the nation over his tenure as prime minister and felt it was imperative to Italy’s future that a new government seize control.

My enthusiasm to vote however should not be mistaken for blind confidence in the experiment that was the Italian vote abroad in 2006. It is my opinion that the process was very flawed and desperately requires future modifications to ensure that what Tremaglia and company desired from extending voting rights to Italians citizens living abroad does not potentially affect the outcome of future elections as the 2006 election clearly demonstrated. Although the election results did favor my preferences, this however does not serve as a valid justification for the fact that Italian citizens living abroad, who are first and foremost residents of foreign nations, exercised such power so as to determine the outcome of a national election. This essentially means that an Italian residing abroad for 30, 20, or even 10 years who no longer recognizes, understands, or is even concerned with the plights and daily realities of the ordinary Italian citizen, nevertheless can determine the faith of the everyday Italian worker who is struggling to make ends meet.

The right to elect “foreign” representatives to Italian parliament is therefore purely overkill. The most logical solution would be to allow for each and every Italian citizen abroad to simply cast absentee ballots in the comune in which they are registered. Let's help do away with the Turanos and the Ferrignos of the world and instead focus our efforts as Italian citizens to better the nation we all love by electing qualified individuals, who live in Italy and truly understanding the Italian situation.