Italians are participating in referendums aimed at easing citizenship requirements and strengthening labor protections, yet there are concerns regarding low voter turnout that may invalidate the polls. Voting commenced on Sunday and will continue until Monday.
The ballot includes a question asking Italians if they support reducing the residency period required to apply for citizenship by naturalization to five years. Presently, non-EU nationals without family ties or links to Italy must reside in the country for 10 years before citizenship eligibility, a process that can take additional years.
Supporters of the reform argue that it could impact approximately 2.5 million foreign nationals living in Italy and align the country’s citizenship law with other European nations, including Germany and France. These measures were proposed by Italy’s main union and left-wing opposition parties.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend the polls but won’t cast a vote. The left-wing parties have criticized this action as antithetic to democracy, as it won’t contribute to reaching the required turnout threshold of more than half of eligible voters to make the vote valid. Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party prioritizes reducing undocumented immigration while increasing work visas for migrants, and Meloni herself opposes the reform.
According to statistics, more than 213,500 individuals acquired Italian citizenship in 2023, double the number in 2020 and one-fifth of the EU total. The majority of these individuals were from outside the EU, primarily from Albania, Morocco, Argentina, and Brazil.
Even if the proposed reform is passed, it won’t affect the law that prohibits children born to foreign parents in Italy from requesting nationality until they turn 18. Italian singer Ghali, born in Milan to Tunisian parents, has been an advocate for changing this law and urged his fans to support the proposal.
Other measures on the ballot include better protections against dismissal, higher severance payments, converting fixed-term contracts into permanent ones, and accountability in cases of workplace accidents. Polls conducted in mid-May showed that only 46 percent of Italians were aware of the referendum issues, with turnout projections estimated at about 35 percent of the 51 million eligible voters, far below the required quorum. Many of the previous 78 referendums held in Italy have been unsuccessful due to low turnout.
Polling stations opened on Sunday at 7 a.m. local time (GMT+5), and results are expected after polls close on Monday at 3 p.m. (GMT+5).
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/8/italy-holds-referendum-on-easing-citizenship-rules?traffic_source=rss
