Polling stations closed for the by-elections in the Reggio Calabria-Locri constituency

Polling stations closed in 71 municipalities in Calabria after the second and final day of voting for the by-elections for the Chamber in the constituency 5 Reggio Calabria-Locri ended. Counting of ballots in progress. Yesterday, on the first day of voting, at 11pm the turnout stopped at 14.97%.

The by-elections in the Chamber in constituency 5 Reggio Calabria-Locri became necessary after the resignation of Forza Italia deputy Francesco Cannizzaro, elected mayor of Reggio Calabria in the first round in the local elections of 24-25 May 2026. The vote was divided into two days, Sunday 27 September from 7am to 11pm and today - Monday 28th - from 7am to 3pm.

Yesterday, at 11pm on the first day of voting, turnout stopped at 14.97%. Four years ago, however, when voting took place on a single day, at 11pm the final turnout was 49.4%. Of the 345,788 eligible voters, 58,729 are resident abroad and this affects the turnout percentage.

However, the attention of national politics remains high on the Reggio consultations, especially after Roberto Vannacci's entry into the field: in fact, a few hours after the presentation of the lists, there was the candidacy for National Future of Domenico Giannetta, who was group leader of Forza Italia in the Regional Council. For Vannacci this is the first real test with the ballot boxes. His goal is to erode votes from the center-right - which is nominated by Forza Italia treasurer Fabio Roscioli, close to the Berlusconi family - perhaps managing to win the head of cardiology Frank Benedetto, an expression of the broad field that includes all the oppositions from M5S to Italia Viva. The fourth candidate is Francesco Toscano, of Democracy Sovereign People.