Sardinia, open seats by election of mayors and municipal councils
Municipalities in Sardinia, turnout above 60% but in sharp decline
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October 26, 2020 The feared collapse in turnout, in this electoral round that fell in full Covid emergency for Sardinia, did not happen and the island is preparing to greet 153 new mayors, three less than expected as in three municipalities - of the 48 where a single list was presented - the quorum of 50% plus one of the electors was not reached and the elections were declared null and void.
These are Aritzo, Tadasunis and Villanova Tulo, where the extraordinary commissioner will now be appointed.
In the end, the turnout was 59.5%, about 5 percentage points less than the previous municipalities.
A decline, therefore, but not the feared collapse.
A fact also underlined by the President of the Region, Christian Solinas, who in his message of good wishes to the elected mayors spoke of "some positive signs, albeit in a trend that is unfortunately always negative", signaling a turnout "clearly higher than that recorded. in the administrative offices of 20 and 21 September on the national territory ", a sign" of a great democratic maturity of the Sardinian people combined with the desire to participate in the life of the institutions ".
In the only provincial capital to vote, Nuoro, the count is proceeding slowly and the final results are expected in the night, but from now on there is a ballot between the outgoing mayor Andrea Soddu, from the center-left area supported by four civic lists, and the center-right candidate Pietro Sanna.
The two have a clear advantage over the other five candidates: Carlo Prevosto of the Pd, official candidate of the center-left and winner of the primary, Alessandro Murgia of the M5s, Ciriaco Offeddu, Lisetta Bidoni and Francesco Guccini, all at the head of civic lists.
In the other three municipalities with more than 15,000 inhabitants, where the second round is scheduled for Sunday 8 and Monday 9 November, only the outgoing mayor of Sestu, a town in the hinterland of Cagliari, is sure of victory in the first round.
Paola Secci, a candidate of the center-right, supported by Riformatori, Forza Italia, Sardegna Venti 20, Lega and Fratelli d'Italia, in fact navigates firmly over 60% of preferences.
Out of the game the candidate of the Civic Center and the Democratic Party, Valentina Meloni, and the former mayor Aldo Pili, supported by Articolo Uno and Sestu Domani.
Also in Porto Torres, one of the strongholds of the M5s in Sardinia, there is a run-off between Alessandro Pantaleo, candidate for mayor of the center-right, and Massimo Mulas, designated by the center-left through the primaries: at the moment the two are spaced by a hundred votes.
Clamorously back and out of the game Sebastiano Sassu, expression of that 5 Star Movement that five years ago in Porto Torres had swept away, electing Sean Wheeler as mayor to lead a council and a single-color majority to which, evidently, the Portotorresi have not confirmed the trust them.
Finally, the center-right ahead of Quartu Sant'Elena - the third largest city in Sardinia for the number of inhabitants on the border with Cagliari - but the lists of the former mayor Graziano Milia are not far away and a runoff is looming with the Sardist Christian Stevelli.