Mayoral elections took place in Palermo on Sunday.

A successor was sought for Leoluca Orlando, the widely respected fighter against the Sicilian mafia organization Cosa Nostra.

Orlando has ruled in the City Hall of Palermo for 22 long years.

He is now retiring at the age of 74.

Chaotic conditions prevailed in the city's polling stations, especially in the morning.

The chairmen of the election commissions failed to turn up at 170 polling stations, and there was a lack of poll workers everywhere.

It wasn't until after noon that substitutes were found everywhere and the situation normalized.

The Ministry of the Interior in Rome spoke of a serious incident and has filed a complaint against the truants.

The main reason given for the chaos in the elections was football.

The play-off game for the last promotion place in Serie B, the second-highest professional league, also took place on Sunday.

Namely at the sold out Stadio Renzo Barbera in Palermo.

Among the more than 34,000 spectators there are likely to have been many presidents of election commissions and numerous election workers.

They preferred an entertaining evening at the stadium to a long day at the polling station.

Your expectations and hopes were not disappointed.

Palermo FC beat Padua Calcio 1-0.

After three years in the third division Serie C, Palermo FC return to the second division.

The final whistle at the stadium pretty much coincided with the closing of the polling stations.

Colorful rockets shot into the sky over Palermo, and cannon shots echoed in the streets.

Late into the night, fans celebrated their club and themselves with a wild street party.

For an expense allowance of between 208 and 288 euros, election workers in Sicily not only have to guarantee the regular election process during the opening hours of the polling stations from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

They also have to prepare everything the day before the election and count the votes and clean up the polling stations the days after.

That easily adds up to 50 hours of work.

Makes an hourly wage of four to barely six euros.

“We are all upset that big farmers let day laborers work in their tomato fields for three euros an hour.

And the state hardly pays any more for the work to ensure a key moment of democracy,” the city council candidate Mariangela Di Gangi showed a certain understanding for the truant election workers.

Anyone who was in the stadium instead of at the polling station should not have regretted their decision.

It was a fast-paced game with many goals.

Retired surgeon and university rector Roberto Lagalla was elected to succeed Leoluca Orlando, an icon of the Italian left.

As a candidate for the country's three main right-wing parties.