GLI STANDARD COSTITUZIONALI PER LA TUTELA DEL DIRITTO DI VOTO NELLE LEGGI ELETTORALI DEI DIVERSI LIVELLI DI GOVERNO: APPLICAZIONE UNIFORME O DIFFERENZIATA?

This research project examines the consistency of Italian regional and local electoral systems with the Constitution. After a brief presentation of the international, European and constitutional norms regulating the right to vote, the thesis follows the evolution of the electoral laws of every level of government and the corresponding judicial decisions, both constitutional and not, which formed in the same years. It then analyzes thoroughly the electoral rules of the 19 Regions, 2 Autonomous Provinces, of the Provinces/Metropolitan Cities and of the Municipalities. The project assesses whether the standards provided by the Constitutional Court in relation to a particular level of government can be applied to other levels: in particular, the focus is on the interpretation of section 2, art. 48 Const. as applied to the national electoral law in the 1/14 and 35/17 decisions. After demonstrating that it would probably be appropriate to differentiate the application of the constitutional standards (more strictly to the Regions and less to the other entities), the thesis compares today’s laws with these standards. Finally, in order to allow a comparative analysis, the research project presents the German and Spanish systems of local electoral laws and its constitutional norms, from which it derives proposals to solve some of the long-lasting issues of the Italian local electoral system.