By the end of the year, the elections are planned to renew the Committees of the Italians in the Far East (Comites), the bodies representing the Italian communities in relations with the diplomatic-consolar authorities, promote the interests of the Italian community abroad, favour the inclusion of the compatriots and preserve the historical memory of emigration; therefore they constitute a fundamental presidium of democratic participation.
Waiting for the formal indiction of the electoral committees by the Consular Offices, the General Council of Italians in the East draws the attention of all the fellow citizens of the world on the importance of participating in the consultation and, in the preparatory phase, on the need to know promptly the requirements for both active and passive electorate.
Unlike the political elections and referendums, the election of the Comites is not automatically sent to all eligible voters: they can receive and participate in the vote by correspondence the voters who have the legal requirements (residents and members of the AIRE in the consular constituency for at least six months from the date of the elections) who have expressly requested their Consular Office to register in the list of voters before thirty days.
The offices of the diplomatic-consolar network collect these requests, which can currently be transmitted according to the modalities indicated by the individual offices, including direct delivery, postal sending or e-mail transmission, accompanied by the required documentation. The CGIE therefore invites the compatriots interested in the vote to consult the website and the information channels of their Consulate or the embassy.
The preparatory work for the formation of the lists of candidates began in some consular circles. Several Consulates have in fact arranged that the collection of signatures, the subscription of lists and the relevant auditors can be made before the invocation of the elections.
Communications published so far by the different locations show non-uniform operating modes, due to the management autonomy of the individual Consulates, which have caused many questions to the compatriots.
The MAECI, at the explicit request of the General Council, has announced that it has given instructions to facilitate in any way the subscription of the lists also through the possible opening of the offices on weekend days and the sending of consular officials delegated to places and timetables agreed in order to favor the operations of authentic.
The CGIE therefore recommends to the promoters of the lists to contact the territorially competent Consulates to agree on the facilities that the MAECI has requested.
In recent months the CGIE has collected reports from the Comites, associations and compatriots on different continents, presenting to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation a series of concrete proposals to make the consultation more accessible and favor a wide participation both of the electorate and of the new lists. In particular, the General Council had also called for the digitization of procedures through Fast It, in addition to alternative solutions to the obligation of physical presence at the Consulate, taking into account the enormous distances that in many districts separate citizens from the premises; it also reiterated the need for a timely, capillary and continuous information campaign, capable of reaching even the less close to the associative and institutional network. Demands that arise from the need to remove the material obstacles that limit participation and guarantee equal conditions to Italian citizens resident in the different areas of the world.
The General Council highlights how participation in the Comites elections is essential to ensure strong, pluralistic and truly expression representative bodies of Italian communities abroad. For this reason, the preparatory phase of the consultation, from the extremely tight schedule, will continue to follow with the utmost commitment, and to collect reports from the territories, keeping the comparison with the Administration so that each citizen is put in the best possible conditions to participate.
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