How Venetians Voted in the 2025 Referendum

Venice, 10 June 2025 – The turnout in Veneto for the referendum on work and citizenship stopped at just over 26% , marking one of the lowest figures in Italy.

Things went worse only in Calabria, Sicily and Trentino-Alto Adige.

Among the few who went to the polls to express their preference on the five questions promoted by the CGIL and a series of parties and civic movements, 88.7% supported reinstatement in cases of illegitimate dismissals in companies with more than 15 employees; 87% voted yes to the removal of the six-month limit for compensation in small businesses; 88% expressed themselves in favor of greater protections for fixed-term contracts and 86% voted for the extension of responsibility for safety in subcontracting.

As for the fifth question – concerning citizenship reform – with the counting almost completed, 64% of votes were in favour against 36% against.

The turnout in the city of Padua reached almost 29%, Venice just exceeded 28%, while Rovigo, Treviso, Verona, Vicenza and Belluno totaled a percentage between 24% and 25%.

Against the backdrop of the referendum vote, the challenge for the renewal of the Regional Council that will be held next autumn.

The defeat of the centre-left coalition in the challenge to reach the quorum allows the centre-right coalition to sleep soundly while waiting to understand when the last word will be said on the question of the third mandate .

“The alternative to the Meloni government is not visible” - this is the leitmotif of the day after the vote in the centre-right house where a reform of the law would lead straight to the re-candidacy of Luca Zaia.

The opening that has come in recent weeks from government officials and representatives of Fratelli d'Italia should lead to an internal debate within the coalition.

Also watching the majority's movements carefully is the governor of Campania Vincenzo De Luca who declared: "If they decide, they will do it tomorrow morning. If the government wants, it will be done in 48 hours. I don't think we have a stopping force in Parliament".

The president of the association of municipalities and mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi also thought of relaunching the issue, proposing to extend the reasoning to the mandate of the first citizens. "Our position, well known for some time and based on criteria of reasonableness and fairness among the elected officials at every level of government for a mature democracy - he declared - , is always the same, sanctioned in countless formal acts over the years, and once again we ask for the overcoming of the mandate constraint for all the mayors of our country, should the political will to eliminate the constraint for the Presidents of the Region mature. There is no logical, legal, institutional and political reason why the possible removal of the constraint for the regional presidents should not also be extended to the mayors of municipalities with over 15 thousand inhabitants. It would be a sign of a very serious disparity with an evidently illogical implementation that would determine the application of double standards to one or the other office", warns the president of the Anci.