The second instalment of the Politica column is a calendar, because that is exactly what is missing for those who live outside Italy. Over the next two years Italians are called to renew almost everything: the Chambers, the mayors of the country's biggest cities, five regional councils and the two autonomous provinces. For those living in Switzerland the practical question is always the same, and the answer changes from election to election: what can I vote for from here, and what do I need to take a train for.

The basic rule is simple and it is worth keeping in mind for the rest of this article. In general elections and referendums, Italians registered with AIRE vote by post in the Overseas Constituency, and the envelope with the ballot arrives at home without having to ask for anything. In municipal and regional elections, on the other hand, there is no form of voting from abroad: you can only vote in person in the municipality where you are registered as a voter, your municipality of origin, which sends a notice card with the procedures and the travel discounts provided each time. Comites elections, finally, are voted by post but only upon request submitted in advance to the consulate.

The heaviest appointment of 2027 is the general election. The nineteenth legislature opened on 13 October 2022 and reaches its natural end on 13 October 2027, with the vote to be scheduled within seventy days of the dissolution of the Chambers. For months, however, the hypothesis of an early vote in spring, between April and June, has been circulating insistently, both to bring the general election back into its traditional window and to combine it with the municipal elections in a single election day. No date has been set and nobody today can indicate one with certainty, because it depends on the reform of the electoral law and on the next budget. What is certain is the mechanism: once the elections are called, AIRE members will receive the postal ballot automatically, and those who prefer to vote in Italy must notify their consulate within the tenth day after the elections are called, a choice to be renewed at every consultation.

In spring 2027 Italy votes for its mayors, and it is the biggest round of local elections in years. Two groups of municipalities converge on the same date: those that went to the polls in October 2021, in the tail end of the pandemic period, including Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Bologna and Trieste, and those that voted in June 2022, including Palermo, Genoa, Verona, Parma, Messina, L'Aquila and Catanzaro. Estimates speak of around five and a half million voters in the big cities alone. The window provided by law 182 of 1991 runs from mid-April to mid-June, with current indications converging on the second half of April, but the definitive list of municipalities and the exact date only arrive with the decree of the Ministry of the Interior, normally between February and March. For those living in Switzerland it is the round that requires the most organisation, because the vote can only be cast by returning to your own municipality.

Also in 2027, in the autumn, the president of the Region and the Sicilian Regional Assembly are renewed, five years after the vote of September 2022. It is the only region voting in the whole year, and here too the rule of the return trip applies. In the same year, but without polls open to citizens, the General Council of Italians Abroad is renewed: it is a second-degree election, in which the Comites members elected on 4 December 2026 and the representatives of the associations vote.

2028 is instead the year of the regions. Lombardy and Lazio, which voted in February 2023, return to the polls, together with Friuli-Venezia Giulia from April 2023, Molise from June 2023 and the two autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano, which renewed their councils in October 2023. It is worth clearing up a frequent misunderstanding: Trentino-Alto Adige has not elected a regional council as such since 2003, because the Region's council is made up of the councillors elected in the two autonomous provinces.

In spring 2028 it is the turn of the municipalities that voted in May 2023, a group that includes Brescia, Ancona, Catania, Pisa, Vicenza, Terni, Siena, Massa, Treviso, Sondrio, Imperia, Brindisi, Teramo and Latina. Here too, the official list will be the one in the ministerial decree of the previous spring.

Finally, an unknown hangs over 2028 that directly concerns postal voting. The constitutional reform on the direct election of the prime minister is still being discussed in Parliament and the majority does not have the two thirds needed to avoid the popular vote: if the process is completed, a confirmatory referendum will be needed, which is voted without a quorum and in which Italians abroad participate by post as with any other referendum. The indications that emerged in summer 2026 place that referendum in 2028, but it is a scenario, not a date.

A summary of the deadlines, with the caveat that they remain to be confirmed by the respective decrees.

4 November 2026: deadline to apply for registration on the electoral roll for the Comites elections.

4 December 2026: Comites elections, postal voting, the envelope must reach the consulate by midnight.

Spring 2027: municipal elections, including Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Bologna, Trieste, Palermo, Genoa, Verona, Parma, Messina, L'Aquila and Catanzaro.

2027: general election, between the hypothesis of an early spring vote and the natural end of the legislature in the autumn. Postal voting from abroad.

Autumn 2027: regional elections in Sicily.

2027: renewal of the General Council of Italians Abroad, a second-degree election.

2028: regional elections in Lombardy, Lazio, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Molise and in the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano.

Spring 2028: municipal elections, including Brescia, Ancona, Catania, Pisa, Vicenza, Terni, Siena, Massa, Treviso, Sondrio, Imperia, Brindisi, Teramo and Latina.

2028: possible constitutional referendum on the direct election of the prime minister, if the reform completes its parliamentary process.

This column will keep the calendar updated with every decree, and will notify by email those who request it when there is a vote in their municipality or region of origin. If you want to receive the alerts, let us know your municipality and region of origin by writing to votazioni@tuttoitalia.ch.