This is the slogan of a big group of Italian young people all over Europe who decided to protest against the negation of the vote abroad.
They can’t vote on the Italian General Election 2013 (which is taking place on the 24th and the 25th of February 2013) because they are abroad, taking part in mobility programmes such as Leonardo or Erasmus, or they are overseas for working experience or to study. People in these circumstances are not listed in the General Register of the Italians living abroad (AIRE); this status which would have permitted them to vote is gained only after living abroad for a period longer than one year.
Italian youth met each other through social networks one month ago, and created a page on Facebook to coordinate a very singular protest. They are divided in 25 European groups (Brussels, Madrid, Paris, Toulouse, Valladolid, Tenerife, Heidelberg, Cork, London, Lisbon, Potsdam, Vigo/Pontevedra/Ourense, Seville, Edinburgh, Berlin, Amsterdam, Marseille, Lyon, Valencia, Barcelona, Hannover/Gottingen, Dublin, Warsaw, Tours, York, Granada) and one South American group also (Sao Paolo, Brazil).
On the 23rd of February they are going to place a polling station in each town of their group to simulate their election in order “to give a moral slap” to their institutions. “They prevent us from voting…but we will do it anyway!”. This is their message.
They want to show that they are a many people and that maybe their vote would change the result of the election.
This creative reaction is proof that young people really want to be active and have their say.
For now they are trying to reach other Italian people, spreading flyers to share on social network, in the streets, in places and events where they can meet their young compatriots.
They are also sharing a simultaneous campaign for voting online, that is taking place the 24th and the 25th of February. It has not legal value (neither has the voting casted at the simulations), but it is useful to estimate how their vote would have count and to show their real will to make their voice heard.
With this article, we would also like to reach more Italian young people scattered all over Europe to let them know about the initiative and to give them the opportunity to take action, to join the groups in their city, or even create their own group.
The person who is writing is firstly involved. My name is Monica Riccio, I am 24 years old. I am from Napoli and I am doing an internship in AEGEE Europe, the European Student’s Forum. I am very active in my town, engaged in many projects for active citizenship and cooperation.
When I decided to join this initiative I was searching for Italian youths who were as astonished as me hearing the news that we couldn’t have the right to vote abroad. In that moment I started to contact Italian youths in Brussels, using social network, to organize a mobilization. Then, surfing the net, I found a page (https://www.facebook.com/italianiesclusidalvoto) which was created for the same purpose. Now it is a page that we use to inform and coordinate the initiative.
At the moment I’m leading the Belgian group with other three Italian girls (Eleonora, Marta and Claudia) and with the support of AEGEE-Europe. But we need to be more and more to raise our voice. So, if you have some friends doing Erasmus, Leonardo or experiences like these in Brussels or all over Europe, please spread the word and contact us so they can also participate in our initiative.
For Brussels add on FB: Elezioni Italiane a Bruxelles http://goo.gl/SWnC2
For other European groups: http://www.facebook.com/events/453149821405565/?ref=ts&fref=ts
For the online vote: https://iovoto.evoting.it/registrazione/