Italian Canadian voters pivotal in electing Prodi

[Robbien]

The votes of 40,000 Canadian citizens who qualify as "Italians abroad," some of whom have never set foot in Italy and many of whom don't speak Italian, played a pivotal role in the defeat of billionaire Silvio Berlusconi in Italy's election yesterday, according to poll results released late last night. For the first time in history, a country's political fate appears to have been determined by citizens of other countries, after Mr. Berlusconi introduced a scheme in 2002 that defines eligible Italian voters by blood lines rather than residency.

. . .

That means that the "Italians abroad" determined the government, since Mr. Prodi's coalition won control of the Senate by only two seats, a margin of 158 seats to 156. Mr. Berlusconi's anger and scrutiny is now focused tightly on these votes, especially in the riding that represents North and Central America, in which Canadian votes proved decisive.

In Canada, 15,425 Italian-Canadians, or 44 per cent of those who cast ballots, voted for Mr. Prodi's coalition. In the United States, Mr. Berlusconi's coalition attracted a slightly larger number -- 15,148, or 34 per cent. But the Canadian votes for Mr. Prodi, along with a smaller number from Mexico, were enough to give him a victory here.

. . .

Most Italian observers, including Mr. Berlusconi's officials, had apparently expected the "Italians abroad" to support Mr. Berlusconi's coalition. But Mr. Prodi was apparently aware that the foreign voters could provide his electoral salvation. His campaign spent considerable money sending campaign messages to Canada this year. A letter sent to Italian-Canadian households across Canada promised "to restore the deep cuts" made by Mr. Berlusconi's coalition to Italian consular services in Canada, and to make funds available for visits.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060412.ITALY12/TPStory/TP

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. There's a distinct whiff there of...

[Maven]

2. hoisted by his own petard!

"after Mr. Berlusconi introduced a scheme in 2002 that defines eligible Italian voters by blood lines rather than residency"

LOL!

[Warren Stupidity]

3. Spin, rinse, repeat.

Are we brain washed yet?

"some of whom have never set foot in Italy and many of whom don't speak Italian"

All of whom, by Berlusconis's own rules, were quite rightly eligible to vote.

[Darth_Kitten]

4. Canadians are now power mad.......

and will not stop until they take over the world!

Ciao. :)

[bluestateguy]

5. Does this mean any ethnic Italian can vote in the election?

I wish I had known this. My Mom could have voted in the election and she would have voted for Prodi.

[Robbien]

8. Yes Americans can vote in their election

All you have to do is have an ancestor who was born in Italy. If your mom has an ancestor wouldn't that mean you have one also?

[EFerrari]

9. Darn! Doug could have voted for Prodi! Grampa Ferrari!

:rofl:

[Spazito]

6. WTG Italian-Canadians!

Now, they need to make sure and get out and vote Harper out in the next election!

[arikara]

7. So if 44% voted for Prodi

did the rest (56%) vote for Berlusconi? It doesn't say in the article. At any rate, I'd hardly say that a 44% of the vote qualifies as the reason that he lost the election. More likely, the Berlusconians had a bit of a glitch in their cheating.

And get how supremecist and sexist this is...

The "Italians abroad" voting scheme was designed by Mirko Tremaglia, the 80-year-old Minister of Italians in the World. An unapologetic defender of the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, Mr. Tremaglia is said to have modelled the scheme after a Fascist scheme that defined Italians as a race.

Under Mr. Tremaglia's new electoral law, eligible voters are defined as anyone with a continuous line of male descendants going back to a man born in Italy. The voter needs only to register with an Italian consulate, and does not have to speak Italian, have visited Italy or even have parents who were born in Italy.

And that slimey little louse Pettigrew had something to do with it.

[Lisa]

10. interesting -- in the 2004 US election, Democrats Abroad ...

... mobilized a lot of US expatriates currently living in Canada. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this may have been important in some areas (for example, Washington State, where the gubernatorial vote was pretty close ... hundreds of Democrats were registered on Vancouver Island alone, right across the border).

DA also registered Republicans, since the GOP equivalent organization didn't bother establishing a presence in many parts of Canada. But John Kerry's sister even came up here and campaigned for him.