Fuori sede ed inclusione elettorale. Alcune osservazioni conclusive sulle prospettive italiane e comparate

This chapter examines the issue of electoral inclusion for Italian voters temporarily residing away from their municipality of registration, with parti- cular attention to the constitutional and comparative dimensions of remote voting mechanisms. Starting from the growing mismatch between formal re- sidence and the actual places where citizens live, work or study, the chapter frames out-of-town voting as part of the broader problem of “involuntary abstention”: a form of non-participation caused not by political disengage- ment, but by economic, social and logistical obstacles to the exercise of the right to vote. The analysis compares several mechanisms adopted in foreign legal systems to mitigate such obstacles, including absentee voting, postal voting, early voting and proxy voting. Against this comparative background, the article highlights the peculiarity of the Italian system, traditionally cen- tred on residence as the exclusive criterion for determining the place of voting, with only limited exceptions. The author concludes that, although comparative models cannot be transplanted mechanically, the Italian legal system increasingly needs stable solutions capable of reconciling electoral inclusion with the essential safeguards of democratic voting