The Viterbo paradox: 800 Romanian electors may influence votes in a small Italian town

The political and administration elections continue on Monday. As community citizens, Romanians have the right to active and passive voting for the administration, meaning that they can vote and even run for public seats in the local councils. In Viterbo, a small town 80 kilometers north of Rome, Romanians are the most important immigrant minority. The city has 51,964 Italians with the right to vote. Out of 3,000 Romanians, 800 are listed as voters.

Only one Romanian will run for the local council, Gabriela Violeta Vidussoni, who has been living in Italy for 35 years.

According to Adrian Bratu, representative of the Romanian community in Viterbo, the 800 voters enlisted may be more numerous than the Romanian voting in Rome.

Given the massive presence of Romanians, Viterbo became the stage of a rough confrontation for the votes. Local and national newspapers informed about the denouncing made by Catalina Sava, another representative of the Romanian community. According to her statements, some Romanians were threatened to be fired in case the do not vote for a certain candidate.