Italy’s national referendum on labour protections and citizenship closed with just 30.6% turnout, well below the quorum threshold needed to make the result binding. According to the Interior Ministry, this figure reflects complete data from all 61,591 voting sections in Italy.
Despite the low participation, results show overwhelming support for repealing parts of the Jobs Act and related legislation. Voters backed the repeal of protections around unfair dismissals (88.93% Yes), partial repeal of small business layoff rules (87.54% Yes), and limits on temporary contracts (88.97% Yes). The high approval percentages came from both domestic and overseas votes, but they will have no legal effect due to the unmet quorum.
In Matera, turnout exceeded the threshold, reaching 53.3%, partly due to the simultaneous mayoral runoff.
14 million voted with government promoting abstentions
Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein welcomed the 14 million votes cast. She criticised Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government for what she described as a campaign to suppress participation.
“The difference between us and Meloni’s right is that today we are happy over 14 million people went to vote, while they are rejoicing because the others didn’t,” Schlein said. “More voters supported the referendums than those who voted for the right in 2022. When that happens, you should reflect on the laws, not mock the process.”
Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani offered a different view. “It was a defeat for the left and the opposition that tried to attack the government using the referendums. It went badly for them,” he said. Tajani also suggested that referendum rules may need reform, pointing to the costs of printing and sending millions of ballots to Italians abroad, many of which were returned blank.
The five-part referendum covered employment protections, layoff rules in small businesses, temporary contract regulations, and other aspects of the 2015 Jobs Act. Turnout figures varied little across the questions, each hovering near the 30% mark.
With the quorum unmet nationally, the government avoids changes to current labour laws — at least for now. But the scale of the “Yes” vote may fuel debate in the lead-up to the next national elections.
