On 8 and 9 June 2025, Italian citizens were called upon to vote on the questions of five abrogative referendums, four concerning labour and one on citizenship.

The question on citizenship put to voters was: “Italian citizenship: halving the period of legal residence in Italy required for non-EU adults to apply for Italian citizenship from 10 to 5 years”, proposed by the political party +Europa with the aim to align Italian legislation with the standards of various European countries, where the periods stipulated by integration policies are generally of 5 years. 

The other four questions were aimed at ensuring greater protection and security for workers: the first question asked voters to express their opinion on the proposal to repeal the rules governing wrongful dismissal; the second question called for greater protection for workers in small businesses by removing the limit of six months’ pay as compensation in the event of unfair dismissal; the third aimed at reducing precarious employment by removing a number of rules on the use of fixed-term contracts; finally, the fourth dealt with health and safety at work, proposing an extension of the client employer’s liability.

As these were abrogative referendums, a quorum had to be reached for the result to be considered valid; however, out of approximately 14 million eligible voters, only 30,6% of voters in Italy and 23,8% of Italians living abroad turned to the polls, all issues considered.

This low voter turnout in referendums reflects a trend that has emerged over the last thirty years, during which only two of the ten non-constitutional referendums held in this period reached the quorum. 

Observing the turnout statistics at the regional level, it appears that the highest turnout was recorded in Toscana (39,1%), Emilia-Romagna (38,1%), Piemonte (35,2%) and Liguria (35,1%), whilst the regions with the lowest turnout were Trentino-Alto Adige (22,7%), Sicilia (23,1%) and Calabria (23,8%).

Among the reasons that likely had the most influence on the decision not to vote were a lack of interest in the issues addressed in the questions and a general disinterest in the referendum mechanism, sometimes fuelled by some political actors' intention to cause the failing of the referendum through abstention.

The failure of the referendum on citizenship demonstrated an inability to engage and mobilise sufficient participation and highlighted the need to reflect on ways to promote active participation among the electorate.