National political elections and abrogative and constitutional referendums
On the occasion of the national general elections and the abrogative and constitutional referendums pursuant to articles 75 and 138 of the Constitution, the Consular Office of the Embassy sends the electoral envelope to Italian citizens residing in Botswana, Eswatini and Mozambique and registered on AIRE by private courier (also in charge of recovering the envelope with the ballot papers and the electoral coupon).
Voting abroad for national parliamentary elections and referendums is regulated by Law no. 459 of 27th December 2001 and the relative implementing Regulations (Presidential Decree no. 104 of 2nd April 2003), in implementation of articles 48, 56 and 57 of the Constitution, which established the Foreign District. Law no. 52 of 6th May 2015 established that even citizens temporarily abroad for a period of at least three months for work, study or medical treatment may ask their Municipality to vote abroad by correspondence.
In order to guarantee the delivery of electoral material, it is essential that voters communicate any changes of address in a timely manner, so as to allow the Consular Office to constantly update their contact details in Botswana, Eswatini and Mozambique (for further information on the updating of personal data, please refer to the Registry section).
European Parliament elections
Voting abroad for the election of Italian representatives to the European Parliament is regulated by Law no. 18 of 24th January 1979 and by Decree-Law no. 408 of 24th June 1994 (converted into Law no. 483 of 3rd August 1994). Therefore, the postal voting system does not apply to European elections: only Italian voters with the right and permanent residence in the countries of the European Union may in fact vote by going to Italian Consulates in the European Union (or exercise the option to vote in local polling stations for candidates from their country of residence). Italian citizens resident in non-EU countries, as in the case of Mozambique, Botswanan and Eswatini, will be able to exercise their right to vote when returning to Italy.
Election of COMITES
Italian voters resident abroad and duly registered on AIRE may vote for the election of representatives of the Committees of Italians Abroad (Law no. 286 of 23rd October 2003) in the consular districts where at least three thousand Italian nationals reside. There are currently no COMITES in Botswana, Eswatini and Mozambique.
Other electoral consultations
For all other elections (regional and municipal elections, local referendums, etc.) Italian citizens living abroad must return to Italy if they wish to exercise their right to vote.