{"id":6746,"date":"2026-07-21T02:23:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T00:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consbrisbane.esteri.it\/news\/dal_consolato\/2026\/07\/elezioni-dei-comites-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T04:27:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T02:27:43","slug":"elezioni-dei-comites-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consbrisbane.esteri.it\/en\/news\/dal_consolato\/2026\/07\/elezioni-dei-comites-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"COMITES Elections 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Update 10\/08\/2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>COM.IT.ES. 2026 ELECTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Preparation and Submission of Electoral Lists<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 2026, elections will be held for the renewal of the Committees of Italians Abroad (Com.It.Es.).<\/p>\n<p>Pursuant to Article 14 of Presidential Decree (DPR) 395\/2003, lists may be submitted to the Electoral Office during office hours between the twentieth and thirtieth day following the call for elections.<\/p>\n<p>The collection of signatures, the signing of the lists may take place starting now.<\/p>\n<p>Lists must consist of a number of candidates at least equal to the number of Committee members to be elected, and not exceeding 16 for Com.It.Es. made up of 12 members, or 22 for Com.It.Es. made up of 18 members (DPR 395\/2003, Art. 14, para. 2).<\/p>\n<p>Each list, bearing its own symbol\/emblem, is submitted by one of the candidates or by a signatory. The person submitting the list must declare their domicile for the purpose of subsequent notifications.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Documentation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Declarations of submission for candidate lists may be signed on separate documents (sheets). These separate signature-collection documents must bear the list&#8217;s symbol as well as the names of all candidates.<\/p>\n<p>Each list of candidates (each with surname, first name, place and date of birth, and a sequential number assigned by the list&#8217;s presenter) must be accompanied by the following documentation:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Signed and authenticated declarations of acceptance of candidacy by each candidate;<\/li>\n<li>Certificates, which may be collective, attesting that voters are registered on the electoral rolls of the relevant constituency. These certificates are issued by the consular office upon request by interested parties, based on records held by the office, starting from the fifteenth day following the date the elections are called, within a non-extendable period of twenty-four hours from the request (DPR 395\/2003, Art. 14, para. 8);<\/li>\n<li>The designation of one regular representative and one alternate representative for the constituency electoral committee;<\/li>\n<li>The signatures required by law, with their respective authentications. For each signatory, the list must include surname, first name, place and date of birth, and the electoral certification referred to in point b) above.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Please note that each list, bearing its own symbol, must be submitted by one of the candidates or one of the signatories to the electoral office, during office hours, between the twentieth and thirtieth day following the date the elections are called.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Signatures and Authentication of Signatures<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pursuant to current legislation (Article 13, paragraph 1, Law 286\/2003), signatories of the lists must have resided in the consular constituency for at least six months and must appear on the electoral rolls for Com.It.Es. elections. Signatories may not be candidates and may not sign more than one list, on penalty of nullity of the signature.<\/p>\n<p>Article 15, paragraph 3 of Law 286\/2003 establishes that candidate lists must be signed by a number of voters:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Not fewer than 100 for communities made up of up to 50,000 resident Italian citizens;<\/li>\n<li>Not fewer than 200 for those made up of more than 50,000.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For each signatory, the following must be indicated:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Surname;<\/li>\n<li>First name;<\/li>\n<li>Place and date of birth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Under current legislation, signatures may only be authenticated by First Category Consular Offices, thereby excluding Honorary Consuls. Authentication is always free of charge (Art. 34 of DPR 395\/2003).<\/p>\n<p>To facilitate the signing of lists and related authentications, interested parties may visit the Consulate during dedicated opening hours\u2014to be communicated at a later date\u2014from <strong>23 September 2026 to 3 October 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of signing, the signatory must be identified by means of an identification document (passport or identity card), provided it bears the holder&#8217;s photograph and was issued by an Italian public administration or by another State.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Requirements<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pursuant to Article 16 of DPR 395\/2003, a candidacy is not admissible when:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The candidate is a minor;<\/li>\n<li>The candidacy is submitted for more than one list;<\/li>\n<li>The candidate is not resident in the consular constituency;<\/li>\n<li>The declaration of acceptance of candidacy is missing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Pursuant to Article 6 of DPR 395\/2003, Italian citizens are eligible if they:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Are resident in the consular constituency;<\/li>\n<li>Are a candidate on one (and only one) of the lists submitted (and in only one constituency);<\/li>\n<li>Are registered on the updated list referred to in Article 5, paragraph 1 of Law 459\/2001;<\/li>\n<li>Meet the requirements for standing as a candidate in administrative elections, namely the requirements set out in Article 55 (Passive electorate) paragraph 1 of Legislative Decree 267\/2000\u2014i.e., having turned eighteen years of age by the day set for voting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The following are <strong>not eligible<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Employees of the Italian State serving abroad, including contract staff;<\/li>\n<li>Those holding institutional offices and their salaried staff;<\/li>\n<li>Administrators and legal representatives (under the founding deed and bylaws) of entities managing school activities operating within the Committee&#8217;s territory;<\/li>\n<li>Administrators and legal representatives (under the founding deed and bylaws) of assistance committees that receive public funding;<\/li>\n<li>Those referred to in Articles 60 (Ineligibility) and 61 (Ineligibility and incompatibility for the office of mayor and provincial president) of Legislative Decree 267\/2000;<\/li>\n<li>Those to whom the conditions set out in Articles 10 (Ineligibility for provincial, municipal, and constituency elections) and 11 (Suspension and automatic forfeiture of local administrators in a condition of ineligibility) of Legislative Decree 235\/2012 apply;<\/li>\n<li>Those who have already served as members of the same Committee for two consecutive terms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>21\/07\/2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">In 2026, elections will be held to renew the Committees of Italians Abroad (Com.It.Es.).<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">Com.It.Es. are bodies that represent Italian citizens abroad in their relations with Embassies and Consulates and promote their integration. They also have the task of preserving the historical memory of Italian emigration and highlighting the Italian contribution to the societies in which they operate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">They can be established in consular districts with more than 3,000 AIRE-registered citizens and are composed of 12 members in communities of up to 100,000 citizens, and 18 members in communities exceeding that threshold. Committee members serve for a term of 5 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">Voting takes place by mail, and it is open to citizens who have resided for at least 6 months in their consular district of reference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation reaffirms the importance of voter participation, an essential moment for strengthening the representation of Italy&#8217;s many communities abroad. The Committees serve as a constant point of reference for citizens, acting as spokespeople for their needs and promoting their interests in their respective territories.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">The Consulate of Italy in Brisbane invites all Italian citizens residing in the district to actively participate in this important democratic event, thereby helping to support and enhance their local Italian community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:align-top\">To learn more about the activities of the Com.It.Es. of Queensland and the Northern Territory, visit: <a class=\"reset interactable cursor-pointer decoration-1 underline-offset-1 text-super hover:underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.comitesqldnt.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span class=\"text-box-trim-both\">https:\/\/www.comitesqldnt.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Update 10\/08\/2026 COM.IT.ES. 2026 ELECTIONS Preparation and Submission of Electoral Lists In 2026, elections will be held for the renewal of the Committees of Italians Abroad (Com.It.Es.). Pursuant to Article 14 of Presidential Decree (DPR) 395\/2003, lists may be submitted to the Electoral Office during office hours between the twentieth and thirtieth day following the [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":6741,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/consbrisbane.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/consbrisbane.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/consbrisbane.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consbrisbane.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consbrisbane.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6746"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/consbrisbane.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7166,"href":"https:\/\/consbrisbane.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6746\/revisions\/7166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consbrisbane.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/consbrisbane.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consbrisbane.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}