A referendum to ease Italian citizenship requirements failed on Monday due to low voter turnout. The result is a victory for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who encouraged the public not to vote.
Italian citizenship and labor reform referendums look likely to fail due to low voter turnout.
As two-day voting wound down in Europe's fourth-largest economy only about 30% of Italy's 51 million eligible voters had turned out to cast ballots in five referendums championed by center-left opposition groups as well as the country's labor unions.
Referendums require 50% plus one voter participation to be legally binding in Italy.
The result is seen as a major victory for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who vehemently opposed the measures.
Meloni arrived at a Rome polling station on Sunday — when turnout was 22% — to declare that she would not cast a vote.
Meloni then once-again encouraged her supporters to likewise boycott the ballot.
