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 (D.P.R.) No. 395/2003, candidate lists may be submitted to the Electoral Office of the Consulate General between the twentieth and thirtieth day following the official calling of the elections (which will be announced in the coming weeks).
The Consulate General will make specific times available for the signing and authentication of signatures, according to procedures and schedules that will be communicated through this website (please carefully review Section 2, “Signatures and Authentication of Signatures”).
The Com.It.Es of San Francisco has 12 members. Candidate lists must include at least 12 candidates and no more than 16 candidates, according to D.P.R. No. 395/2003, Article 14, paragraph 2.
Each list, bearing its own identifying symbol, must be submitted by one of the candidates or by one of the signatories. The person submitting the list must provide their address for the purpose of receiving subsequent notifications.
Requirements
Pursuant to Article 16 of D.P.R. No. 395/2003, a candidacy is inadmissible:
– if the candidate is under 18 years of age;
– if the candidate is running on more than one list;
– if the candidate is not resident in the consular district;
– if the declaration accepting the candidacy is missing.
Pursuant to Article 6 of D.P.R. No. 395/2003, Italian citizens are eligible for election if they:
– reside in the consular district;
– are candidates on one—and only one—of the lists submitted (and in only one consular district);
– are included in the updated register referred to in Article 5, paragraph 1, of Law No. 459/2001;
– meet the eligibility requirements for standing as candidates in local administrative elections set forth in Article 55 (“Eligibility for Election”), paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree (D.Lgs.) No. 267/2000, including having reached the age of 18 on the date set for voting.
The following persons are not eligible for election:
– employees of the Italian State serving abroad, including contract staff;
– persons holding institutional offices and their salaried staff;
– administrators and legal representatives (as identified in the articles of incorporation and bylaws) of entities managing educational activities operating within the territory of the Committee;
– administrators and legal representatives (as identified in the articles of incorporation and bylaws) of assistance committees receiving public funding;
– persons falling within the categories specified in Articles 60 (“Ineligibility”) and 61 (“Ineligibility and incompatibility with the office of mayor and president of a province”) of D.Lgs. No. 267/2000;
– persons to whom the conditions set forth in Articles 10 (“Disqualification from candidacy in provincial, municipal and district elections”) and 11 (“Suspension and automatic removal from office of local administrators subject to disqualification from candidacy”) of D.Lgs. No. 235/2012 apply;
– persons who have already served as members of the same Committee for two consecutive terms.
Documentation
Declarations for the submission of candidate lists may be signed on separate documents (sheets). Separate signature-collection sheets must display the list’s identifying symbol as well as the names of all candidates.
Each candidate list—indicating, for each candidate, surname, first name, place and date of birth, as well as the sequential number assigned by the person submitting the list—must be accompanied by the following documentation:
– declarations of acceptance of candidacy from each candidate, duly signed and authenticated;
– certificates, including collective certificates, attesting that the voters are registered on the electoral rolls of the relevant consular district. These certificates are issued by the Consular Office upon request by the interested parties and on the basis of the records held by the Office, beginning on the fifteenth day following the date on which the elections are called. They must be issued within the mandatory deadline of twenty-four hours from the request (D.P.R. No. 395/2003, Article 14, paragraph 8);
– the designation of one principal representative and one alternate representative to the District Electoral Committee;
– the signatures required by law, together with the corresponding authentication. For each signatory, the list must indicate the surname, first name, place and date of birth, as well as the electoral certification referred to in point 2 above.
Please note that each list, bearing its own identifying symbol, must be submitted by one of the candidates or one of the signatories to the Electoral Office of the Consulate General, in accordance with procedures and schedules that will be communicated through this website, between the twentieth and thirtieth day following the date on which the elections are called.
SIGNATURES AND AUTHENTICATION OF SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the applicable legislation (Article 13, paragraph 1, of Law No. 286/2003), signatories of candidate lists must have been resident in the consular district for at least six months and must be included in the electoral registers for the Com.It.Es. elections. Signatories may not be candidates and may not sign more than one list; otherwise, their signature will be deemed invalid.
Candidate lists must be signed by at least 100 voters, under Article 15, paragraph 3, of Law No. 286/2003; this number is so low because the San Francisco consular disrict does not hold more than 50,000 citizens.
For each signatory, the following information must be provided:
– surname;
– first name;
– place and date of birth.
Under current legislation, signatures may be authenticated only by Category I Consular Offices (i.e., exclusively by this Consulate General). Honorary Consuls are not authorized to authenticate signatures. Authentication is always provided free of charge (Article 34 of D.P.R. No. 395/2003).
Declarations for the submission of candidate lists may be signed on separate documents (sheets). Separate signature-collection sheets must display the list’s identifying symbol as well as the names of all candidates.
Voters may visit the Consulate General to sign candidate lists and have their signatures authenticated. Times and methods for doing so will be published on this website in the coming weeks.
For further information, the Consulate may be contacted at the dedicated email address: sanfrancisco.voto@esteri.it.
At the time of signing, each signatory must provide proof of identity by presenting an identification document (passport or identity card), provided that it bears a photograph of the holder and was issued by an Italian public authority.
