Ravenna municipal elections, lists and candidates: guide to voting for the new mayor

Ravenna, May 24, 2025 – It will be the twentieth municipal election in the history of Ravenna since the Republic was proclaimed in 1946: the one scheduled for Sunday 25 and Monday 26 May will see 126,864 citizens of Ravenna vote, called to elect the successor at the helm of Palazzo Merlato of the acting mayor Fabio Sbaraglia, first citizen after the election of Michele de Pascale to lead the Region.

Polling stations will remain open from 7am to 11pm on Sunday and from 7am to 3pm on Monday .

Read also: Ravenna municipal elections, 7 candidates and 18 lists: here is the long list

Voting Guide

Citizens will obviously also be called to elect the city council , whose composition will reflect the results of the race for mayor. The candidate who obtains the absolute majority of valid votes, i.e. 50% plus one , is elected mayor in the first round. If no mayoral candidate reaches that threshold, voting will take place again on Sunday 8 and Monday 9 June for the runoff between the two mayoral candidates with the most votes (in that case, the vote will take place at the same time as the vote for the five abrogative referendums on issues relating to work and citizenship). As in all municipal elections, foreigners will also be able to vote, provided they are citizens of an EU country and have requested it.

How to express your preferences

The voter will be given only one ballot paper . Each voter can mark only one mark on the name of the mayoral candidate , or mark only one mark on one of the lists (in this case the vote is also attributed to the linked mayoral candidate), mark one mark on the mayoral candidate and one mark on one of the linked lists , or even cast a split vote , marking one mark on the mayoral candidate and another mark on an unlinked list. As regards the composition of the future municipal council, the voter can cast up to two preference votes, but of different genders, under penalty of cancellation of the second preference.

What documents to bring

To be admitted to vote, voters must show their electoral card and identity card (or another identification document). In the event that the eighteen spaces designated for voting are exhausted, or if it is damaged, lost or stolen, a duplicate card can be requested at the Multifunctional Desk at Viale Berlinguer 30, or by going to one of the decentralized offices of the former districts. If you arrive at the polling station without a document, identification can also be done through a member of the polling station or another voter present there.

Who are the mayoral candidates?

There are seven candidates for mayor: Alessandro Barattoni for the centre-left (which includes the Democratic Party, the Italian Republican Party, the Green and Left Alliance, the 5 Star Movement, Ama Ravenna and Progetto Ravenna), Nicola Grandi for the centre-right (Brothers of Italy, Forza Italia and Viva Ravenna), Alvaro Ancisi for the List for Ravenna (which includes the League and the People of the Family) and for the civic Environment and Animals, Veronica Verlicchi for La Pigna, Giovanni Morgese for the Christian Democracy, Maurizio Miserocchi for Ravenna al Centro and Marisa Iannucci for the four left-wing lists of Potere al Popolo, Ravenna in Comune, Pci and Rifondazione Comunista.

There are half a thousand candidates for the city council, adding up all the lists: it is impossible to predict how many of them will be elected, since several of the defeated mayoral candidates will presumably enter Palazzo Merlato.