The record turnout could overturn predictions: polls closed with 45% of voters, in Sicily 35%

A slow and continuous line since early morning, everyone there with their voter cards in hand and identification documents. A move to speed up the identification procedures, just a few seconds behind the partition and the delivery of the ballot. Predictions about the confirmatory referendum could be thrown off by high turnout. Once the polls closed, an undeniable fact emerged: over 45% of voters went to the polls to vote, while in Sicily, over 35% of voters cast their ballots.

By 7 PM on Sunday, March 22, 2026 about 38% of eligible voters had already voted. This figure is significantly higher than the constitutional consultation of 2020, when at the same hour the turnout was around 29.71%. It is a “hot” turnout that, in the weeks leading up to the vote, many believed could help the Yes for the justice reform sought by the government led by Giorgia Meloni; however, the latest scenarios have also recorded a strong resurgence of the No, indicating that the vote is being played out in the most elusive perimeter: that of the persuadable last-minute voters.

What is really being voted on: the “Meloni–Nordio” reform in a few lines

At the center of the consultation is the constitutional law that redefines the architecture of justice in Italy. The key points: the separation of careers between judicial magistracy and prosecutorial magistracy; the establishment of two distinct CSMs, one for judges and one for public prosecutors, both presided over by the President of the Republic; the creation of a High Disciplinary Court for proceedings concerning the conduct of magistrates; the introduction of lottery quotas in the selection of some members, with the declared aim of reducing the influence of factions.

This is a constitutional revision definitively approved on October 30, 2025 and subjected to a confirmatory referendum in the absence of a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The question does not require a participation quorum: whoever receives the most votes wins, regardless of turnout.