How much does it cost to vote?

Estimated costs of the 2025 regional elections

Last updated: 20 November 2025

Regional elections set in motion a complex “machine”: in 2025 alone, about 18 million Italians will vote at more than 20,000 polling stations. In this article, we quantify the cost of organising the 2025 round of voting in the regions going to the polls, breaking the expenditure down into six categories: polling station staff, printing and materials, logistics and security, institutional communication, voting incentives, digitisation, and data management.

How election spending is structured

Polling station staff (approx. 37%)

Polling station staff accounts for the largest share. Each polling station is assigned a President (allowance €150) and scrutineers/secretaries (allowance €120 each). This category also includes overtime for municipal staff and additional payments related to special polling stations (hospitals, prisons, home voting).

Logistics and security (approx. 30%)

This covers everything needed to open and keep polling stations operational: from setting up booths and ballot boxes to transporting materials. It also includes surveillance, as well as the delivery and collection of ballot papers and official reports.

Printing and materials (approx. 23%)

This includes the printing of ballot papers and all paper materials (registers, reports, instructions), as well as the production of stamps—one for each polling station—and the purchase of the materials needed at the stations.

Digitisation and data management (approx. 6%)

This consists of the cost of IT systems used to collect, verify, and disseminate results and turnout data. Added to this are the costs of cybersecurity.

Institutional communication (approx. 3%)

This covers the cost of information campaigns, notices, and dedicated web pages providing citizens with official information on dates, times, required documents, polling stations, and services.

Voting incentives (approx. 1%)

Voting incentives include all concessions and reimbursements that make it easier to vote, such as discounts on trains, buses, and ferries, or contributions for returning from abroad or from other regions.

What is the cost for individual regions?

What is the total expenditure? The cost for this electoral round is estimated at around 50 million euros, broken down as follows:

• Campania — €14.0 million
• Tuscany — €11.5 million
• Apulia — €9.7 million
• Veneto — €9.0 million
• Calabria — €7.0 million
• Marche — €3.8 million
• Aosta Valley — €0.36 million

And who pays? For regional elections, the costs fall on the Region’s budget, but a portion of the expenses is advanced by municipalities and reimbursed later.

How we calculated these figures

Total expenses are based on official data where available and on estimates for the remaining regions, calculated in proportion to the number of polling stations. Amounts are rounded and may differ from the final outturn figures that will be published later.

Written by Francesco Calabrese Vallino.