EU Election Fever: Italian Village of 46 has 30 Candidates in Local Elections - Mother and Son in Rival Camps

Ingria, one of the smallest villages in Italy near Turin, has 46 inhabitants and another 26 people registered to vote from abroad. They make up the entire electorate. On 8 and 9 June, elections will be held here to elect a new municipal administration on three lists of candidates. Currently, two-thirds of Ingria are running for office, including a mother and son in rival camps.

In the mini-mountain municipality, which was already the ‘northernmost League City’ in Italy a few elections ago, it is time to break another record: the percentage of candidates per capita. 

In total, there would be 64 eligible voters, as there are several registered Italians living abroad. But these are voters who very rarely return to vote in local elections. In short, the game, albeit with three lists, is for these 46 votes. Even some members of the same family are competing, which is quite common in such small towns. 

Despite the unusual presence of a mother and son on two different lists, Ingria assures us that there is no ‘family crisis’. The mayor's relatives have been talking about politics for generations. And even the mother has been employed in the public palace several times.

We are talking about the former mayor Igor De Santis, 42, from the Progetto Ingria list, and his mother Milena Crossasso, 66, a candidate for councillor on the opposition Ingria 100% list, which is nominating 70-year-old Renato Poletto for the mayoralty. The latter list proposes eight women and one man for the council.

Ingria is located in Italy's Soana Valley and faces challenges similar to other mountain villages, such as depopulation, lack of services and snow problems in winter. Since 2022, when it was named one of the ‘most beautiful’ villages in Italy, it has also had to deal with the growth of tourism.