PAGE 5 WINTER 2020 Italian American Digest
There are over 60 million Italian citizens in the world . According to the Italian government ’ s Registry of Italians Residing Abroad ( Anagrafe Italiani Residenti All ’ Estero - AIRE ) over 5.5 million citizens reside outside of Italy and are spread out across nearly every nation on Earth .
Since 2001 , Italy has been one of a very few countries to reserve seats in its national legislature for representation of those citizens residing abroad . The upper house is the Senate ( Senato ) and reserves six seats for which expatriates can vote . The Chamber of Deputies ( Camera dei Deputati ) is the lower house and allots 12 seats . These 18 legislators represent four constituencies , Europe , South America , North & Central America , and the remaining district contains Asia , Africa , Oceania , and Antarctica .
To be eligible to run for a five year term as senator or deputy , an Italian must be 40 and 25 years old , respectively . At 18 years of age , Italian citizens can vote in Chamber of Deputies elections . Once they are 25 years old , they are allowed to vote in Senate races .
Voting by Italians abroad is done via mail , with ballots being received from and returned to the consulate general with jurisdiction over their place of residence . In the United States , Italy ’ s consulates general are located in Boston , Chicago , Detroit , Houston , Los Angeles , Miami , New York , Philadelphia , San Francisco , and Washington , DC .
Francesca La Marca currently represents Italian citizens living in North & Central
Francesca LaMarca Deputata Italiana
America in the Chamber of Deputies . The child of Italian immigrants to Canada , La Marca was born and raised in Toronto . She describes her
Ufficio - Roma Telefono : (+ 39 ) 06 67 60 57 03
By Enrico Villamaino
Deputata La Marca can be reached at :
Office - Toronto Telephone : 001 ( 416 ) 479-0442 lamarca _ f @ camera . it facebook . com / LaMarcaF twitter . com / FrancescaLaMar
upbringing as “ Multicultural , but very Italian .” She and her brother would attend Saturday school as children , with classes being conducted entirely in Italian . Along with English and Italian , La Marca is fluent in French and Spanish .
As a student , La Marca studied languages , philosophy , and French literature . She received her doctorate from the University of Toronto , and has worked as a French literature professor at her alma mater and a number of universities in the surrounding area .
“ I have always been in love with Italian culture and very politically aware ,” says La Marca . This is what , in part , propelled her to first run for the Chamber of Deputies in 2013 . As a member of the chamber , she represents over 450,000 Italian expatriates . The vast majority of these constituents live in the United States ( 250,000 ) and Canada ( 150,000 .) She was reelected to a second term in 2018 . No stranger to air travel , La Marca ’ s duties as a deputy require her to fly to Rome approximately once a month as well as travel throughout her district . Before the COVID-19 pandemic , she made frequent visits to a number of locations throughout the United States .
When discussing her legislative initiatives , she prioritizes programs that promote Italian language and cultural programs abroad . Included in this is facilitating the acquisition and / or re-acquisition of Italian citizenship for those who are eligible . La Marca would also ensure that the consulates that serve her constituents have adequate funding , including financial assistance to the vast network of honorary consuls working with them . “ The honorary consuls are providing services that are largely voluntary . They do much at their own expense . I also support the utilization of contract workers in consulates .”
Another issue important to La Marca is keeping the level of representation in her district . Currently , her district has one senator and two deputies . However , a constitutional referendum that just passed in September lowers the number of senators in parliament from 315 to 200 and the number of deputies from 630 to 400 . There will be fewer representatives elected in 2023 . Depending on how they are reapportioned , her district might lose a member and have one senator and one deputy . “ I want to fight to keep the two deputies .”
Deputata La Marca encourages any of her constituents to contact her should they need her
assistance .