The City of Sassari will celebrate 80 years of women’s right to vote with a special session of the City Council, scheduled for Thursday, November 12, at 10 a.m. at Palazzo Ducale. The event will retrace the steps that led to universal suffrage and bring together institutional representatives and students, with admission open to the public and a live stream.

The proceedings will be opened by City Council President Mario Pingerna. This will be followed by a screening of an Istituto Luce film about the first elections with universal suffrage and a video story about Antonia Pes, a centenarian from Viddalba who voted in the 1946 referendum and has continued to take part in elections.

Speakers will include Prefect Carla Di Quattro and Anna Sanna, Sassari’s first and only woman mayor, a former MP and advocate of legislation on women’s employment, maternity and work-life balance. Constitutional law scholar Carla Bassu, a professor of comparative public law at the University of Sassari, will retrace the legislative path from the 1945 decree to the Constituent Assembly and the Constitution, also focusing on the social and economic context of those years.

The session will continue with a relay of readings from historical testimonies, delivered by the prefect, female councillors and executive councillors, the secretary general and the guests. The readings will be accompanied by performances by students from Azuni music high school. The meeting will be brought to a close by Mayor Giuseppe Mascia.

The choice of November recalls the 1946 local elections in Italy’s largest cities. On March 10 and June 2 of that year, universal suffrage had already been used, respectively, in 436 municipalities and in the referendum on a republic or monarchy. Women’s right to vote had been established by a legislative decree dated January 31, 1945, published the following day; the right to stand for election came with a measure dated March 10, 1946, which set the minimum age for candidacy to the Constituent Assembly at 25.

In the June 2 elections, 21 women were elected out of 558 members of the Constituent Assembly, or 3.7%. In the same referendum, 54.3% of voters chose the Republic, which defeated the monarchy by a margin of about two million votes.

The following details are provided for those wishing to attend the special session:

  • When: Thursday, November 12, at 10 a.m.
  • Where: Palazzo Ducale, Sassari.
  • Admission: open to the public; a live stream will also be available.