Democratic Party (PD) MEP
Sergio Cofferati on Monday denounced what he said were "serious
irregularities" in Sunday's party primaries to elect a candidate
to run for governor in the northwestern Liguria region in May
elections.
Current executive regional council member for
infrastructure and civil protection, Raffaella Paita, beat
former CGIL trade union chief and ex-Bologna mayor Cofferati by
a margin of about 4,000 votes.
Paita took 28,973 votes against Cofferati's 24,916.
Democratic Center (CD) candidate Massimiliano Tovo got 699
votes.
The regional electoral commission's final tally was of
54,947 votes cast. Of these, 177 were crossed out, 182 were
blank, and six were found questionable and annulled.
The regional college of guarantors for primaries confirmed
Monday that Cofferati and two others reported "serious
irregularities in electoral operational procedure" during the
primary, adding it will review the matter and make a decision
not before Wednesday.
Angelo Sanza, a member of the CD executive, pointed to
"Chinese and Moroccans lining up, asking embarrassed officials
at the ballot box where they could pick up the reward the were
promised in exchange for voting".
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