Mafia risk on elections - Minniti (3)

(ANSA) - Rome, February 21 - There is a risk of Italy's mafias "conditioning" the March 4 general election in some areas, Interior Minister Marco Minniti said Wednesday. Minniti denounced the fact that there was "too much silence" on the "concrete" risk of the mafias posing a threat to the "most important thing in a democracy, the freedom to vote".
    "We're in the swing of the electoral competition and saying this should not be out of order, it is a fact: there is a concrete risk of the mafias conditioning electors' free vote".
    He said "the mafias are able to condition institutions and politics".
    The three main mafias are the Calabria-based 'Ndrangheta, the Sicily-based Cosa Nostra and the Campania-based Camorra.
    They have all featured in vote-buying cases over the years.