Since its introduction in the early 2000s, legislation relating to the voting rights of Italians abroad has enabled millions of residents of voting age outside of Italy to engage in homeland elections and elect their own MPs. The inclusion of Italian citizens abroad in the Italian polity has nevertheless translated into a patchy electoral engagement. This article does not intend to provide an analysis of the voting choices in Italy's overseas constituency. Instead, it delves into external vote dynamics to provide insights into overseas Italians’ abstention in parliamentary elections and referenda. After summarising the history of the introduction of Italy's peculiar model of external voting, drawing on the results of an online survey of Italians abroad, the article examines the factors influencing turnout, with specific attention to the eligible voters’ personal characteristics. It also focuses on the attitude of Italians abroad towards possible reforms aiming at increasing electoral participation. It concludes that country of birth and Italian language skills are among the most relevant variables not only to assess what fosters or inhibits external voting, but also to gauge the opinion of voters residing outside Italy about proposals to reform the procedures regulating the exercise of suffrage from abroad.

自 2000 年代初期出台以来，与海外意大利人投票权相关的立法使意大利境外数百万达到投票年龄的居民能够参与本国选举并选举自己的议员。然而，将海外的意大利公民纳入意大利政体却导致了选举参与的参差不齐。本文无意对意大利海外选区的投票选择进行分析。相反，它深入研究外部投票动态，以深入了解海外意大利人在议会选举和公投中的弃权情况。文章在总结了意大利独特的外部投票模式引入的历史后，借鉴了对海外意大利人的在线调查结果，探讨了影响投票率的因素，特别关注了合格选民的个人特征。它还关注海外意大利人对旨在提高选举参与度的可能改革的态度。报告得出的结论是，出生国和意大利语技能是最相关的变量之一，不仅可以评估促进或抑制外部投票的因素，还可以衡量居住在意大利境外的选民对改革规范选举权行使程序的建议的看法。国外。