Complete guide for workers employed as scrutineers: rights, additional remuneration, how to apply and manage election Monday with the employer.
The ballot boxes for the Referendum on Justice 2026 they are ready, but the real challenge of these hours is played out in the electoral offices. It’s not just a matter of distributing green cards, but of balancing the accounts of an organizational machine which, between staff shortages and new costs, is working at a forced pace. While large cities like Milan And Bologna launch last minute appeals to fill vacant seats, the Ministry of the Interior puts an economic incentive on the table to unblock the situation.
The fulcrum of the novelty is in the Legislative Decree 196/2025which introduced a net increase in compensation. Since the vote also extends to Monday (from 7:00 to 15:00), the commitment required to scrutineers And presidents it is longer than in the past. For this reason, the flat-rate fixed fees have been increased by 15%a necessary bonus to ensure that the voting stations are not left unprotected during the counting.
Tables in hand: how much you really earn at the polls
Going into the details of the figures, for an ordinary electoral section the President of the seat will receive a compensation of 149.50 euros. For the scrutineers and the secretary, the fixed amount is 119.60 euros. This is a lump sum payment that covers the entire period of operations, from the establishment of the polling station on Saturday afternoon until the closing of the poll on Monday. For special seats (those in hospitals or prisons), the amounts are reduced but still benefit from the same percentage increase.
In addition to the economic token, the issue of labor rights. Whoever is appointed scrutineer has the right by law to be absent from work for the entire duration of the electoral operations. “These days are considered working for all intents and purposes”, the union circulars remind us: the employee has the right to a compensatory rest (usually the following Tuesday) or to an additional amount of pay in the pay slip, without any salary deduction.
Simplification: goodbye to lists divided by sex
The Referendum of 22 and 23 March 2026 also marks an important technical debut: the adoption of the single register of voters. The historic distinction between male and female lists is finally archived, a simplification that should speed up voter identification operations and reduce the bureaucratic burden for scrutineers.
Counting will begin just after 3pm on Monday. It will be a decisive test not only for the questions on separation of careerswhich sees the Yes sides (led by Action) and the No (with PD And M5S), but also for the stability of the electoral system itself. The 15% increase is a sign of pragmatism: in an era of disaffection, democracy also needs to be supported by concrete incentives for those who decide to man the polling stations.
