La disciplina delle campagne elettorali tra obsolescenza normativa e innovazioni tecnologiche

di Edoardo Caterina

SOMMARIO: 1. Coordinate costituzionali in materia di campagne elettorali. – 2. La legge n. 28 del 2000 e la sua obsolescenza tecnologica. – 3. La legge n. 515 del 1993 e la sua obsolescenza normativa. – 3.1. La mancanza di trasparenza circa i finanziamenti delle campagne elettorali. – 3.2. L’aggiramento della disciplina delle donazioni ai partiti politici. – 3.3. Il disallineamento con la nuova forma di governo regionale: a margine del caso Todde. – 4. Il nuovo Regolamento Ue sulla pubblicità politica: luci e ombre. – 5. La proposta di legge sull’impiego dell’IA nelle campagne elettorali. – 6. La mancanza di un unico organo di vigilanza sulle campagne elettorali. – 7. Conclusioni.

The contribution will first clarify the fundamental constitutional principles governing the regulation of election campaigns. In light of these principles, it will be seen how the current Italian legislation on election expenses relating to political election campaigns (Law No. 515 of 1993) is seriously outdated and largely ineffective, as will be demonstrated by a number of case studies. Similarly, Law No. 28 of 2000, which was designed for access to radio and television media, is largely inadequate for the new context of digital campaigning. The monitoring of compliance with the rules governing election campaigns is also at risk of being compromised by the lack of coordination between the large number of supervisory bodies involved. In contrast to a national legislative framework that has remained largely unchanged for 25 years, the European legislator has recently taken a highly innovative step with EU Regulation 2024/900 (on transparency and targeting of political advertising), has sought to ensure minimum levels of transparency in election campaigns by laying down specific rules for online election propaganda and prohibiting election funding from entities outside the Union. However, although the Regulation is not limited to European elections, it does not exempt national legislators from overcoming the current shortcomings in the regulatory framework.