Lots of election news this morning, a great reminder to vote!

Happening in the World: The Italian parliamentary elections were held this weekend, and the country is currently on track to elect their first female prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. A member of the far-right party, Brothers of Italy, a successor to several neo-fascist political parties, Meloni has made her position on many issues clear: She’s pro-Ukraine, pro-border security, anti-immigration, anti-LGBTQ+ rights, and anti-abortion. This election also had significantly low turnout, just under 64%, around ten percentage points lower than the turnout in the 2018 parliamentary elections. (BBC)

Happening in the US: As midterm elections roll around, the GOP is facing some internal conflict, most recently from Liz Cheney, who says that she will switch parties if former President Donald Trump is the nominee in the 2024 presidential election. Cheney is one of the ten House Republicans to have voted to impeach Trump, and one of eight that no longer remain as candidates. (CBS)

Happening in NYC: Despite NYC’s recent economic growth, Mayor Eric Adams is instituting budged cuts and a hiring freeze, seemingly in preparation for a recession, which some economists are giving probabilities of occurring as high as 50%. (Gothamist)

Happening in our Community: Tomorrow from 6:30 to 7:30 pm in the Broadway Room of Lerner Hall, New York State Senator Jessica Ramos will host a Q&A about her electoral journey and all things voting! Part of Voting Week 2022, this event is the first in a series of events to educate the Columbia community on civic engagement and assist them in signing up to vote. Register here!

Ballot box via Bwarchives