Italians look to 2018 elections after voting in DC pizzeria
Channel: Antonella Ciancio
Date: 2017-05-04

Dozens of Italians gathered at a pizzeria in the heart of the hip Georgetown district in Washington DC last Sunday to vote for the leader of the centre-left Democratic Party. After the vote, which confirmed former prime minister Matteo Renzi at the helm of the ruling party, the supporters called for unity ahead of crucial 2018 elections. 
At the Il Canale pizzeria, a few blocks from the Waterfront, the voting process last the entire day amid hopes and concerns for the political future of Italy as the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement rises in the polls.
The makeshift polling station was one of the many organized by the PD chapters of North America – from Toronto in Canada to Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Turnout in Washington DC was higher than in the past PD primaries, a sign of increasing political participation abroad.