Salvini’s voting booth. Closed or open? Garavaglia’s delegates fear that the vote might be photographed (as evidence against the leader).

God sees you in the secrecy of the ballot box, but even Salvini needs proof. Keep an eye on the polling booths at the next Lega Congress. It’s not a trivial matter. The booths are expected to be fully enclosed. What difference does it make? The eighty ‘Hidalgos’ of Massimo Garavaglia, Salvini’s challenger – the eighty who signed his candidacy (among whom Attilio Fontana stands out) – want them to be ‘open’. The concern is that in a fully enclosed booth, where no one’s back can be seen, a voter could take a photo and show Salvini: ‘I voted for you.’

This isn’t paranoia. When Garavaglia talks of a ‘miracle’, there’s more than one reason for it. Who gave him the list of delegates to contact? Salvini. Did Garavaglia receive an up-to-date list with all the contact details? And how many signatures has Salvini collected? The total number is unknown. The sole figure provided by Luca Toccalini is: “In Lombardy alone, we have collected 120 signatures.” That is 120 signatures in Lombardy alone out of 706 national delegates.

If Salvini wins, his term will be extended by a year until 2030, but by then he will be just one year away from the next general election and may, out of necessity, extend it further. He will have been in power longer than Xi Ping in China. Beijing or Pontida?