As many of you know, the special electoral missions of the Consulate General—organized to collect and authenticate the signatures of Italian voters for the submission of lists for the 2026 COMITES elections—will conclude the day after tomorrow, 3 October 2026.
From San Juan, Puerto Rico to Tampa, from Atlanta to Naples, we have traveled 4,385 kilometers across the entire consular district to facilitate these important pre‑electoral procedures.
At the same time, with a view to optimizing resources and improving efficiency, we have carried out numerous passport and consular service missions. In just the past few days, our itinerant officers have brought essential consular services directly to our fellow Italians in Orlando, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Sarasota, Fort Lauderdale, and Weston.
Since 17 August, we have ensured nearly 200 hours of extraordinary openings to support the authentication of signatures for the COMITES elections, and we have renewed hundreds of passports, further increasing the number of passports issued by our Consulate General. All of this has been done to meet the needs of our very large Italian community—now well over 72,000 residents, the second‑largest Italian constituency in the United States, surpassed only by the jurisdiction of New York.
To meet the demand for consular services from those living in the most remote areas of our district—who may face challenges in traveling—we are organizing additional passport and consular missions beginning in mid‑January. This expanded offering will complement the services already available, both online and in person, at the Consulate General in Miami. We will continue to keep you informed on these pages, with daily updates on the next phases of the COMITES elections.
We wish to express, here and on the Consulate General’s social media channels, our sincere gratitude to the individuals and institutions that generously and enthusiastically hosted our consular missions: the City of Tampa, the Cinotti Law Firm in San Juan, our Honorary Consul in Orlando Antonella Brancaccio and our Honorary Consul in Atlanta Filiberto Calascibetta, the Selby Library in Sarasota, the teams at Genesis Interiors in Fort Lauderdale and Zona Blu in Weston, the Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church in Naples, and County Commissioner Maria Sachsin West Palm Beach.
Our heartfelt thanks also go to our colleagues at the Italian Cultural Institute of Miami for their warm hospitality and valuable collaboration.
With my warmest regards,
Michele Mistò
Consul General
