The third round of the presidential elections in Italy without a winner

In Rome, a new head of state has not yet been chosen in the third round of presidential elections. In today’s secret ballot, no candidate was able to achieve the two-thirds majority needed in the electoral college of 1,009 deputies and regional representatives. A new round of voting is scheduled for tomorrow. A two-thirds majority is applied to the first three ballots, and only then is an absolute majority sufficient to win the election.

white notes

Since the major ruling parties had decided in advance to cast white ballot papers without the names of the candidates, no one achieved the two-thirds majority among deputies, senators and regional representatives that was necessary to hold the elections. This became evident this afternoon during the general counting of the individual voting cards by Roberto Fico, President of the Chamber of Deputies.

There is no favourite currently in sight. The centre-right coalition, the strongest coalition in the Italian parliament, fielded three candidates for the presidential elections yesterday afternoon. The names were announced by the head of the ruling right-wing Lega party, Matteo Salvini, at a press conference in Rome yesterday.

These are former Attorney General Carlo Nordeo, former Senate President Marcelo Pera and former Education Minister Letizia Moratti. Senate President Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, who belongs to the center-right camp, is being traded as a possible candidate.

The Social Democrats (Parteto Democrat/PD) and the populist Five Star Movement are also looking for a joint presidential candidate. The head of state in Italy is responsible, among other things, for mediating political crises and finding a solution.