2018 President of the Italian Senate election

The election for the President of the Senate of the Republic who would serve through the legislature XVIII of Italy took place on 23 and 24 March 2018, over three weeks after the 2018 Italian general election. It took place by secret ballot, as required by the assembly's standing orders. Former President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano, being the oldest Senator present, served as the acting presiding officer.

2018 President of the Italian Senate election
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First ballot: Majority of the entire membership needed to win
321 members, 161 votes needed to win
Last (third) ballot: Majority of votes cast needed to win
319 members voting, 160 needed to win
  Majority party Minority party
 
Candidate Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati Valeria Fedeli
Party Forza Italia Democratic Party
Seat Venice[a] Benevento, Caserta and Avellino[b]
First ballot 0 (0.00%) 0 (0.00%)
Third ballot 240 (75.23%) 54 (16.92%)

President of the Senate before election

Pietro Grasso
Free and Equal

Elected President of the Senate

Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati
Forza Italia

Following an agreement between the centre-right coalition and the Five Star Movement, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati became the first woman to be elected to the office.[1][2]

Procedure

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The election takes place by secret ballot, as required by the assembly's standing orders. Pursuant to the current rules of procedure, an absolute majority of the whole membership is needed to win on the first ballot. On the second and third ballot, a simple majority of votes cast (including blank ballots among the totals) suffices. If the first three ballots fail to deliver a winner, a runoff is held between the two candidates who got the most votes on the third ballot, with votes for any other candidate deemed invalid and blank ballots not included among the totals. In the event of a tie, the oldest candidate is deemed to have been elected.

Results

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First ballot

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Candidate Party Votes
Emma Bonino More Europe 1
Roberto Calderoli Lega 1
Fabio Di Micco Five Star Movement 1
Giorgio Napolitano Independent 1
Paolo Romani Forza Italia 1
Blank votes 312
Did not vote 4
Needed to win 161[c]

Second ballot

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Candidate Party Votes
Anna Maria Bernini Forza Italia 57
Emma Bonino More Europe 2
Roberto Calderoli Lega 1
Giorgio Napolitano Independent 1
Blank votes 255
Invalid votes 3
Did not vote 3
Needed to win 161[c]

Third ballot

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Candidate Party Votes
Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati Forza Italia 240
Valeria Fedeli Democratic Party 54
Roberto Calderoli Lega 3
Roberta Pinotti Democratic Party 2
Liliana Segre Independent 2
Maurizio Gasparri Forza Italia 1
Paolo Romani Forza Italia 1
Luigi Zanda Democratic Party 1
Blank votes 14
Invalid votes 1
Did not vote 3
Needed to win 160[d]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Formally multi-member electoral district no. 01 of Veneto (Italian: collegio elettorale uninominale Veneto - 01)
  2. ^ Formally multi-member electoral district no. 03 of Campania (Italian: collegio elettorale uninominale Campania - 03)
  3. ^ a b a majority of members
  4. ^ a majority of members present

References

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  1. ^ "Italienische Wahlsieger einigen sich auf Parlamentspräsidenten". Der Spiegel. 24 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Italienische Wahlsieger einigen sich auf Parlamentspräsidenten [1:10]". Südtirol News. 25 March 2018. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.