Italy’s parliament begins voting in presidential elections

Today, the first round of voting in the presidential elections is taking place in , in a joint meeting of the two houses of the State Parliament.
The head of state is elected for a term of seven years by secret ballot of deputies and senators, as well as governors and representatives of provinces.

No one is officially running for president. According to the practice in Italy, voters write the name of the applicant on the ballot paper themselves.

To become president, you need to obtain a qualified majority of votes (two-thirds) in the first three rounds of voting, starting with the fourth round of voting, an absolute majority (more than 50%) is sufficient.

According to news agencies, the election of the president, who enjoys such wide support, is the result of agreements between various political parties.

The current president is Sergio Mattarella. He was elected 2015. After his election, the press discussed the importance of a Catholic having the highest public office, whose political convictions were largely shaped by the Second Vatican Council.

At the beginning of the epidemic, Sergio Mattarella addressed the nation due to the situation in the country with the infection of the Corona virus. He called for assessing the risk of Covid-19 “before it is too late”. The politician began his speech by saying that Italy and the world are living a “sad page in history”, and the people are “paying a heavy price”. The reason for this is the Corona virus.