The 2015 Italian presidential election was held on 29–31 January, following the resignation of President

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; 29 June 1925 – 22 September 2023) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first to be re-elected to the office. In office for 8 years and 244 days, he was the longest-serving pre ...

on 14 January 2015. The office was held at the time of the election by Senate President

Pietro Grasso Pietro Grasso (; born 1 January 1945), also known as Piero Grasso, is an Italian anti-mafia magistrate and politician who served as President of the Senate from 2013 to 2018. Grasso became the Acting President of Italy on 14 January 2015, upon th ...

in an acting capacity. Only members of

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...

and regional delegates are entitled to vote. As

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

of the

Italian Republic Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, the President has a role of representation of national unity and guarantees that

Italian politics The politics of Italy are conducted through a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system. Italy has been a democratic republic since 2 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by popular referendum and a constituent assembly, formed by ...

comply with the

Italian Constitution The Constitution of the Italian Republic () was ratified on 22 December 1947 by the Constituent Assembly, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against, before coming into force on 1 January 1948, one century after the previous Constitution of the Ki ...

, in the framework of a

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their Election, democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of t ...

. On 31 January, at the fourth round of voting, the Judge of the Constitutional Court and former Deputy Prime Minister

Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician and jurist who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the Italian Republic. Since Giorgio Napolitano's death in 20 ...

was elected

President of the Italian Republic The president of Italy, officially titled President of the Italian Republic (), is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity and guarantees that Italian politics comply with the Constitution. The presid ...

with 665 votes out of 1,009.

Procedure

In accordance with the

, the election is held in the form of a secret ballot, with the Senators, the Deputies and 58 regional representatives entitled to vote. The election is held in the

Palazzo Montecitorio Palazzo Montecitorio () is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian Parliament. History The palace's name derives from the slight hill on which it is built, which was claimed to be the ''Mons Ci ...

, home of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

, with the capacity of the assembly room expanded for the purpose. The first three ballots require a two-thirds majority of the 1,009 voters in order to elect a President, or 673 votes. Starting from the fourth ballot, an absolute majority is required for candidates to be elected, or 505 votes. The presidential mandate lasts seven years. The election was presided over by the

President of the Chamber of Deputies President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsidente ...

Laura Boldrini Laura Boldrini, (; born 28 April 1961) is an Italian politician and former United Nations official, who served as President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy. Previously she served as Spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner fo ...

, who proceeded to the public counting of the votes, and by the Acting President of the Senate Valeria Fedeli, instead of President

who was serving as Acting President of the Republic since 14 January.

Electoral college

Electors per parliamentary group (including the regional delegates) were divided as follows:

Proposed candidates

These candidates were officially proposed as president and voted in at least one ballot, by parties, coalitions or parliamentary groups which took part in the election.

Elected president

Other candidates

Results

First ballot (29 January)

Second ballot (30 January)

Third ballot (30 January)

Fourth ballot (31 January)

References

{{Italian presidential elections Presidential elections in Italy 2015 elections in Italy

Presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...