The President of the Republic is elected
in the Chamber of Deputies by the Parliament in joint session integrated by 58 representatives of the Regions
: each region elects three with the exception of Valle d'Aosta which elects one.
The joint session of the Parliament is convened within a maximum of 15 days from the resignation of the President and is chaired by the President of the Chamber.
The first act of the joint session is the reading of the list of regional delegates.
The Chamber of Deputies, where the joint meetings of the Parliament take place, is suitably rearranged to allow all the "great electors" to take their seats.
HOW MANY ARE THE VOTERS
.
This year the big voters will be 1007.
THE QUORUMS
. The Constitution provides that in the first three votes the majority required for the election is that of two thirds of the members of the Assembly, which this time is 671 votes. From the fourth ballot, the quorum is lowered: an absolute majority of the members of the Assembly, equal to 504 votes, will suffice to be elected. There is no certain practice on the frequency of voting; the common session is considered a single session even if it takes place over several days.
VOTING
. By custom, all the senators will vote first, then the deputies and then the regional delegates. The "call" of the big voters will be repeated twice. Each one, to ensure the secrecy of the vote, will enter the booths located under the presidential desk and will write the name of the candidate who intends to vote on the ballot given to him by the clerk and which is stamped and signed by the Deputy Secretary General. Then, after leaving the booth, the voter will deposit the ballot, folded in four, in the urn of wicker and green satin, renamed "the salad bowl", in front of which there is a presidential secretary.
THE STRIP
.
It is done by the Speaker of the House, who reads the names of the candidates one by one aloud in the Chamber.
The account of the ballots is kept by the officials of the Chamber and by the members of the Montecitorio presidency office, who take on the task of scrutineers.
In 1992 Oscar Luigi Scalfaro was president of the Chamber and read the ballot papers that led him to the Quirinale;
but, shortly before the quorum was reached, he gave way to the vice president of the Chamber, Stefano Rodotà, and waited for the final result in his office.
THE RESULTS
.
For each vote they are read to the Assembly at the end of the count.
To be recorded in the minutes, the candidates' preferences must be at least two.
Whoever receives only one vote is generically counted among the missing votes.
