the rules, times, methods – Corriere.it

To start the work of the Chambers, the first fulfillment is that of the election of the president of Montecitorio and then of Palazzo Madama (see the precedents here). The legislature that began with the proclamation of the elect will thus complete the starting process. At the first session, which this time is scheduled for October 13 (with convocation at 10 am for deputies and at 10.30 for senators), the newly elected (see here the newly installed Parliament) will therefore vote for those who are considered super positions. partes, with guarantee and authority functions for both the majority and the opposition.

How is the President of the Chamber elected?

Only one member of the assembly can become president of the chamber. He is elected by secret ballot with this procedure: on the first ballot the deputy with the votes of at least two thirds of the members of the Chamber (the same majority necessary to reform the Constitution without passing through the popular referendum); if no one exceeds the bar on the first ballot, on the second and third ballots the quorum is lowered to two thirds of the voters (blank ballots count as valid votes); if even in this case no one is elected, from the fourth ballot onwards the absolute majority of votes is sufficient (half plus one of the voters, equal to 201), and from there the vote goes on indefinitely.

What is its institutional caliber?

The president is the third office of the state (after the president of the Republic and the president of the Senate). Historically, the “white smoke” arrives first in the Senate and then in the House, often the next day. This time, Ettore Rosato (Italy alive), senior vice president in the last legislature, will oversee the first session. The first thing that emerges, both in the Chamber and in the Senate, is the extreme stability of these offices with respect to the fragility of the executives. Compared to the 64 governments with 31 different presidents of the Council who succeeded each other in 18 republican legislatures, the presidents of the Chamber in the same period were for example only 15.

How is the President of the Senate elected?

In the Senate, Giorgio Napolitano, the oldest of the members of Palazzo Madama (from 1925), would preside over the first session this year. Seeming excluded that Napolitano could fulfill this task due to his health conditions, he should therefore be replaced by life senator Liliana Segre, born in 1930. In the first two ballots (scheduled for the first session), an absolute majority of votes will be needed to elect the president of the members of the assembly (101).

The rule of the ballot

In the Senate, if the latter required majority is not obtained, the next day a third vote takes place in which the absolute majority of the votes of those present is sufficient (here too the blank ballots count as valid votes). If in the third ballot no one has achieved the minimum required result, Palazzo Madama proceeds on the same day to the ballot between the two candidates who obtained the highest number of votes in the previous ballot and the one who gets the most votes is proclaimed elected. In the event of a tie, the most senior candidate will be elected.