Top left: Enrico De Nicola was the first president of the Italian Republic.
Top right: Antonio Segni was the first president to resign from office.
Bottom left: Giorgio Napolitano was the first president to be re-elected.
Bottom right: Sergio Mattarella is the current president of the Italian Republic and the longest-serving president in Italian history.
The president of Italy (Italian: Presidente della Repubblica) is the head of state of the Italian Republic. Since 1948, there have been 12 presidents of Italy.
The president of the Republic is elected by Parliament in a joint session of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. In addition, the 20 regions of Italy appoint 58 representatives as special electors. Three representatives come from each region, save for the small Aosta Valley which appoints one, so as to guarantee representation for all localities and minorities.
According to the Constitution, the election must be held in the form of secret ballot, with the 315 senators, the 630 deputies and the 58 regional representatives all voting. A two-thirds vote is required to elect on any of the first three rounds of balloting and after that a majority suffices. The election is presided over by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, who calls for the public counting of the votes. The vote is held in the Palazzo Montecitorio, home of the Chamber of Deputies, which is expanded and re-configured for the event.
The president assumes office after having taken an oath before Parliament and delivering a presidential address. Presidents are elected to serve a seven-year term. Giorgio Napolitano was the first president to be elected to a second term in 2013, followed by Sergio Mattarella in 2022.
The Acting President of the Republic (Italian: Presidente supplente della Repubblica) is an office not explicitly provided for in the Italian Constitution, but deriving from the provision contained in the article 86.[13] On various occasions, officials had to intercede in the absence of a head of state (notably in the case of a president's resignation or ill health). Only Enrico De Nicola, who was elected to be provisional head of state by the Constitutional Assembly on 28 June 1946, had an official title and took residence in the Quirinal Palace.[14] The others took the powers, but not the title of Head of State. After the adoption of the Italian Constitution in 1948, the president of the Senate is eligible to take the powers of head of state in case of absence of the President of the Republic.