It is now 5 PM and the first round of voting for the new President of the Republic (the guardian of the Italian Constitution) has begun. The total number of Grand Electors (630 deputies, 322 senators and 58 regional representatives) is 1,010, which means that 674 votes in favor would constitute a two-thirds majority. The Unione coalition has decided that in this first round they will cast blank ballots, while the Casa delle libertà plans to vote for 71-year-old Gianni Letta, a long-time Berlusconi associate and something of a discreet “eminence grise”. Barring surprises, it is very unlikely therefore that today’s vote will produce a winner. To use the language of the papal conclave, the upshot, in other words, will be a “fumata nera”, not a “fumata bianca”. The vote is taking place as I write in the Montecitorio Palace, home of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, where for once deputies and senators are gathered together. The will be only one secret ballot today, but voting is expected to continue tomorrow, Tuesday, with two additional rounds, also calling for a two-thirds majority. The following day, Wednesday, May 10, a simple majority of one (in other words, 506 votes) will be sufficient.

Outgoing President Ciampi (elected 1999) has been one of the most popular and respected of the ten presidents who have been figureheads of the Italian Republic since 1946. The second most popular was probably Sandro Pertini (elected 1978). After the vote on his successor, Ciampi will join two other former presidents, 78-year-old Francesco Cossiga (elected 1985) and 87-year-old Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (elected 1992), as a life senator.

The remaining former presidents were transitional President Enrico De Nicola (1946-48), followed by Luigi Einaudi (elected 1948), Giovanni Gronchi (elected 1955), Antonio Segni (elected 1962), Giuseppe Saragat (elected 1964) and Giovanni Leone (elected 1971 after what seemed like an endless series of 23 ballots, and by common consent the least deserving of the lot). Do you remember them all?