1st round of vote for Italian president fails amid stalemate

By FRANCES D’EMILIO and COLLEEN BARRY
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — A first round of voting to elect Italy’s next president has failed as expected amid a political impasse. Monday’s voting yielded an avalanche of blank ballots of some 1,000 special electors in Parliament as party leaders huddled to come up with a name that could garner consensus. With special pandemic precautions, the voting for head of state began without a clear slate of candidates following former Silvio Berlusconi’s withdrawal. Italian lawmakers and special regional representatives are tasked with electing outgoing President Sergio Mattarella’s successor.  The first three rounds need a two-thirds majority, but starting with the fourth round later this week only a simple majority is necessary.