Italian presidential election, 1955

Italian presidential election, 1955

28 - 29 April 1955
843 voters 562 or 422 votes needed to win
Nominee Giovanni Gronchi Luigi Einaudi Party Christian Democracy Liberal Party Electoral vote 658 70 Percentage 78.1% 8.3%
President before election Luigi Einaudi Liberal Party Elected President Giovanni Gronchi Christian Democracy

The Italian presidential election of 1955 was held in Italy on 28 – 29 April 1955. Only members of Parliament are entitled to vote. As head of state of the Italian Republic, the President has a role of representation of national unity and guarantees that Italian politics comply with the Italian Constitution, in the framework of a parliamentary system.

At fourth round of voting, incumbent President of the Chamber of Deputies Giovanni Gronchi was elected President with 658 votes out of 843.

Candidates

• Ferruccio Parri, Prime Minister after Fascism and during World War II, was candidate by Italian Republican Party and other left-wing parties.
• Cesare Merzagora, incumbent President of the Senate, was the first candidate of DC leader Amintore Fanfani, but the left-wing internal opposition did not vote him.
• Giovanni Gronchi, the elected President, was initially voted by left-wing DC internal opposition and by left-wing parties, only at the last round of voting he obtained a large consent.
• Luigi Einaudi, outgoing Republic President, was proposed to do a second mandate.

Ballots

Candidate	1° Round	2° Round	3° Round	4° Round
Ferruccio Parri	308	--	--	--
Cesare Merzagora	228	225	245	--
Luigi Einaudi	120	80	61	70
Giovanni Gronchi	30	127	281	658
Antonio Segni	12	18	14	--
Raffaele De Caro	--	--	14	--
Other candidates	23	24	7	11
Blank papers	89	332	195	92
Invalid papers	5	2	2	2
Voting	815	808	817	833
Present	815	808	817	833
Source: Parliament of Italy