In accordance with the Italian Constitution, the election was held in the form of a secret ballot, with the Senators and the Deputies entitled to vote.

The election was held in the Palazzo Montecitorio, home of the Chamber of Deputies, with the capacity of the building expanded for the purpose.

The first three ballots required a two-thirds majority of the 1,008 voters in order to elect a president, or 673 votes.

With the end of the Years of Lead, Craxi cabinet was working to restore stability in the Italian politics.

The candidacy of the christian democrat Francesco Cossiga, first proposed by the Christian Democracy leader Ciriaco De Mita, was sustained by all the parties which were members of the coalition government (the so called Pentapartito alliance) and also by the communist leader Alessandro Natta.