A third round of voting for Italy's new president has failed to produce a winner, with the centre-right and centre-left blocks apparently no closer to agreeing on a mutually acceptable candidate.
A successful candidate needs a two-thirds majority in any of the first three rounds of voting.
From the fourth vote, which will be held on Thursday, an absolute majority will be enough.
On Wednesday, a large number of MPs continued to cast blank ballots.
However, a growing number put down the name of the outgoing head of state, Sergio Mattarella, who has ruled out accepting a second term.
