2021 Democratic Party (Italy) leadership by-election

The 2021 Democratic Party leadership by-election was an election held on 14 March 2021 in which the members of the Democratic Party's National Assembly elected the party Secretary, whose seat had been vacant since 4 March of the same year.

Procedure
Under the internal rules of the Democratic Party, if an incumbent Secretary resigns, the National Assembly can either decide to dissolve itself and call a new primary election, or choose a new Secretary who will serve until the expiration of the Assembly's four years term.

History
The 2019 Democratic Party leadership election had seen the victory of Nicola Zingaretti, who had become Secretary after winning over 66% of the vote. On 4 March 2021, Zingaretti resigned, planning to hand the party's leadership to former Prime Minister Enrico Letta. Letta, who at the time was working in Paris as a university professor, immediately returned to Italy, where he was elected Secretary by the National Assembly in a nearly unanimous vote. In his first speech as leader of the Democratic Party, he set out his agenda, which included the formation a broad alliance alongside centre-left and centrist political forces, making it easier for children of immigrants to obtain Italian citizenship, lowering the minimum voting age from 18 to 16, the introduction of an anti-defection law, and an electoral law reform.