Follow Us on Google
Italians voted yesterday after a divisive election campaign dominated by concerns over immigration and the economy.
Reports said it is hard to say who will come out on top in an unpredictable contest. The anti-establishment Five Star Movement, ruling Democratic Party and ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing coalition have all predicted victory.
But Mr Berlusconi, 81, cannot himself hold public office until next year due to a tax fraud conviction. The four-time prime minister who has allied himself with the anti-immigrant League party – has backed European Parliament President Antonio Tajani as his choice to lead the country.
Opinion polls were banned in the last two weeks of the campaign but surveys before that suggested Mr Berlusconi’s centre-right party and right-wing allies would emerge as the biggest bloc, but would not win a majority. Five Star is widely expected by pollsters to emerge as the single biggest party.
Officials at 19:00 (18:00 GMT) said that turnout stood at more than 58%, with several hours of voting still to go. Long queues have been seen at voting centres around the country, with residents in Rome being asked to turn up well before polls close at 23:00 (22:00 GMT) to make sure they have time to cast their ballot.
The delays are thought to have been caused by a new voting system and new in-depth, anti-fraud checks. In Palermo, Sicily, 200,000 ballots had to be reprinted because of errors, which led to a delay in some polls opening.
