Determined Italians waited in long queues at polling booths on Sunday to vote in an election that could change history in Europe amid a growing populist movement in the bloc.
Exit polls show former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right party and his far-right allies will emerge as the largest bloc in parliament but fall short of a majority.
While the anti-establishment Five Star Movement has emerged as the biggest single party, according to exit polls.
But they too do not look lke they wil secure enough support to form a government, pollsters said.
The former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (Go Italy!) was seen winning 12.5 to 15.5 percent, the same as the Northern League.
The 5-Star, led by 31-year-old Luigi Di Maio, was forecast to take 29 to 32.5 per cent.
A centre-left alliance dominated by former prime minister Matteo Renzi’s ruling Democratic Party (PD) was projected to win 25 to 28 percent, but pollsters said the PD itself might end up only the fourth-largest group in the lower house of parliament.
Polling stations closed at 11pm (10pm GMT).
The vote is being held under a complex new electoral law that could mean the final result will not be clear until late on Monday.
Here is the latest news as Express.co.uk brings you live updates on the Italian Election 2018.
10:08pm update: Italy could be heading for a hung parliament
A centre-right coalition is set to win most seats in parliament ahead of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, with the centre-left third, according to the exit polls.
However, the centre-right, made up of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (Go Italy!), and the far-right League and Brothers of Italy, are seen falling some way short of an absolute majority needed to govern, pollsters said.
10:03pm update: Five Star Movement is now the single largest party in the election, according to exit polls.
The anti-EU party recieved approximately 30 per cent of the vote, according to exit polls on Rai state television and private channel La 7
10:02pm: Rebecca Perring is now taking over from Vickiie Oliphant
10pm update: The electoral system used in Italy is brand new, so it is hard to predict the outcome of this general election
It is a “mixed” system – part “first-past-the-post” and part proportional representation or PR.
Just over a third of seats in each chamber will be decided by winner-takes-all votes in individual constituencies and the rest will be allocated in proportion to the number of votes each party receives.
The new electoral law is called Rosatellum Bis, which was inspired by the German system.
All 945 members of the parliament will be elected for the 18th legislature since 1948 – Camera dei Deputati (Chamber of Deputies/lower chamber) and 315 of the Camera del Senato (the Senate/upper house).
First turnout projections shared by the Italian Home Office Ministero degli Interni at 12.26 pm local time (11 am GMT) show that 19.23 percent of people went to vote this morning.
The data are only partial, as they show the turnout in only 4,317 constituencies, roughly half of the total number Italians are voting in, but they already signal a rise in the number of people who voted compared to the last elections.
On February 24, 2013, when the last general elections took place in Italy, 14.94 per cent of people went to vote before 12 pm.
The 2013 elections took place in two days, across the whole day of Sunday and Monday morning.