Italy was braced for an uncertain electoral outcome Monday, amid falling turnout rates and predictions that mounting support for a radical protest party might spoil the expected victory of the centre-left in the eurozone's third-largest economy.
On the first day of voting Sunday, turnout was 55.2 per cent, down from 62.5 per cent in the last general elections in 2008. Polling stations re-opened at 7 am (0600 GMT) and were due to close at 3 pm, with exit polls due immediately thereafter.
"This afternoon, perhaps, we will not have a clear indication of who will be prime minister," Corriere della Sera, the country's biggest newspaper, wrote in its front-page editorial.
The front-runner is centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani. After a lacklustre campaign, his "Italy Common Good" coalition risks falling short of a majority in the upper house of parliament, the Senate, where seats are allocated on a regional basis.
His chances rest mainly on winning in Lombardy, a battleground region which has been dubbed "Italy's Ohio," after the US state that plays a key role in determining presidential races.
Negotiations to form a government may be complicated by the likely success of comedian Beppe Grillo, whose anti-establishment Five Star Movement drew hundreds of thousands of people for its final rally Friday in Rome.
Pollsters say the movement could emerge as the third- or second-largest single party in parliament. Grillo, who is not standing himself but acts as the party's "spokesman," says it would remain in opposition.
"We will bring honest citizens to parliament," the comedian said before casting his vote Monday. He ruled out taking part in post-election celebrations and said he would wait for results to come out from the garden of his villa near the north-western city of Genoa. The other main contender is scandal-prone former premier Silvio Berlusconi, whose conservative coalition was trailing the centre-left before an opinion polls blackout came into force on February 8.
A centrist grouping is led by outgoing Premier Mario Monti. He is seen as the most likely coalition partner for Bersani, were he not to secure a solid majority, but tensions between Monti and Bersani's leftist ally, Nichi Vendola, are an obstacle.
Regional contests were also taking place in Lombardy, Lazio and Molise, where local administrations resigned early because of scandals.