The Italian election 2018 in which voters will elect the 945 members of the parliament for the 18th legislature since 1948 will take place on Sunday, March 4 2018. In Italy, elections for MPs and Senators take place every five years - with 630 members of the Camera dei Deputati (lower chamber) and 315 of the Camera del Senato (the Senate/upper house) vying to retain and regain a seat this weekend. On election day this Sunday, polls will be open from 7am until 11pm across the country (6am until 10pm GMT). The first exit polls should be published immediately after and the votes are expected to be fully counted around 2pm on Monday local time (3pm GMT).

However, the first actual results could be released in the early hours of Monday, according to media reports. Everyone over 18-years-old gets a vote - but only people over 25 can elect representatives in the upper chamber. Voters are presented with two sheets of paper, one to choose members of the lower chamber and one to choose the ones of the upper one. The upper chamber also has a small portion of people ( a vita, senators for life) who can’t be elected but are appointed by the President for specific merits and retain their seats for their life. i.e. Architect Renzo Piano is a Senatore a vita.

People aged between 18-24 can only vote for members of the lower chamber. Under Italian law, opinion polls are not allowed in the final two weeks before the vote. Polling data has now been suspended ahead of next week’s vote - but an Index poll from February 2018 seems to show the clear winners this week. Berlusconi’s centre-right party Forza Italia is currently in a pre-election coalition with the Northern League and the post- Brothers of Italy (FDI).

This coalition has the best chance of forming a government with the Index poll suggesting the group could take 295 seats. The coalition partners have agreed that the party that gets the most votes will then get to choose the candidate for Prime Minister. Out of the three parties, Forza Italia is currently in the lead in the polls but Berlusconi will not be allowed to take public office as he remains barred after a tax fraud conviction in 2013. In Italy’s general election in 2013, the first exit polls correctly indicated the Democratic Party had enough votes to win. But those same polls also overstated how much support the Democrats would receive and underestimated the votes for the populist, eurosceptic Five Star Movement. </s> Italy’s 18th general election since 1948 takes place on Sunday March 4, less than three months after President Sergio Matarella dissolved Parliament on December 28.

Today, Italians will head to the polls to cast their ballots for the 945 member Parliament, between 7am and 11pm local time (6am and 11pm GMT).

The people will simultaneously cast their votes for the 630 member lower chamber, known as the Camera dei Deuptati, and the 315 member Senate, known as the Camera del Senato.

The first exit polls should be published immediately after polls close at 11pm local time but votes are not expected to be fully counted until around 2pm on Monday local time (1pm GMT).

Here is the latest on the Italian Election 2018 as polls open. All times in GMT. </s> Italy’s 18th general election since 1948 takes place on Sunday March 4, less than three months after President Sergio Matarella dissolved Parliament on December 28. Today, Italians will head to the polls to cast their ballots for the 945 member Parliament, between 7am and 11pm local time (6am and 10pm GMT). The people will simultaneously cast their votes for the 630 member lower chamber, known as the Camera dei Deuptati, and the 315 member Senate, known as the Camera del Senato. The first exit polls should be published immediately after polls close at 11pm local time but votes are not expected to be fully counted until around 2pm on Monday local time (1pm GMT). Approxmately 50.7 million Italians are eligible to vote in today’s election. Here is the latest on the Italian Election 2018 as polls open. All times in GMT.

10.47am update: Millions of Italians will turn out to vote today Some 50.7 million Italians are eligible to vote and polling booths will remain open until 11 pm (10pm GMT). Local media will publish exit polls immediately afterwards, but it might take many hours before the full result emerges. Opinion polls were banned in the last two weeks of the campaign but surveys suggest Berlusconi’s alliance was in front but would not win a majority. Pollsters say the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement should emerge as the largest single party, while the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD) is seen coming third. Official results are expected early on Monday, although the final result might not be clear until late on Monday.

More than 200 polling stations are still closed two hours after the official opening of the vote. Polling stations in the southern Italian city Palermo, Sicily had to ask citizens to return later today to cast their ballots as they were delivered the wrong voting papers. It is understood more than 200,000 voting papers had to be reprinted and delivered to the polling stations involved. The ballot papers were not displaying the name of President of the Senate Pietro Grasso, leader of left-wing coalition Liberi E Uguali. Mr Grasso took to Twitter to voice his disappointment. He wrote: “In the most important day for a democracy these delays and mistakes are unacceptable. READ MORE: More than 200 polling stations CLOSED over wrong voting papers

10am update: Matteo Renzi casts his vote in the Italian election Renzi has voted in his polling station in Florence around 9.20am Italian time, the polling station was full with photographers and journalists so he said to the officials of the polling station "sorry for the annoyance". The current President of Italy has voted in Palermo and Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has also cast his vote in Rome.

The vote could bring political gridlock to Italy as no bloc is predicted to win enough votes to form a majority in government. Since the fall of fascism, all electoral laws have been re-written, so no single party can run by itself, instead seats are distributed in a proportional way. Even big parties need alliances to be able to have a majority and form a government, parties start their campaign from the beginning who they will ally with and form coalition lists with them. The centre-right bloc is formed of Forza Italia, Lega and Brothers of Italy and the centre-left bloc is made up of Democratic Party (Partito Democratic PD) and Insieme, Civica Popolare and +Europa. According to Paolo Cossarini, teaching fellow in Politics and International Relations at Loughborough University, he has predicted the vote percentage of the main blocs as follows:
• Party not in pre-electoral alliance - Five Star Movement: 25-28%

8.48am update: Berlusconi’s centre-right bloc likely to win most seats Pollsters have predicted that former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and his far-right allies will emerge as the largest bloc in parliament, but fall short of a parliamentary majority. The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement looks set the be the biggest single party, establishing itself as a populist party, with the young at its heart. There was momentum for 5-Star in the final days of the campaign, but it is hard to see any party or coalition getting the 40 percent needed to form a government," said Lorenzo Pregliasco, co-founder of YouTrend pollsters. Polling stations close at 11.00 p.m. (2200 GMT), with exit polls due immediately afterwards. The vote is being held under a complex new electoral law which means the final result might not be clear until late Monday.

8.26am update: When do the polls close tonight? The polls will be open from 7am until 11pm today (6am untl 10pm GMT). Italians will vote across the country in the unpredictable contest which has largely been dominated by immigration. The first exit polls should be published immediately after the the polls close and the votes are expected to be counted around 2pm local time on Monday (3pm GMT). 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).

6am update: With the polls now open, here is what could happen in the election today What are the latest Italian Election 2018 polls? Under Italian law, publishing opinion polls in the the penultimate two weeks of the electoral campaign is outlawed, but the last batch of polls paints a pretty clear picture of how the vote will go down. Since the start of polling back in January 2018, the M5S has been a clear favourite to be the single biggest party in Parliament, followed by the PD. A February 15 poll by Demopolis indicates a 28 percent vote for the M5S, a 22.5 percent vote for PD and 16.5 for Berlusconi’s FI. Despite bad reviews in Rome, Five Star Movement is the number one single party in the polls, projected to win more than 27 percent of votes. The incumbent ruling party, the Democratic Party, is behind, projected to win less than 23 percent. But Berlusconi is expected to lead the way to victory with his centre-right coalition of three parties — former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia, the populist La Lega and Brothers of Italy, with neo-fascist roots — polling at 37 percent. However, a 2013 conviction for tax fraud means Berlusconi cannot himself hold public office and so he has put forward Antonio Tajani, the president of the European Parliament, as his pick for prime minister. Berlusconi was forced to quit as Italian prime minister in 2011 amidst a sovereign debt crisis and was widely discredited after sex scandals, legal trouble and ill health. </s> A rift between the two coalition partners, Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Lega, deepened this week after the M5S voted against a costly Turin-Lyon high-speed rail link project (TAV) backed by Salvini's party.

"Today, I told Prime Minister Conte: let's go straight to the parliament to record that there is no majority anymore, as the TAV vote showed, and quickly give the floor to the Italians," Salvini said in a statement.

Italians need certainty and a government that is productive, he stressed.

"We do not want any more seats or ministers, we do not need reshuffles or technical governments. After this government, which has done a lot of good, there can only be election. [Summer] recess cannot be an excuse for losing time, and parliamentarians, unless they want to save their mandate by any means, can return to work next week, like millions of other Italians," Salvini said.

The parliament's recess started on Thursday and is scheduled to conclude in early September.

M5S leader Luigi Di Maio said that his party was ready to participate in snap parliamentary elections.

"We are ready, we are not at all interested in the [ministerial] seats, and they never interested us," Di Maio said a special statement circulated on Thursday evening.

He also proposed to finally approve the law on reducing the composition of the Italian parliament by half before conducting the snap election. The final vote on this issue was scheduled for early September, immediately after the recess.

"This is a landmark reform, we will reduce 345 seats and send home 345 politicos. If we again convene the chambers of parliament, we will take the opportunity to vote on this reform earlier. We will vote for it and then pass the floor to the Italians," Di Maio said.

The leader of the largest opposition Democratic Party, Nicola Zingaretti, also said that his supporters were ready for early elections.

"We are ready for the challenge. In the upcoming elections, not only the issue of government will be decided, but also the fate of our democracy and the international position of our country," he wrote on Facebook.

On Wednesday, Salvini said that "something is broken" in the government coalition, while Di Maio wrote on Facebook that he was "tired of palace games." Sources in M5S said it opposed the "technical government," which, in the absence of a parliamentary majority, could survive until the next election.

On Thursday morning, Conte held consultations with President Sergio Mattarella. After the meeting, it was reported that Conte and Mattarella discussed neither the government crisis, nor the prime minister's departure. Conte later held separate meetings with Salvini and Di Maio. </s> Italians voted yesterday overwhelmingly to elect Matteo Renzi as the new head of the ruling Democratic Party, returning him to frontline politics as the party faces a growing challenge from populist politicians.

"It is a clear, ample victory that went beyond our expectations," said agriculture minister Maurizio Martina, who has been campaigning for Mr Renzi. "This is the opening of a new phase."

Voters queued at tents, bars and local party headquarters across the country to choose between Andrea Orlando, the justice minister, Michele Emiliano, governor of the southern Puglia region, and Mr Renzi, the former prime minister.

Turnout was estimated at between 1.9 to 2 million voters, an "extraordinary" result, said Mr Renzi, 42, who resigned in December after Italians overwhelmingly rejected a national referendum to reform Italy’s constitution.

In remarks on the terrace of the party headquarters, Mr Renzi said the primary victory - estimated to be well over 60 percent - marked the "turning of a new page" for the party, and possibly the future of Europe. </s> Polling stations on Romanian soil have closed on Sunday evening, at 21:00. The vote started at 7:00.

For organizing the elections electoral circumscriptions were established at the level of the 41 counties, one circumscription in Bucharest City and one for Romanian citizens residing abroad. The total number of electoral circumscriptions is of 43.

The electoral process debuted abroad on Saturday, at 20:00 (Romanian time), for the Romanians in New Zealand and Australia. Voting will end abroad on Monday at 7:00 (Romanian time) on the West Coast of the United States.

The nationwide voter turnout in the parliamentary elections on Sunday until 21:00 hours stood at 39.49 percent, according to the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) official website.

According to the BEC, in the Capital 41.61 percent of the electors have cast their vote.

A number of 102,067 persons voted in the diaspora in the Sunday parliamentary elections until 21.00 hrs, according to the website of the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC).

The Romanian citizens abroad have 417 polling stations to cast their vote in over 90 countries.

The Social Democrat Party (PSD) obtained 45.8 pct of votes cast at the parliamentary elections on Sunday for the Senate and 45.9 pct for the Chamber of Deputies, while the National Liberal Party (PNL) obtained 20.7 pct for the Senate and 20.8 pct for the Chamber of Deputies according to opinion polls carried out at the exit of the polling stations by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES), as broadcast by private broadcaster Digi 24.

Third-ranked is the Save Romania Union (USR), garnering 9.2 pct of the vote in the Chamber of Deputies and 9.3 percent in the Senate. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) has, according to IRES, 6.3 percent of the vote in the Chamber of Deputies and 6.4 in the Senate, while the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) has allegedly gained 6.7 pct in the Chamber of Deputies and 6.8 pct in the Senate.

According to IRES, the People’s Movement Party has not crossed the electoral threshold, gaining 4.6 pct in the Chamber of Deputies and 4.7 in the Senate.

The data shown is the data centralized until 20:00 hrs and the margin of error is of plus/minus 1.6 percent.

The Social Democrat Party (PSD) obtained 45.2 pct of votes cast at the parliamentary elections on Sunday for the Senate, the National Liberal Party (PNL) obtained 21.8 pct while the Save Romania Union (USR) gained 8.9 pct according to opinion polls carried out at the exit of the polling stations by the Center for Urban and Regional Sociology (CURS) and the Socio-Behavioral Study Group Avangarde, as broadcast by private broadcaster Antena 3.

On the following spots, in the Senate, were the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) with 6.5 pct of the votes, the People’s Movement Party (PMP) and the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) with 6 pct of the vote each, while other parties did not allegedly cross the electoral threshold.

For the Chamber of Deputies estimates show that the Social Democrat Party (PSD) obtained 45.5 pct of votes, the National Liberal Party (PNL) obtained 21.8 pct, and the Save Romania Union (USR) gained 8.9 pct.

On the following spots, in the Chamber of Deputies, are ALDE, PMP and UDMR with 6 percent each, while other parties fail to cross the electoral threshold.

The data shown at Antena 3 is the data centralized until 19:00 hrs.

The vote today shows a clear option by Romanians, if the first exit-polls are to be confirmed, said, on Sunday, the chairman of the Social Democrat Party (PSD), Liviu Dragnea.

“I want to thank all Romanians who turned out to the polls today and special thanks for those who have voted PSD. If the exit-polls are confirmed the vote today shows a clear option of Romanians and I believe that nobody has any doubts regarding who won the elections. (…) Today, citizens have voted for economic growth, for more money in their pockets, for lower taxes and tariffs and to support businessmen, so that youths in Romania have better paying jobs, so that they can buy a house and rapidly reach the middle class, for a program to bring back to life the Romanian village, to feed ourselves from what we reap on our soil. The vote today shows that Romanians want to feel at home in their country, and I want Romania to be a good country for all Romanians,” said Dragnea, at the PSD headquarters.

According to him, the vote of December 11 is a vote to give back dignity to doctors and to professors and to improve rapidly the situation in healthcare and education.

“I want to assure all Romanians that what we have presented in our economic programme in this electoral campaign will be put in practice by a PSD Government. In the coming days I want to say that I will take into account in my reasoning three things: the vote Romanians cast today, the Constitution of Romania and the governing program that I have presented all along this period,” the PSD leader assured.

The Social Democrat chairman assured Romania’s external partners that he fulfill all international, strategic and economic commitments and partnerships. Dragnea also added an important addenda made during the electoral campaign: “We firmly desire to add an important economic component to these partnerships.”

He also had a message for the internal political factors: “Romania is an island of stability in the region. I want Romania to maintain this stable democracy, without useless conflicts, and this means that all political figures, all political factors, all fundamental institutions of the state must understand and respect the vote cast today by Romanians. We must all understand, regardless what we think of one another, that Romania needs a stable, competent and responsible government. I ask all to stop today disunity, because Romanians have voted today against incitement to hatred, against incitement to disunity, they voted so that we may unite, so that Romania truly become a powerful and respected country,” Dragnea emphasized.

“It will be a long night. I asked our colleagues to stay until the end of the vote count. (…) I want to defend our results,” Dragnea said.

PNL’s Alina Gorghiu: Plans to nominate Dacian Ciolos for PM still running

Leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Alina Gorghiu said that plans to nominate Dacian Ciolos for Premier are still running and that the Liberals will perform Sunday night a parallel vote count.

“My special thanks to all those involved in the electoral process, to those present at the polling stations. It is important that they stay mobilized, it’s a well-known fact that any game must be played to the end and the goal we set ourselves, that of forming a parliamentary majority for the project to have Dacian Ciolos as Premier, is still running. It greatly depends on the final result, on the results of the other small parties, if they make it to Parliament or not; yet the message I want to send out is that we must stay alert until the last second,” Gorghiu said at the PNL headquarters after the first exit-poll results were announced.

She also voiced confidence that PNL has a good final score.

The Liberal leader underscored that the results presented by the exit polls rely on partial data as of 19:00 hrs.

“We’ll do a parallel vote count, we’ll wait for the results of 21:00 hrs and I think that this night or tomorrow morning at the latest we’ll be able to come up with a good result for PNL,” Alina Gorghiu added.

She expressed hope that the final result will still offer the Liberals the chance to negotiate a governing majority.

“No matter how hard this might seem at this moment, I hold hopes that the results we’ll see within short (…), the Romanian diaspora included, when we’ll have all the minutes collected from all polling stations, will offer us the chance to discuss parliamentary majority for the Ciolos project. (…) This game must be played to the end, and that’s what we’ll do,” the PNL chair stated.

Gorghiu: Talks with Ciolos, USR tomorrow at the latest

Head of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Alina Gorgiu said that the party will hold talks on Monday at the latest with Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos as well as with Save Romania Union (USR), although she stressed that there is no prior agreement in this respect.

“It’s my hope that the results we’ll see (…), probably in a few hours, probably tomorrow morning, including the diaspora, including the minutes from the last polling station, will be results that, no matter how difficult they might seem right now, will offer the chance for us to negotiate a majority in the Parliament for the Ciolos project.(…) I haven’t spoken with Dacian Ciolos either about the result, or about the votes, or anything else. It’s important for us to see the results so that later we can discuss a strategy. Tomorrow at the latest we will hold these talks together with Dacian Ciolos, probably with USR too, to see to what extent we can turn our common project into reality”, Gorghiu said on Sunday night.

She also said that there is no prior agreement made with either Ciolos or USR and steps in this direction will be taken in the coming days.

“Obviously there will be talks with USR, probably talks with Dacian Ciolos. This is politics – we hold talks to shape a favorable scenario for the competitor that generates these talks”, she added.

Gorghiu stressed that after drawing the line, PNL’s score will be a better one.

“I’d like to talk about what we’re going to do when the final results are out. At the moment I don’t want to talk about partial results more that I’ve already done it and I believe you can understand that results must be discussed after drawing the line and when you can see the last minute registered because this is natural. I believe we’ll see better results for PNL”, Gorghiu pointed out.

USR’s Dan: It is an incredible victory for a party established 6 months ago

Chairman of the Save Romania Union (USR), Nicusor Dan, states that the political party he represents recorded “an incredible victory” at the parliamentary elections, given that it was established just 6 months ago.

“It is a victory for democracy in Romania. For the first time after the Revolution, a party formed by people who have not done politics before, people who leave behind their professional careers and the time they spent with their family in order to enter politics, for the first time after the Revolution such a party enters Parliament. I want to thank all Romanians who gave their vote today to us, to the thousands who’ve gathered signatures so that we could run in these parliamentary elections, the thousands of members and sympathizers that were on the street these day talking to Romanians and telling them who the USR is,” Nicusor Dan said.

Nicusor Dan underscored that in case the Social Democrat Party (PSD) will form a parliamentary majority, USR will not be part of it.

“If this scenario becomes true, you will itness in Parliament exactly what you can see in the General Council (of Bucharest municipality – n.r.) and in the local councils. We are a party that votes good initiatives, irrespective of who proposes them and that rejects bad initiatives, no matter who proposes them, and that notifies authorities if anything illegal is taking place,” specified the USR leader.

Nicusor Dan also said that USR’s doors are open for Dacian Ciolos, in case he may wish to join the party.

He underscored that USR mandates in Parliament are actually his supporters’ mandates, Nicusor Dan ensuring that the Union’s representatives will not forget that.

“Today’s vote is a new beginning. For many of us, these past years have been about fighting illegalities, public administration abuse, and the ransacking of public money. Starting with today we have more power and more resources and our promise is that we will carry on in the same direction. We will fight illegalities, authorities’ abuse and ransacking of public money. We will be something that hasn’t existed so far, the citizen’s partner in relation to the public authorities in Romania,” Nicusor Dan stated.

He also encouraged USR representatives in polling stations to stay vigilant during the vote counting process and to notify any irregularity.

“The following hours are extremely important. I want to draw the attention of the other parties’ representatives that any electoral infraction is severely punished and you have our promise, of USR, that in case of illegalities we will pursue the justice path to the end,” the USR leader warned.

Calin Popescu-Tariceanu: President Iohannis should accept with no hidden thoughts people’s will

The co-chair of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) Calin Popescu-Tariceanu stated on Sunday evening, at the end of the voting period, that President Iohannis has to accept “the people’s will as it manifested itself at the polling stations and should not stand in the way of the establishment of a legitimate government.”

“I thank all Romanians who made this day of change possible. Thanks to your vote we have the chance to lead the country in the right direction. We will accomplish that by being united, leaving behind the discord that some have sown among us. I undertook to being, together with all my ALDE colleagues, the compass that shows the right direction, the guarantee that this path will be followed relentlessly. These elections prove that there is only one true liberal party in Romania – ALDE, ” wrote Tariceanu on Sunday evening, on Facebook.

Tariceanu added that he “calls upon” president Klaus Iohannis to accept “the people’s will that manifested itself at the polling stations.”

“I call upon all the parties who share the same convictions and values to join the coalition for change and democracy. I call upon those elected and PNL members disappointed by the way the party was led against the elementary principles of liberalism, to join ALDE. The citizens have spoken. They have spelled it out clearly. I call upon President Iohannis to accept without any hidden thoughts the people’s will as it manifested itself at the polling stations and not stand in the way of the establishment of a legitimate, legal, democratic government. Romania has been given back to Romanians by their own will. I thank all my colleagues for their effort and for the involvement in this campaign,” asserted Tariceanu.

UDMR’s Kelemen: I am happy with result, our representation will be stronger

The chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR), Kelemen Hunor, has stated, on Sunday evening, after the presentation of the exit-polls, that he is happy with the results obtained by his formation, who will have a larger representation in Parliament than until now.

“We should wait for the final results, but, as the information inside our organizations, and also the exit-poll, show now, we have a good result, over 6 percent. We will have a powerful representation, a proportional representation and we must thank our voters. (…) I am convinced this vote turnout not only gives us higher legitimacy, but also the power of conviction and of labor each moment we go to Parliament and fight for a better Romania, for a stronger Transylvania, for rights for the Hungarian minority, but also when we are speaking of jobs, of economy, of social issues and the troubles of people who have, often times, without intent, gone into the periphery of society,” said Kelemen Hunor.

He also said that UDMR has exited the shadow in which it stood until now and that the representation of the party will be stronger than in the 2012-2016 mandate.

“We can say with conviction that we have exited the shadow in which we stood, perhaps undeservedly, in recent years,” the UDMR chair said. </s> ROME, March 3 (Reuters) - Supporters of Italy's centre-left Democratic Party (PD) voted on Sunday to elect a new leader one year after the group lost power in a humbling defeat at a national, parliamentary election.

Previously led by former prime minister Matteo Renzi, the PD was thrown into turmoil by the 2018 ballot box beating as the electorate punished the party for not doing enough to tackle growing poverty, high unemployment and mass immigration.

Following months of internal feuding, three candidates have put themselves forward -- the governor of the Lazio region, Nicola Zingaretti, the interim PD chief Maurizio Martina and Roberto Giachetti, who is seen as the closest to Renzi.

Sunday's primary election is being held in some 7,000 voting booths set up around Italy by PD supporters.

Opinion polls suggest Zingaretti, whose actor-brother plays the lead role in the Italian TV police drama Inspector Montalbano, should win more than 50 percent of the vote.

If he fails to take an outright majority, party chiefs will gather on March 17 to decide the matter.

The primary vote comes at a time of growing tension within Italy's coalition government as the far-right League and anti-system 5-Star Movement struggle to overcome growing policy disputes in the face of an unexpected economic slowdown.

In a heartening sign for Italy's left, tens of thousands took to the streets of the financial capital Milan on Saturday to denounce racism and the anti-migrant policies of the League -- the largest such protest since the government took office.

The League has surged in the polls on the back of its anti-immigration stance, with a survey in Corriere della Sera daily at the weekend putting its support at 35.9 percent, more than double the 17.4 percent it won in last March's ballot.

By contrast support for 5-Star has dropped to 21.2 percent from 32.7 percent, as the group struggles to adjust from life as a vociferous, opposition force to a ruling government party.

Corriere put backing for the PD at 18.5 percent, little changed from a year ago but up from 16.1 percent that it registered in a similar survey at the start of February.

All three PD leadership contenders have ruled out cutting any coalition deals with 5-Star in future and say early elections would be needed if the current government fell.

Renzi, whose confrontational leadership style made him a highly divisive figure both inside and outside his party, has not openly backed any of the three candidates but has dismissed speculation that he might breakaway to create his own group.

"Whoever wins should not fear from me the guerrilla warfare that I suffered," he wrote in a Facebook post at the weekend, referring to the ferocious PD infighting that marked his time in charge and eventually led to a party schism. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer; editing by David Evans) </s> Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was Sunday poised to win the leadership of Italy’s ruling Democratic Party (PD) in a primary election, propelling him back to the forefront of the national political scene.

Renzi, 42, resigned as prime minister in December after Italians overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional referendum.

A centerpiece of his political platform, the reform had aimed to streamline Italy’s parliamentary system.

In the aftermath of the December vote defeat and facing a rebellion from the left wing of his center-left party, Renzi in February stepped down as party leader with the aim of regaining legitimacy in a future vote.

On Sunday he was up against two candidates considered further to the left: Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Michele Emiliano, who heads the southern Puglia region.

An internal vote conducted by the party earlier in April suggested a clear Renzi victory after he scored 66.7 percent, with 25.3 percent for Orlando and 8 percent for Emiliano.

When he first took over the leadership in December 2013, Renzi won the backing of close on 68 percent of 2.8 million voters.

Similar figures would underpin the winner’s legitimacy — but Emiliano warned the election will be a flop if less people vote this time, while Orlando said that less than 2 million cast ballots will signal a failure.

Renzi set the bar much lower — at 1 million.

Voting booths, mainly stands on the streets, opened at 8 a.m. and were to close at 8 p.m.

The vote was open to all Italians over 16 years old, EU citizens residing in Italy and non-EU foreigners with valid residency permits — on condition of paying a donation of at least €2.

Lorenzo De Sio, a professor of political sociology at the Luiss University in Rome said the turnout will be crucial in determining Renzi’s legitimacy.

“Rather than a competition, we’re looking at a process of legitimization, a sort of crowning of Renzi as leader of the PD. We can expect a huge Renzi victory but with weak voter turnout. People on the left do not seem to be mobilized,” he says.

“If participation rates are around a million people or less, Renzi’s legitimization won’t be strong, if it is between 1.5 and 2 million, he will wind up in a stronger position,” he adds.

The winner of the vote will lead the party during legislative elections slated for spring 2018 unless parliamentarians come to an agreement on electoral reform before then and call for early elections. </s> Italians Go To The Polls

Italy goes to the polls Sunday following one of the country's nastiest campaigns. We look at the implications for Italy and the EU.
Italians go to the polls today to elect the 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and the 315 members of the Senate of the Republic.