Italian exit poll gives slight edge to center-right coalition
ROME — Italians braved long lines and confusing ballots to vote Sunday in one of the most uncertain elections in years — one that could determine if the country succumbs to the populist and far-right sentiment that has swept through Europe.
Some Italian polling stations faced ballot delivery problems, and all had timeconsuming anti-fraud measures in place that created bottlenecks at many stations.
An exit poll by RAI state TV found that a centerright coalition had a slight edge over an anti-establishment party, the 5-Star Movement.
The same poll found former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dueling for the center-right’s leadership with anti-migrant party leader Matteo Salvini; their respective Forza Italia and League parties were running nearly neck-and-neck.
Whichever party dominates the coalition would be better poised to make a bid for the premiership should the coalition muster enough support in Parliament to support a government.
But no party was taking enough seats to govern alone, the exit poll by the Piepoli polling agency found.
The exit poll put the center-right coalition, which includes a smaller far-right party, with 33 percent to 36 percent of the vote, compared with the 5-Star Movement’s 29.5 percent to 32.5 percent.
The center-left coalition that governs Italy and led by the Democratic Party was lagging at 24.5 percent to 27.5 percent, according to the exit poll. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
The first projections based on an initial vote count were expected early Monday.
The campaigning in Italy was marked by neo-fascist rhetoric and anti-migrant violence that culminated in a shooting spree last month that targeted African migrants and injured six.
With unemployment at 10.8 percent and economic growth in the eurozone’s third-largest economy lagging the average, many Italians have all but given up hope for change.
The populist 5-Star Movement hoped to capitalize on such disgust, particularly among Italy’s young. Some polls had indicated the grass-roots movement launched in 2009 would be the largest votegetter among any single party.
But the 5-Stars weren’t expected to win enough to govern on their own, and the group’s principle of not allying with any party could complicate dealmaking to form a new government if Salvini’s populistleaning League ends up seeking a partner that’s not Berlusconi’s more moderate party.
Steve Bannon, rightwing populist architect of President Donald Trump’s White House campaign, was in Rome this weekend, cheering on the populists. “I think if they create a coalition among all the populists it would be fantastic, it would terrify Brussels and pierce it in its heart,” Bannon was quoted as saying in Sunday’s Corriere della Sera newspaper.