Italians begin voting for new parliament

By Ecenur Colak

ROME (AA) – Italians began casting their votes on Sunday for the general elections.

Voting began at 7 a.m. (0600GMT) and will continue till 11 p.m (2200GMT). The results are expected to be announced Monday afternoon.

Nearly 51 million registered voters, including 4.3 million overseas voters, will got to the polls to elect a new parliament.

For the 630-seat Chamber of Deputies 3,901 candidates are in the race, while for the 315-seat Senate of the Republic 1,958 candidates are competing.

Italy last held a general election in 2013. Since then, the center-left Democratic Party has governed the country under three different prime ministers: Enrico Letta, Matteo Renzi and incumbent Paolo Gentiloni.

While more than 30 parties will be contesting in the polls, the main race is between the Democratic Party, centre-right Forza Italia and populist Five Star Movement.