Polls open in Italy, where voters could bring far-right to power

Italians are voting on Sunday in an election that could move the country's politics sharply toward the right during a critical time for Europe, with war in Ukraine fuelling skyrocketing energy bills and testing the West's resolve to stand united against Russian aggression.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time, and by noon turnout was equal to or slightly less than at the same time during Italy's last general election in 2018. The counting of paper ballots is expected to begin shortly after polls close at 11 p.m., with projections based on partial results coming early Monday morning.

Before publication of opinion polls was banned 15 days ago, far-right leader Giorgia Meloni and her Brothers of Italy party, with its neo-fascist roots, led in popularity, suggesting Italians were poised to vote their first far-right government into power since the Second World War. Close behind was former prime minister Enrico Letta and his centre-left Democratic Party.

Meloni is part of a right-wing alliance with anti-migrant League leader Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi, the three-time prime minister who heads the Forza Italia party he created three decades ago. Italy's complex electoral law rewards campaign coalitions, meaning the Democrats are at a disadvantage since they failed to secure a similarly broad alliance with left-leaning populists and centrists.

If Meloni becomes prime minister, she would be the first woman in Italy to hold the office. But assembling a viable, ruling coalition could take weeks.

Nearly 51 million Italians are eligible to vote.

Pollsters had predicted turnout could be even lower than the record-setting low of 73 per cent in the last general election. They say despite Europe's many crises, many voters feel alienated from politics, since Italy has had three coalition governments since the last election — each led by someone who hadn't run for office.

Elections were being held six months early after Mario Draghi's pandemic unity government collapsed in late July. Italy's president, Sergio Mattarella, saw no alternative but to have voters elect a new parliament.

Opinion polls found Draghi, a former European Central Bank chief, hugely popular. But the three populist parties in the coalition boycotted a confidence vote tied to an energy relief measure. Their leaders, Salvini, Berlusconi and 5-Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte, a former prime minister whose party is the largest in the outgoing parliament, saw Meloni's popularity growing while theirs slipped.

Meloni kept her Brothers of Italy in the opposition, refusing to join Draghi's unity government or Conte's two coalitions that governed after the 2018 vote.

She further distanced herself from Salvini and Berlusconi with unflagging support for Ukraine, including sending weapons so Kyiv could defend itself against Russia. Her nationalist party champions sovereignty.

Before Russia's invasion, Salvini and Berlusconi had gushed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the final days of the election campaign, Salvini criticized Russian atrocities in Ukraine.

Many factories in Italy face cutbacks — some already have reduced production — and other businesses might close as they struggle with gas and electricity bills reaching 10 times higher than a year ago. The major candidates, despite their political leanings, agreed on the urgency for a European Union-wide price cap on energy prices or, failing that, a national one.

Draghi, who remains in a caretaker role until a new government is sworn in, had for months already pressed EU authorities in Brussels for the same remedy.