The die is cast. The polls are closed, and the final results will only be known on Monday morning (the counting will then begin for the regions of Lazio and Lombardy in the afternoon): in the meantime, with all due caution, the first exit polls went out immediately at 23pm, currently in line with the polls of the eve. No coalition at 40%, center-right ahead with Lega and Forza Italia which are credited with more or less the same percentage of preferences, Movimento 5 Stelle is the first party with at least 30% of the preferences, and the decline of the Democratic Party, which should not reach the 23% (and 27% considering allies in the centre-left coalition). Liberi e Uguali also exceed the 3% barrier, which could even reach 5%.
As for the regions to vote, even the challenges of Lazio and Lombardy more or less respect the forecasts of the eve: the outgoing president of the Democratic Party in the Lazio Region, Zingaretti, should be reconfirmed with over 30% of the preferences (behind the center-right and Movimento 5 stars more or less on par). However, Giorgio Gori shouldn't make it in Lombardy: the mayor of Bergamo, who challenged the Northern League and mayor of Varese Fontana, is 5-6 percentage points behind according to the exit polls of the Piepoli Institute.
As for turnout, the latest official data is that of 19 pm, when there were still four hours left before the polling stations closed: 58,42% of those entitled to vote in the Chamber. Difficult to compare with the previous policies, those of 2013, because then there were also votes on Monday morning: at the same time 46,8% of the voters for the Chamber had gone to the polls. At 12 today the turnout recorded was 19,38%. In past policies, 14,9% of those entitled had voted. However, in the last few hours there has been an increase in participation in the vote - compared to 12 - especially in the centre-north regions.
Projections should exceed 70%, against 75% five years ago. As for the regional elections, 19% voted in Lazio at 50,89 pm, while Lombardy had 59,24%. Among the Regions, the highest turnout was recorded in Umbria (64,86%) and Veneto (64,59%), Emilia Romagna 65,99%. The lowest is that of Sicily with about 47%, always a provisional figure.
