Polls Open For Second Day Of Italian Elections

Is this the end of Berlusconi's reign as prime minister? (CTK) April 10, 2006 -- Polls opened today in Italy on the second and final day of voting in the country's general elections.

Exit-poll results are expected shortly after the polls close at 3 p.m. local time.

Turnout was about 66 percent on April 9.

The vote is set to be close between Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right coalition and the center-left led by Romano Prodi. The most recent opinion polls, from two weeks ago, put Prodi slightly in the lead.

Berlusconi has been in power for five years, heading Italy's longest-serving administration since World War II. But during that time, Europe's fourth-biggest economy has shown negligible growth.

(Reuters, AFP)