Close to 51 million Italians have the right to vote in Sunday's parliamentary elections when polling stations open their doors at seven o'clock.

According to the latest opinion polls, which due to the country's electoral rules cannot be published more than two weeks before the election, 45-year-old Giorgia Meloni, party leader of the national conservative Brothers of Italy (FDI), is predicted to become Italy's first female prime minister.

The FDI, which in the 2018 election received 4 percent of the vote, is believed to be able to get around 24 percent - which is significantly more than the alliance colleagues Lega and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia.

The outcome uncertain

The Brothers of Italy are running in the parliamentary elections together with the Lega and Forza Italia against a left-wing coalition – led by the center-left PD party – and the Five Star Movement, which is not part of any coalition.

4.7 million foreign votes have already been registered in the parliamentary election - and who will emerge victorious when the polls close at

23 is still uncertain, as 35 percent of Italians have not yet decided whether they will vote at all, according to the latest opinion polls.

The current Prime Minister of Italy is Mario Draghi.

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The candidates in the Italian election