A projection based on 10% of the
votes cast in Sunday's regional election in Sicily puts
centre-right governor candidate Nello Musumeci on 35%, just
ahead of the 5-Star Movement's Giancarlo Cancelleri on 34%.
Fabrizio Micari, the candidate backed by the ruling
centre-left Democratic Party (PD), was on 20%, while Claudio
Fava, whose ticket was supported by several small leftwing
parties, was on 9%.
The PD conceded defeat late on Sunday when exit polls
suggested Micari was not in the running to win.
"It is a balanced projection," top opinion poll expert Nicola
Piepoli told RAI radio.
"There are 72 sample points representing the whole of the
Sicilian territory.
"Up to this point, with the projections (based on) 10% of the
vote, Musumeci's victory is territorial and therefore very
probable".
The Sicilian elections are seen as a key test ahead of a
national general election early next year.
The vote count started early on Monday, rather than after the
ballot boxes were closed.
The turnout was 46.76%, meaning 2,179,474 of 4,661,111 people
with the right to vote in the southern region did so between
8:00 and 22:00 on Sunday, compared to 2,203,165 votes in the
regional elections five years ago.
The turnout was higher than in 2012 in just three provinces
out of nine - Messina 51.69% (compared to 51.24% last time),
Catania 51.58% (51.09%) and Palermo 46.4% (46.28%).
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