Italy's centre left voted to choose the candidate who will be the leading contender to succeed Mario Monti as prime minister after a election in March and take charge of steering the country through a deep recession.
Italy's center-left coalition, led by Pier Luigi Bersani, has a comfortable lead less than two months before the election, and outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti's bloc may win up to 15 percent, a poll said.
Italy's center-left coalition will win a majority in the lower house of parliament but the upper house will be deadlocked, the Interior Ministry said after almost all votes were counted.