The center-left Democratic Party led by outgoing Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni gained 20-24 percent of the votes.

Italy's Interior Ministry said the turnout for the election that ended at 11 p.m. local time (2200 GMT) was about 74 percent, a slight drop from the 75 percent of eligible voters who participated in the 2013 election.

Italians were called on to choose their representatives in the 315-member Senate and the 630-seat Lower House for a five-year term under a new electoral system which would allocate a little over one-third of seats via a first-past-the-post system, and two-thirds on a proportional basis.

Final results of the election are expected to be released on Monday.