A bitter campaign ends, and a country waits as results come in.<br/> <br />Exit polls in Italy's Parliamentary elections Monday showed the center-left coalition WELL ahead of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right bloc.<br/> <br />But final results in SENATE races hinge on key battleground regions, where the two coalitions are neck and neck.<br/> <br />It was an election fought largely over the economy.<br/> <br />Polls gave the center left, led by Pier Luigi Bersani, over a third of the vote in the House and Senate.<br/> <br />That left some confident he can form a stable, pro-reform government.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Italian) VOTER, STEFANIA FIORENTINI, SAYING:<br/> <br />"It cannot be worse than last time. I am hopeful, I hope Italians will now cast a sensible vote, at least for something new, at least for a change."<br/> <br />Polls showed anti-establishment candidate Beppe Grillo in third place.<br/> <br />But the biggest loser was the centrist coalition with less than 10 percent of votes -- led by outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti whom critics said ran a lackluster campaign.<br/> <br />Italy is the euro zone's third largest economy.<br/> <br />The election was closely watched by financial markets anxious about a return to a debt crisis that shook the euro zone in 2011.
