Italian Election Results Uncertain; Berlusconi in Tight Race Against Bersani

Things could be getting much more complicated for European Union officials struggling to recover from the financial crisis as one of the political union's largest member states is in the middle of a tight election with early polls showing a split government.

Polls closed this afternoon on the final day of voting in the Italian elections, and thus far the ballot count shows a close between the center-left coalition of Pier Luigi Bersani and the center-right coalition headed by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, according to the Italian MInistery of the Interior.

Polls by Italian media outlets indicate Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party and the Northern League are ahead in the race for the Italian senate with 31 percent of the vote, Close behind is Bersani's Democratic Party with 29.7 percent of the vote. But the race for the Chamber of Deputies, the parliament's lower house, shows the center-left in the lead with 34 percent of the vote followed by the center-right at 29 percent.

The Italian parliament distributes power equally to both the upper and lower house. A prime minister must be approved by the entire parliament. The current prime minister Mario Monti's centrist party is far behind in the polls with 9.5 percent of the vote in the lower house and 9 percent in the Senate.

Italy has the third largest economy in the EU and a split government may lead to more uncertainty about how leaders will tackle the financial crisis . Italy's economy has struggled because of the nation's growing debt and it has been the cause of some unrest among investors who are concerned about the Italian bond market. 

Italian 10-year bond yields had their biggest rally in five months this afternoon and the Italian stock market climbed 3.6 percent, Bloomberg reports, adding investors are hopeful that early reports that showed Bersani winning both houses of parliament will hold. Bersani has no plans to end an austerity plan put in place by Monti to control the nation's debt.

The final result will be released later this evening.