2000 Replay in Italy

Romano Prodi, the candidate of the center-left coalition, has declared victory. Incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the center-right leader, disputes the claim and is calling for a "scrupulous check of election ballots."

How does "hanging chads" translate in Italian?

By the way, if you want to know what a national election is like in Italy think about all the ads you saw for George Bush in 2004, and now take all the John Kerry ads off the air, and give Bush 3-5 hours a day of free television coverage on the news. And have Bush own all the television stations. Such is the case in Italy, where Berlusconi is a media mogul, and his party was fined for violating equal-time laws (although a fine means little to Italy's richest man). For Prodi to win in that environment, if he indeed pulls it off, means either he's a skillful under-the-radar campaigner or the Italian economy really is in the shitter.

This one could take months to sort out.