2016 Rome Mayoral Election Rome(Italy) poised to elect first female mayor Virginia Raggi Sunday June 19,2016

Voters in the Italian capital have started casting their ballots with all signs indicating that they will elect Virginia Raggi as the first female mayor of the Eternal City.

Virginia Raggi, a lawyer and local councillor, has leapt from anonymity to become one of the best-known faces in Italian politics in the space of only a few months on the campaign trail.

The telegenic 37-year-old, whose victory would be a blow for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, is the rising star of the populist Five Star movement (M5S), the anti-establishment party founded by comedian Beppe Grillo

Virginia Raggi, a 37-year-old lawyer, won 35% of the vote in the first round two weeks ago, against 24% for Mr Giachetti

More than nine million voters are eligible to take part in Sunday's second-round election in 126 communes, including Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin and Bologna

But all eyes are on Five Star, which has emerged as the best-supported opposition to the centre-left, Democratic Party (PD)-led coalition of Renzi, and the stakes are extremely high for a movement that was only founded in 2009.

Success in Rome could provide a platform for a tilt at national power in general elections due in 2018.