A topless Femen activist has disrupted polling in Italy’s national election while ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi was casting his ballot.

The woman, who had the words ‘Berlusconi, you’ve expired’ written in black marker on her torso, jumped onto the table at the Milan polling station as Berlusconi was voting. Photographers in the room to shoot the scene jostled for position amid the chaos. Berlusconi was escorted out, reports the Metro.

News reports recalled that Femen activists disrupted Berlusconi’s vote in 2013 as well. Polls have opened in Italy in in one of the most uncertain elections in years.

It is being closely watched to see if Italy will succumb to the populist, eurosceptic and far-right sentiment that has swept through Europe in recent years.

The campaign was marked by the prime-time airing of neofascist rhetoric and anti-migrant violence that culminated in a shooting spree last month against six Africans.

While the centre-right coalition that capitalised on anti-migrant sentiment led the polls, analysts predict the likeliest outcome is a hung parliament.

More than 46 million Italians were eligible to vote from 7am to 11pm, including Italians abroad who already posted ballots.