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Italians voted on Sunday in local elections that will show whether a sex scandal, three corruption trials and a stagnating economy have seriously damaged Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi two years before the end of his term.

Some 13 million Italians, nearly a quarter of the population, are eligible to vote in 1,310 towns and provinces, although turnout is expected to be relatively low because of disillusionment with the stormy political climate.

The most important contests are in the four big cities of Turin, Naples, Bologna and Milan, Italy''s business capital and Berlusconi''s home town, where his centre-right coalition runs the risk of losing for the first time in nearly 20 years.

The local vote, which runs through Monday, follows opinion polls putting Berlusconi''s popularity at about 30 percent, the lowest since he swept to power for the third time in 2008.

But more than once in the past the 74-year old premier has defied predictions that his grip on power was weakening.

"The problem is that when people are inside the polling station, they change their mind and always end up voting for Berlusconi, and that is because the centre left does not have a leader as strong as him in terms of charisma," said Milan resident Giorgio Cecchi.

Since March, Berlusconi has faced four concurrent trials for corruption, tax fraud and, most sensationally, having sex with an underage prostitute and then using his office to cover it up.

Berlusconi denies all charges and says Milan magistrates are politically biased leftists bent on destroying him.

He is also battling accusations that he has failed to tackle Italy''s low growth, and strains have intensified in his alliance with the pro-devolution, anti-immigrant Northern League.

Data on Friday showed Italy''s economy grew just 0.1 percent in the first quarter, far below Germany''s 1.5 percent growth but also lagging the 0.8 percent expansion of debt-stricken Greece.

The League, vital for Berlusconi''s survival after he split from long-time ally Gianfranco Fini, has repeatedly distanced itself from him, notably opposing Italy''s involvement in the NATO bombing of Libya.

Jokes and invectives

Berlusconi has aggressively hit the campaign trail, turning the election into a vote on him rather than local issues.

"A vote for Silvio" read the banner headline in Il Giornale daily, which is owned by Berlusconi''s brother.

"We are not being asked to judge whether a programme is better than another. We are being asked whether we are for or against Berlusconi," wrote Corriere della Sera in an editorial.

Using his trademark mix of jokes, invective against magistrates and opponents, and last-minute electoral pledges, he has stolen the limelight and dictated the political agenda.

Over the past few days he has called prosecutors a "cancer on democracy" and said the opposition "don''t wash much".

In Naples, where a chronic waste disposal crisis has reappeared leaving mounds of garbage once again piled up in the streets, he promised to scrap a rubbish tax until the city is clean. He has also pledged to stop demolishing houses built illegally for a year, a significant move in a city with a long tradition of building code violations.

The divided centre-left, unable so far to capitalise on Berlusconi''s woes, hopes to show the tide is turning.

In Milan, it has pinned its hopes on Giuliano Pisapia, a lawyer who may have the best chance in years to topple the centre-right city government. Incumbent mayor Letizia Moratti is seen as vulnerable because of wide middle class disappointment at her failure to modernise the northern city.

Commentators say that even a run-off in Milan -let alone Moratti''s defeat- would be a blow to Berlusconi, who launched his political career in the city where he became a billionaire.