The contests shifted early on from regional and municipal races into a midterm referendum on the prime minister’s conservative government, which is two years into a five-year term.

Mr. Berlusconi campaigned assiduously, casting the elections as an endorsement of his mandate and his can-do style of leadership. He strove to both solidify his position within his coalition and garner enough clout to push through several much-disputed reforms on his agenda, including a widespread overhaul of the justice system and a change to the Constitution that would allow for the direct election of the president with expanded powers for the office. (There has been speculation that Mr. Berlusconi himself would run for the office if it had more authority.)

Rather than addressing local concerns, these elections, which did not include seven of Italy’s 20 regions, probably will be better remembered for the emergence of various corruption scandals — one involving a close aide to the prime minister — bungled electoral procedures in some regions, and accusations of vote tampering in others.

The campaign will also be recalled for what was not said, at least on national television. Mr. Berlusconi was accused of plotting to take at least one talk show critical of him off the air. Political talk shows did not air during the campaign.

Turnout was relatively low in a country where electoral participation is usually high. Fewer than 65 percent of voters made it to the polls, down from 72 percent in the last regional elections in 2005. Many experts saw the decline as an indication of rising frustration on the part of Italians.