FLORENCE, Italy, March 14 (UPI) -- The granddaughter of Italy's wartime dictator Benito Mussolini has gone on a hunger strike in Florence after being disqualified as a political candidate.
Alessandra Mussolini, a former actress and Playboy model, was barred from running as a far-right candidate in a regional election as officials determined more than 800 signatures on her nomination rolls were forged.
The Telegraph said the list allegedly included dead people and people giving their birth date as Feb. 31. Officials also claimed the signature of Mussolini's aunt, actress Sophia Loren, had been faked.
"They're pigs, scoundrel pigs!" Mussolini told La Repubblica newspaper, blaming her incumbent rival, the National Alliance's Francesco Storace, for reporting her to the electoral commission.
Mussolini said she would maintain her hunger strike until a decision is made on her appeal, expected later this week.
A survey by the Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore before the court's decision predicted Mussolini would attract just 9.3 percent of the vote.
