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| Greek elections: New Democracy 'on course for majority' | Greek elections: New Democracy 'on course for majority' |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Greece's opposition party New Democracy are set to win the country's snap general election, exit polls suggest. | Greece's opposition party New Democracy are set to win the country's snap general election, exit polls suggest. |
| Led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the centre-right party is projected to defeat Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's leftist Syriza party. | Led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the centre-right party is projected to defeat Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's leftist Syriza party. |
| New Democracy is forecast to win 38-42% of the vote, while Syriza is projected to win 26.5-31.5%. | New Democracy is forecast to win 38-42% of the vote, while Syriza is projected to win 26.5-31.5%. |
| That would give New Democracy an outright majority, as the winner receives 50 extra seats in parliament. | That would give New Democracy an outright majority, as the winner receives 50 extra seats in parliament. |
| The first official results are expected later on Sunday evening. | The first official results are expected later on Sunday evening. |
| The exit poll, conducted jointly on behalf of several Greek broadcasters, also predicted that the far-right Golden Dawn party and the nationalist pro-Russian Greek Solution were both close to the 3% minimum needed to enter parliament. | |
| MeRA25, the left-wing party of former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, was also projected to just exceed the electoral threshold. | |
| The centre-left Movement for Change was predicted to win 6-8%, vying with the Communist Party's projected 5-7% share. | |
| Prime Minister Tsipras, who swept to power in 2015, called the elections after suffering defeat in the local and European votes in May. | |
| Polls closed at 19:00 local time (16:00 GMT), after a day of soaring temperatures which raised concerns about turnout. | Polls closed at 19:00 local time (16:00 GMT), after a day of soaring temperatures which raised concerns about turnout. |
| Voting is technically compulsory in Greece, but is not enforced. Many residents flocked to the beaches or sheltered at home as temperatures exceeded 35C in places. | Voting is technically compulsory in Greece, but is not enforced. Many residents flocked to the beaches or sheltered at home as temperatures exceeded 35C in places. |
| New Democracy has promised to lower taxes and privatise services in the country, which is still feeling the effects of the 2008 financial crisis. | New Democracy has promised to lower taxes and privatise services in the country, which is still feeling the effects of the 2008 financial crisis. |
| Greece has been in receipt of a series of loans or bailout programmes over the past decade, which it officially "exited" last August as economic growth returned. | Greece has been in receipt of a series of loans or bailout programmes over the past decade, which it officially "exited" last August as economic growth returned. |
| But youth unemployment remains high, and New Democracy has counted many 18-24 year olds among its supporters. | But youth unemployment remains high, and New Democracy has counted many 18-24 year olds among its supporters. |