EU member states vote in European Parliament elections
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E-mail Xinhua, May 27, 2019
Bulgaria to elect 17 MEPs
Bulgarians went to the polls Sunday to elect 17 MEPs for the fourth time in the country's history.
Nearly 6.35 million eligible voters will choose among 312 candidates from 13 political parties and eight coalitions, as well as six independent candidates.
Some 11,660 polling stations across the country opened at 7:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and is due to close at 8:00 p.m. (1800 GMT). In addition, 191 polling stations in 64 countries are available for Bulgarians living abroad.
The exit polls will be announced immediately after polls close, and the official results are expected on Wednesday.
A survey, conducted by Mediana Polling Agency and released Thursday, showed that the two main parties -- ruling GERB party and opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party -- were neck and neck, winning 31.1 percent and 29.8 percent of the votes respectively, followed by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms with 11.4 percent.
Greek opposition party leading election
About 9.89 million citizens aged 17 and above, including half a million new voters, are eligible to vote at some 39,000 polling stations, according to the Greek Interior Ministry.
A total of 1,155 candidates from 40 parties vie for Greece's 21 seats in the EP. Polling stations are open between 7 a.m. local time (1000 GMT) and 7 p.m. (2200 GMT).
According to recent opinion surveys, the conservatives of the main opposition New Democracy (ND) party lead the EP elections. ND's leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called for snap polls should the ruling leftist SYRIZA party be defeated tonight.
Most pollsters give ND over 30 percent of the votes in the electoral battle for the EP, SYRIZA around 25 percent, while the ultra-Right Chryssi Avghi and the centrist Movement for Change vie for the third place with some 7 percent of the votes. The Greek Communist party is expected to be in the fifth place with 5 percent of the votes.
The abstention rate was about 40 percent.
Italy to elect 76 MEPs
Italians are going to polling stations Sunday to elect 76 MEPs. Around 50 million Italians are eligible to vote, the equivalent of around 80 percent of the country's population.
The nationalist, anti-migrant League is expected to be the top vote-getter, improving on its 6-percent showing from the previous vote in 2014.
A big question is the accuracy of political polls, which have often proved inaccurate in Italy. The consensus is that the League will earn around 30 percent of the votes. That outcome would put it ahead of its coalition partner, the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement, which is projected to earn around 20 percent, barely ahead of the center-left Democratic Party, the main opposition party.
Polls will close at 11 p.m. local time (2100 GMT). Results from exit polls will be available soon after, with official results expected to be announced early on Monday.
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