Exit Poll Shows Left-Wing Syriza Likely Winning Greek Vote

ATHENS, Greece— Greeks were voting Sunday in their third national polls this year, called on to choose who they trust to steer the country into its new international bailout.Former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ left-wing Syriza party, which made ple...
Exit Poll Shows Left-Wing Syriza Likely Winning Greek Vote
A man casts his vote at a polling station in Athens, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015. AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis
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ATHENS, Greece— An exit poll in Greece’s early election Sunday showed the left-wing Syriza party of former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras likely winning, but falling short of an absolute majority needed to form a government.

The early indication exit poll showed a close contest, with an outside chance that rival conservative New Democracy could be capable of an upset. Syriza was projected to win between 30 and 34 percent, and New Democracy between 28.5 and 32.5 percent.

The poll indicated eight parties would be elected to parliament, with a ninth — the anti-bailout Popular Unity party formed by rebel Syriza members — struggling to make it past the 3 percent threshold.

It is the third time this year Greeks have voted, after January elections that brought Tsipras to power on an anti-bailout platform, and a June referendum he called urging voters to reject creditor reform proposals.

Leader of left-wing Syriza party and former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras casts his vote at a polling station in Athens, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Leader of left-wing Syriza party and former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras casts his vote at a polling station in Athens, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015. AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis