Vote counting is underway in Ireland’s national election
Vote counting got underway Saturday in Ireland’s national election after an exit poll suggested the contest is a close-fought race among the country’s three largest political parties.
Ballot boxes were opened at 9 a.m. (0900GMT) at count centers across the country, kicking off long hours, or even days, of tallying the results. If the exit poll is borne out, that could be followed by days or weeks of negotiations to form a coalition government.
The exit poll suggested voters’ support is split widely among the three big parties — Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein — as well as several smaller parties and an assortment of independents ranging from the left to the far right.
The poll said center-right party Fine Gael was the first choice of 21% of voters, and another center-right party, Fianna Fail, at 19.5%. Left-of-center opposition Sinn Fein was at 21.1% in the poll.
Pollster Ipsos B & A asked 5,018 voters across the country how they had cast their ballots. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.
The figures only give an indication and don’t reveal which parties will form the next government.
