Vote counting under way in Ireland as exit poll shows tight three-way race
Al Jazeera
Exit poll put left-wing nationalists Sinn Fein at 21.1 percent of votes, slightly ahead of two centre-right parties.
Ireland is tallying votes from general elections as an exit poll suggested a dead heat between the three main parties, with the left-wing opposition Sinn Fein holding a narrow lead.
The counting began at 09:00 GMT on Saturday with partial results expected throughout the day.
A final result, however, may not be clear for days as European Union member Ireland’s proportional representation system sees votes of eliminated candidates redistributed during multiple rounds of counting.
According to the exit poll on Friday conducted by Ipsos B&A, Sinn Fein, which backs Irish unity, led with 21.1 percent of the vote.
Just behind were Ireland’s two centre-right parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, which are coalition partners in the outgoing government. They had 21 percent and 19.5 percent of the vote respectively, according to Ipsos B&A.
