Politics

Polling begins in Finland to elect new parliament in tight race

Helsinki, Apr 2 (EFE).- Polling stations opened in Finland on Sunday morning to elect a new parliament, with opinion polls suggesting the three leading parties are closely tied.

Some 4.5 million Finns are eligible to vote and elect 200 lawmakers for the next Eduskunta (unicameral parliament of Finland).

According to the national YLE TV’s latest survey published on Thursday, the two opposition parties, the conservative National Coalition Party and the far-right nationalist Finns Party, are virtually tied with almost 20 percent of the vote each.

The ruling Social Democratic Party (SDP) led by Prime Minister Sanna Marin follows closely.

Marin’s SDP is surveyed to get 18.7 percent of the vote for a third spot, despite improving results in the 2019 elections by one point.

However, the final results could be tighter since the margin of error is two percent, and almost a third of the respondents did not reveal their political choices.

The survey confirms the progressive loss of support from the conservatives.

Three months ago, the conservatives were ahead of their main rival, the SDP, by more than five points.

If elected it would be the first parliamentary poll win for the far-right Finns Party in Finnish history.

More than 1.7 million voters, or 40.5 percent of eligible voters, cast their ballot during the week-long early voting period.

The ballots and the postal votes from abroad will get scrutinized throughout the day, and the results will be published shortly after the polling stations close.

The electoral authorities hope the final verdict will be available before midnight local time (21:00 GMT). EFE

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