Exit polls gave Greece's former leftwing prime minister Alexis Tsipras a marginal lead today in a knife-edge election race against his mainstream conservative rivals seen as crucial for the future of the crisis-hit nation.
A joint exit poll from five leading TV stations released as voting closed in Greece's general election, its fifth in six years, predicted a 30-34 per cent win for Tsipras' radical Syriza party against 28-32.5 per cent for the conservative New Democracy party led by Vangelis Meimarakis.
Two other exit polls also put Tsipras slightly ahead, but polling institutes and political scientists in the run-up to Sunday's vote have cautioned that the ultimate outcome may be too close to call before all votes are counted.
First partial official results are expected at 1800 GMT.
Tsipras earlier today declared he was confident of winning a second mandate to reform and revive the nation's economy after a first tumultuous seven months.
Wearing his trademark open shirt and cheery smile, he said after casting his ballot that voters will elect "a fighting government" ready for the "confrontations necessary to move forward with reforms".
Hands-down winner of a January general election, then with 36.34 per cent of the vote, Tsipras resigned in August and called snap elections, gambling crisis-weary Greeks would give him a new mandate despite his controversial austerity deal with European leaders.
After winning office on an anti-austerity ticket, he agreed in July to more punishing austerity for the nation in exchange for its third financial rescue in five years.
He later argued he had effectively saved Greece from a chaotic exit from the eurozone.
But the move alienated many Syriza supporters and split the party, with a fifth of its anti-euro hardline MPs walking out, forcing Tsipras to call the election.
He went to the polls facing a strong challenge from the conservative New Democracy party led by ex-defence minister Meimarakis, who slammed the former leftwing premier for his U-turn with the country's creditors and for his seven chaotic months in power.
Casting his vote, 61-year-old Meimarakis said: "Voters want to send away ... The lies, the misery, the posers and bring truth and real people."
Over 9.8 million Greeks were registered to vote for a new government which, whoever wins, will face the tough task in the next weeks of pushing through painful new tax rises and pension reforms agreed under the three-year bailout deal adopted by parliament last month.
The reforms were agreed in return for a new 86-billion-euro (USD 97-billion) international rescue, Greece's third in five years.
