Election officials empty a ballot box to count votes during a parliamentary election at a polling station, in Athens, Sunday, June 17, 2012. Greeks are voting Sunday for the second time in six weeks in what is arguably their country's most critical election in 40 years. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
June 17, 2012 - 2:11 PM
ATHENS, Greece - Updated exit polls predict that Greece's conservative New Democracy party will come in first in an election that is crucial for Europe and the world.
Although no party appears to have won enough seats in Sunday's election to form a new Greek government on its own, the polls indicate the country's two traditional parties — New Democracy and PASOK — will have enough seats to form a coalition together.
The exit poll projected New Democracy as winning between 28.6 and 30 per cent of the vote, giving it 127 seats in the 300-seat Parliament. That's ahead of the radical left Syriza party, which is projected to get 72 seats.
The Socialist PASOK party was projected in third with 32 seats.
New Democracy wants Greece to stay in the eurozone while the Syriza has vowed to pull out of Greece's international bailout commitments.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012