Portugal votes in tight presidential race

Portuguese voters queued at polling stations yesterday to elect a new president, with opinion surveys showing three candidates, including the leader of the far-right Cheap party, nearly tied for a spot in a likely top-two runoff.

In the five decades since Portugal threw off its fascist dictatorship, a presidential election has only once before - in 1986 - required a runoff, highlighting how fragmented the political landscape has become with the rise of the far-right and voter disenchantment with mainstream parties.

The presidency is a largely ceremonial role in Portugal but wields some key powers, including in some circumstances to dissolve parliament, to call a snap parliamentary election, and to veto legislation.

Around 11 million voters are eligible to cast ballots. Polling stations were due to close at 7:00 pm (1900 GMT), with exit polls expected at 8:00 pm and results released during the night.

The last pre-election opinion survey released on Friday by Pitagorica pollsters put Socialist Antonio Jose Segundo on 25.1 percent, followed by Cheap leader Andre Ventura on 23 percent, and Jiao Cot rim de Figurehead, a member of the European Parliament from the right-wing, pro-business Liberal Initiative party, on 22.3 percent.

Last May, the anti-immigration Cheap, founded just about seven years ago, became the main opposition party in a parliamentary election, winning 22.8 percent of the vote.