Polls close in Greece; exit poll shows up to 39.5% vote for Syriza

Polls have closed in a Greek general election that could change the shape of Europe.

After years of grinding austerity, the left-wing, anti-bailout party tipped to win - Syriza - says it will end cutbacks.

In doing so, it may default on Greece's debts, and leave the Euro.

"In Greece, democracy will return," the party's 40-year-old leader Alexis Tsipras told assembled media as he voted in Athens. "The message is that our common future in Europe is not the future of austerity."

Tsipras has promised to renegotiate the country’s €240bn international bailout deal. He has pledged to reverse many of the reforms that creditors demanded in exchange for keeping Greece financially afloat since 2010.

Sky's Tom Rayner said the outcome depended on whether Syriza would be forced to form a coalition.

"If it is able to get a simple majority - 151 re more seats in the 300-seat Greek parliament - then it could afford to be quite tough in its negotiations with its European creditors," he said.

Reuters is reporting an exit poll shows the Syriza party taking 35.5%-39.5% share of the vote.

The first official projections are due at 7.30pm Irish time, with results updated into the night.

Update 7.15pm: A Greek state TV exit poll is projecting that Syriza has won parliamentary elections in an historic first for a radical left-wing party in Greece.

But it is unclear whether Syriza has won a decisive enough victory over Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s incumbent conservatives to govern alone. For that, they need a minimum 151 of parliament’s 300 seats.

The centrist Potami (River) party is battling for third place with the Nazi-inspired, extreme right-wing Golden Dawn, whose leadership is in prison pending trial for running a criminal organisation.