Polling stations open in UK for general election

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LONDON. KAZINFORM Nearly 40,000 polling stations in the United Kingdom opened at 7 am local time (6 am GMT) Thursday for the general election, EFE reports.

Approximately 46.9 million people are registered to vote in the UK general election.

The two leading candidates, Prime Minister Theresa May of the Conservatives and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party, will vote in their constituencies this morning.

Additional security measures have been brought in at some polling stations - mostly schools and community centers - following the June 3 terror attack in London, the BBC reported Thursday.

Polling stations close at 10 pm and results are expected to be announced from 11 pm onwards.

According to a survey by market research consultancy Opinium, the ruling Tory party is leading with 43 percent of the vote compared to Labour's 36 percent.

However other polls published in recent days claim that the gap between the two large parties has narrowed even further.

Although the next general election was originally scheduled for 2020, May called a snap election on April 18 when polls showed that the Tories had a wide lead, with most observers predicting a landslide victory for the ruling party.

Despite previously vowing not to call an early vote, May proposed the snap election as she seeks a stronger political mandate as she carries out negotiations on Brexit, the country's exit from the European Union following a historic referendum on June 23, 2016.

Before Parliament was dissolved in May, the Tories held 330 of 650 seats in the House of Commons, compared to Labour's 229, with polls indicating that this majority could increase.

Under the UK's system of government, each constituency is won by the candidate with the most votes.

If one party wins more than half of the seats in the Commons, its leader becomes prime minister and forms a government. However if no single party wins more than half of the seats, this results in a hung parliament.

 

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