Counting begins in general election after tight exit poll

The protracted process of counting votes in the general election began on Saturday morning as an exit poll put the three main parties virtually neck and neck.

Sinn Fein held 21.1 per cent of first-preference votes, narrowly ahead of current coalition partners Fine Gael and Fianna Fail at 21 per cent and 19.5 per cent respectively, according to the Ipsos B&A Exit Poll commissioned by RTÉ, The Irish Times, TG4 and Trinity College Dublin.

It puts the two largest parties in the current coalition, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, on a combined 40.5 per cent.

Counting started at 9am and could last days due to Ireland’s complex system of proportional representation with a single transferable vote (PR-STV), where candidates are ranked by preference.

It means the voting slips need to be counted several…

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