
will win four of the 25 Dutch seats in the parliament. Photo by BGNES
The UK and Netherlands voted Thursday for Members of the European Parliament, and results are to be presented on Sunday.
Dutch and British voters were the first to go to the polls to elect the EU's most powerful legislative body, but results are not to be announced until elections in all countries are over.
Polls closed in the Netherlands at 19:00 GMT and in Britain at 21:00 GMT on Thursday.
However, exit polls suggest that Geert Wilders' right-wing Freedom Party (PVV) will win four of the 25 Dutch seats in the parliament, just one behind the Christian Democrats, the BBC reported.
Exit polls showed late on Thursday that the PVV was on course to win just over 15% of the votes in the Netherlands.
If confirmed, the Freedom Party's result is second only to Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats (CDA), which dropped almost 5% to just under 20% of the vote.
No preliminary results have been announced in Britain, as votes counting has started early Friday morning.
In the UK, the vote is seen as a crucial test for the governing Labour Party, with a general election due within a year. Three senior ministers resigned earlier this week.
Some 375 million people in 27 member states are eligible to vote. Most will cast their ballots over the weekend.
Voters are deciding who gets the 736 seats up for grabs under various forms of proportional representation.
Latvia, Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia vote on Saturday, while the Czech Republic and Italy vote over Friday and Saturday, and Saturday and Sunday respectively.
People in the remaining 18 member states, including Bulgaria will vote on Sunday.
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