(27 Sep 2009)
AP Television
1. Mid pan left of Social Democrat leader Manuela Ferreira Leite entering polling station
2. Ferreira Leite voting behind screen
3. Ferreira Leite placing ballot into ballot box
STORYLINE:
Centre-right Social Democrat leader Manuela Ferreira Leite voted on Sunday in Portuguese parliamentary elections that are predicted to keep Prime Minister Jose Socrates' centre-left Socialist Party in power despite the highest jobless rate in over 20 years.
Ferreira Leite, the main opposition candidate, is seeking to become Portugal's first elected woman prime minister.
The Socialists have blamed the global meltdown for Portugal's economic crisis and promised big-ticket public works projects to stimulate growth.
Socrates has vowed to stick with a modernising social and economic reform programme that has antagonised many, especially trade unions.
Ferreira Leite's Social Democrats say public works will saddle future generations with debt.
They want to facilitate more private enterprise, including tax breaks.
Ferreira Leite also proposes reforms but she says they must go deeper and pursue broader consensus.
Recent opinion polls have indicated voters prefer the Socialist option, with 38 percent to 30 percent for the Social Democrats.
Some 9.4 (m) million people were eligible to vote, with complete results expected on Sunday night.
The Portuguese economy contracted 3.7 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period last year.
Some 500-thousand people - just over 9 percent of the work force - are unemployed.
Portugal is western Europe's poorest country, and about a third of workers take home less than 600 euros (880 US dollars) a month after tax, according to the National Statistics Institute.
With neither of the main parties expected to secure more than half the seats in the 230-seat Parliament, the winner may rule as a minority government or seek an alliance or a coalition with a smaller rival - the conservative Popular Party, the Communist Party/Green Party coalition, or the Left Bloc.
Only one minority government has survived its full term since democracy was introduced 33 years ago.
Before the 2005 Socialist win, Portugal had three governments in three years.
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