by Calculated Risk on 6/17/2012 08:56:00 AM

Polls close at noon ET on Sunday and the first "safe" results are expected around 2:30 PM ET.

Meanwhile there is a forest fire raging near Athens.

A few stories ...

From the Athens News: Voting underway in crunch election

Voting in the second general election in as many months got underway at 7am [Athens time] on Sunday at over 20,000 polling stations in 56 constituencies across the country.
Polling stations will remain open until [12 PM ET].
...
Unofficial exit polls will be announced, via the media, by the country’s polling agencies shortly after the closing of polling stations.

The authorities expect the first official projections by [2:30 PM ET]. Counting should be completed in the early hours of Monday morning.

From the Financial Times: Greece vote set to end in stalemate

Greeks voted on Sunday in a second general election set to end in stalemate ... The centre-right New Democracy party had a three-point lead over the radical left Syriza coalition, but neither party would capture even 30 per cent of the vote, according to two private polls seen by the FT.
excerpt with permission

From the WSJ: Greeks Vote in High-Stakes Election

The vote is pitting the conservative New Democracy party—which mostly supports the country's latest European-led bailout—against its leftist rival, Syriza, which has denounced the deal and wants to tear up the austerity program that came with it.

From the NY Times: A Critical Vote in Greece on Its Standing in the Euro Zone

As world financial institutions braced for more political uncertainty and potential market turmoil on Monday, Greek political leaders said they understood the need to form a government as quickly as possible, no matter what the election results. ...

As they headed to the polls, Greeks were gripped by anxiety about the collapse of the economy and with it the middle class — and shaken by repeated warnings from European leaders that Greece’s exit from the single currency was likely. For many, the election was seen as a choice between hope and fear.

There will be no clear winner, and even if a government is formed, the path forward is uncertain.