Higgins taking lead in Irish presidential election: exit poll

An exit poll shows that the incumbent Irish President Michael D. Higgins is taking a big lead in the country's presidential election, reported local media RTE on Friday night.

The exit poll, conducted by RED C, a leading provider of research-based consultancy services in Ireland, suggests that Higgins will receive 58.1 percent of the first preference votes in the election which ended here at 10:00 p.m. local time.

Voters in Friday's election were allowed to vote for the six presidential candidates all named on the ballot paper according to their preference. That is to say they can vote for several candidates in a single ballot, but they have to list their preferences.

The poll, commissioned by RTE, was based on interviews with 3,474 voters conducted on a random basis at 138 polling stations across the country between 7:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday, said the report.

The poll suggests that Peter Casey will rank in the second place in the election by getting 20.7 percent of the first preference votes, followed by Liadh Ni Riada (7.4 percent), Joan Freeman (6.3 percent), Sean Gallagher (5.5 percent) and Gavin Duffy (2 percent).

The exit poll's margin of error is between plus or minus 3 percent, added the report.

The counting of the votes will start at 9:00 a.m. Saturday and the official results of the election is expected to be announced later on the day.