Update, 6:30 p.m.: Nearly all of the ballots have been counted in Greece and 61.32% of the votes have come in on the side of rejecting the austerity measures and tax increases demanded by Greece’s international creditors.
For more on today’s referendum, check out Joshua Keating’s new post here.
Update, 4:35 p.m.: The Ministry of the Interior’s official count now covers 85% of the vote, and the No side has crept up to 61.51% with 38.39% voting Yes.
Statements of approval for the Greeks’ rejection of the bailout terms are coming in from not only domestic voices aligned with the Prime Minister, such as Greece’s Green Party, but from some voices abroad far politically removed from Tsipras’s liberal government.
The leader of France’s right-wing National Front party, Marine Le Pen, released a statement calling for European countries to “take stock of the failure of the euro and austerity, and organize the dissolution of the single currency system, which is needed to get back to real growth, employment and debt reduction,” Reuters reports.
In Britain, the result was praised by the leader of the anti-immigrant, anti-euro UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage.
Update, 3:25 p.m.: With victory all but assured for his No campaign, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is reportedly calling other European leaders, including French President Francois Hollande.
There is no confirmation yet that Tsipras has reached out to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, arguably the face of the pro-austerity push for Greece. BBC’s Berlin correspondent suggests that Greece’s No vote could lead to political trouble for Merkel at home.
Update, 2:35 p.m.: Celebrations have begun for “Oxi” supporters as official results continue to show an overwhelming victory for their No campaign.
The BBC reports that Greek negotiators plan to return quickly to Brussels, Belgium in hopes of resuming talks with creditors, but that it might be awhile before they have anyone to negotiate with: “The other 18 countries will say they too have democratic mandates on behalf of their people about ploughing more money into Greece.”
Update, 2:15 p.m.: The Guardian reports that the Ministry of the Interior has released an official projection with a little less than a third of the vote counted. The government predicts that final results will put the No vote at 61% of the total.
Update, 1:55 p.m.: With about one-quarter of the vote counted, the No side has maintained a steady lead of about 20 points. The latest numbers from the official government page stand at 60.55% to 39.45%.
Political leaders have begun to comment as it becomes all but certain that the results will bear out a No win. Opposition leader and former foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis acknowledged that Prime Minister Tsipras’s pro-No campaign had been successful, and Tsipras’s defense minister called the result proof that “Greek people can’t be blackmailed, terrorized, threatened. Democracy wins.”
Update, 1:22 p.m.: The first results have been posted by Greece’s Ministry of the Interior. Covering approximately 12.7% of the vote, the totals show No ahead at 60.09% and 39.91% on the Yes side.
Original post, 12:27 p.m.: Greek voters went to the polls Sunday to decide whether to accept bailout terms imposed by international creditors. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is calling for a “No” vote to reject harsh austerity measures, which would almost certainly lead to Greece’s exit from the Euro zone. A “Yes” vote would make continued aid more likely, though a previous offer from creditors might not be available after Greece missed a payment on its debt last week.
The polls closed at 7:00 p.m. local time (noon EDT). While exit polling seems to be sparse to nonexistent, the BBC is citing late polls that show a narrow victory for the no side.
The BBC also reports that French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are planning to meet in Paris on Monday morning.
