Heading to the polls today for snap elections, Portuguese people are being asked to choose between electing a centre-right government and keeping the centre-left in power while the influence of the far-right grows.

The issues that dominated during the election campaign in the poorest country in Western Europe were housing crisis caused by increase in rentsthe low wagesthe degradation of health care and the corruption.

The snap election, four months after the surprise resignation of Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa – following an investigation into alleged irregularities in his government’s management of major investment projects – pits the two factions that have alternated in power in recent decades against each other again.

The Socialist Party (PS) could catch up with the Left Bloc and the Communists, who allowed it to govern between 2015 and 2019, provided they collectively secure more than 115 of the total 230 seats in parliament.

The three-party Democratic Alliance (AD) led by Luis Montenegro – the leader of the largest opposition party, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) – leads in most opinion polls, but it is estimated that he would struggle to govern without the support of the far-right Chega (“Enough”). Montenegro had however ruled out the possibility of an agreement with the far-right populists, who have publicly expressed their ambition to have a government role.

The far-right Chega is forecast to increase its numbers and take third place after winning supporters with its hostile rhetoric against immigrants and a promise to crack down on corruption.

On Friday, Portugal’s conservative president Marcelo Rebelo de Souza told Expresso newspaper that he would do everything he could to prevent Chega from gaining power, prompting criticism.

The polls open at 8 am (local time, 10:00 Greek time) and will close at 7 pm on the mainland. An hour later, the polls will close in the Azores, an island complex located approximately 1,500 kilometers to the west.