Dutch exit poll suggests neck and neck race between far right and center left in EU election

By MIKE CORDER and RAF CASERT
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A final exit poll suggests that Geert Wilders’ far-right party and a center-left alliance are neck and neck in the Dutch election for the European Union parliament. In a possible harbinger of strong electoral gains for the hard right in the 27-nation bloc, the exit poll Thursday indicated that Wilders’ Party for Freedom had made the biggest gains by winning seven seats, up from just one in the last parliament. The poll of some 20,000 voters published by national broadcaster NOS predicted that the center-left alliance would win eight of the 31 European Parliament seats up for grabs in the Netherlands.