CRI听力: Britons Vote in Tight Election Race

Millions of Britons are now casting their votes in one of the most watched UK general elections ever. Our London correspondent Tu Yun has been out at a polling station to try to tap the mood of the electorate.

More than forty thousand polling stations opened across the country at 7 this morning in the UK.

Anne Siew, who originally came from Malaysia, arrived at a poling station in North London with her husband.

"Have you cast your vote?"

"Yes, I have."

"Do you think you can tell us which party you support?"

"No, I'd rather not. We vote whenever there's an election because it's important to make sure your voices counted."

That's also why Roy Jeans is doing some voluntary work outside the polling station.

"I've taken a day off work today to help out on the election. We are actually coming out today to try help the Tory vote and try to maximize the number of people are voting Tory. It's what's called three-way marginal. There are three parties that could win this seat, the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour."

An hour after the station opened, Jeans recorded some 160 voters.

"It's been very very brisk, it's been very busy today. I think there'll be a very big turnout. Not just here but across the country. I think it might be 65 percent I don't know. Nobody knows until later on. But I personally think this is a most important election we've had in the UK since 1979, or possibly even 1945 after the Second World War."

The three major parties, namely Labor, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, have been competing fiercely for the 650 seats in the House of Commons.

After the one month election campaign, the Tories are leading the polls by a few percentage points at around 35%. But Labor and the Lib Dems are also looking to grab their share in this close-run election, as each of them enter the vote sitting at around 30 percent support.

Over 44 million people are registered to vote in this election. And more than four thousand candidates are standing for election across the country.

The offical results will be announced on Friday.

Tu Yun, CRI news, London.