EU set for election \\\'Super Sunday\\\'

European polls reach their culmination on ‘Super Sunday’ when the remaining 20 of the EU’s 28 countries go to the vote, with the balloting expected to confirm the dominance of pro-European centrists despite a rise in support for the far-right and left. Germany, France, Spain and Poland are among the major EU member states voting on Sunday, representing the bulk of the 388 million Europeans eligible to cast ballots and elect the 751 deputies to sit in the European Parliament from 2014-2019. After years of economic crisis, rising unemployment and poor growth, many Europeans have come to question the wisdom of ever-closer EU integration and are expected to vote for Eurosceptic parties on the right or left promising radical changes. Opinion polls suggest at least a quarter of seats in the parliament will go to anti-EU or protest groups, but at least 70 per cent will remain with the four mainstream, pro-EU blocs: the centre-left, centre-right, liberals and Greens. Turnout – the most basic measure of citizens’ engagement with Europe – is expected to fall again, dropping to just over 40pc, marginally down from 43pc in 2009. That would continue the trend of declining participation at every European election since the first direct poll was held in 1979. While expectations ahead of the vote were that far-right groups would record historic victories in countries such as France, the Netherlands and Britain, exit polls from the Netherlands, which voted on Thursday, were a surprise. Geert Wilders’ anti-EU and anti-Islam Freedom Party came fourth rather than first, according to exit polls from Ipsos, with the majority voting for pro-EU parties. That has left centrists hoping for a wider surprise. The preliminary results will be announced shortly after 2100 GMT on Sunday, although officials caution that Italy’s decision to keep polls open until the same time may well delay any announcement. Final results and the precise allotment of seats in parliament is expected to be announced by the end of Monday, according to Reuters.