Spain Votes: National Elections

The three national television networks, which released their exit poll results when polling centers closed nationwide at 8 p.m. (3 p.m. ET), showed incumbent Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero with a 5- to 7-point margin of victory over his challenger Mariano Rajoy of the conservative Partido Popular.

One poll, from state television, said the government could win 172 to 176 seats in the 350-seat parliament. The higher figure would represent an absolute majority.

It projected that the Partido Popular would get 148 to 152 seats.

But Antena 3 projected just 163 to 166 seats for the Socialists. The Socialists currently have 164 seats, and have ruled with a plurality since 2004, when the two men first faced each other in a general election.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's party faces Mariano Rajoy's conservative Popular Party (PP).

At 1800 (1700 GMT), turnout was around 61%, only slightly lower than at the corresponding time during 2004's polls.

In 2004, voters turned out in high numbers - galvanised by the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people three days earlier - to give Mr Zapatero a surprise victory over Mr Rajoy's conservative government.

This time, the faltering economy, rising inflation and unemployment, and immigration have all been high-profile campaign issues.

After a decade of good growth, Spain's economy is stuttering. Inflation is at a 10-year high and unemployment is the highest this century.

The Spanish housing boom is dwindling, exacerbated by the global credit crunch.

The conservative opposition PP has also focused on immigration, a bigger issue than in previous polls.

The Socialists, meanwhile, have highlighted the liberal reforms of their time in office, including the introduction of a gender-equality law, fast-track divorces and same-sex marriage.

A former socialist councillor has been shot dead in Spain's Basque country, bringing the Spanish general election campaign to a halt. Isaias Carrasco was gunned down outside his house in the town of Mondragon, shot three times in the back of the neck as his wife and young daughter looked on.

Despite attempts to revive him, Carrasco died from his wounds in hospital. No organisation has claimed the attack, though the Spanish interior minister has blamed the Basque separatist group ETA.

Hundreds of people have attended the funeral of a former Socialist town councilor killed in an attack blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA just ahead of general elections.

Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega was among the politicians who attended the funeral of Isaias Carrasco in his hometown of Mondorgan in the northern Basque region a day before the vote.