Main candidates vote in Austrian election

Sebastian Kurz, the 31 year old tipped to become the European Union’s youngest leader has cast his vote in Austria’s parliamentary elections.

Kurz boosted the popularity of his conservative People’s Party by pledging to be tough on refugees.

Meanwhile, embattled Chancellor Christian Kern is in a tight race for second place between his Social Democrat Party and the candidate of the far right Freedom Party, Heinz-Christian Strache.

Kern’s Social Democrats are currently in a coalition with Kurz. But Kurz called an end to the alliance when he took over as party head forcing Sunday’s snap election.

With Kurz and Kern at loggerheads, Strache’s Freedom Party is set to enter a coalition government for the first time with polls showing it will hold the balance of power.

About 6.4 million people are eligible to vote in the closely-watched ballot. The first estimates are expected shortly after polls close at 5pm local time.