Tsipras regains slim lead ahead of today's vote

Greece's election hung on a knife-edge yesterday as radical former premier Alexis Tsipras retook a slight lead in the final hours of a tight race against the conservatives for the helm of government.

Hours before a midnight ban on voter surveys, four polls forecast victory for Tsipras over conservative party chief Vangelis Meimarakis by margins ranging from 0.7 to 3.0 percentage points.

A September 20 victory for Syriza would deliver "a key message for Europe", Tsipras told his closing rally in Athens on Friday, referring to the refugee crisis and to EU economic woes.

"Do we want a Europe of austerity or one of solidarity and democracy?" he said.

Meimarakis warned voters against re-electing a man who has publicly admitted to opposing the bailout he signed.

Tsipras won office in January on an anti-austerity ticket but then upset supporters in July with a U-turn cash-for-reforms deal struck with Greece's international creditors despite a huge "no" vote in a referendum on the issue.

Ballots open at 0400 GMT today and close exactly 12 hours later.

The vote is expected to deliver a hung parliament, though, and with both Syriza and New Democracy having pledged to stick to the cash-for-reforms package, there will likely be more unpopular austerity on the way whoever ends up in charge.