Watching elections in Kosovo, Greece and, of course, France

Voters are at the polls this weekend in France, Greece and Kosovo. Will update this post with notes, etc. as they become available:

Voter turnout in the ballot facilitation in Kosovo was reported at approximately 17 per cent by 14:00 hrs today by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

via OSCE Mission releases first turnout figures in balloting facilitation in Kosovo – OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

 

In France,  incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy is out and the champion of the Socialist Party Francois Hollande (above) is in:

Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, swamped by anger at a surge in unemployment during his five-year term, faced being the 11th euro zone leader to be swept from power by the economic crisis after final opinion polls placed Hollande between four and eight points ahead.

A wide margin of victory would give Hollande greater authority to pursue his promise to temper unpopular German-led austerity, which sparked protests across southern Europe last week, and refocusing economic policy on fostering growth. [From Reuters ]

And in Greece …

 

Lo and behold, just as in France where Sarkozy is finding austerity and fiscal responsibility to be a tough sell at the polls, so it is in Greece:

Greek voters enraged by economic hardship deserted governing parties in droves in an election on Sunday, according to exit polls that threw doubt on the country’s future in the euro zone. [More from Reuters]