In first post-bailout vote, Greek conservatives tipped to unseat Tsipras

Greeks voted on Sunday in the first general election since the country emerged from international bailouts, with polls predicting the conservatives will return to power and end four years of leftist rule blamed for saddling Greece with more debt.

Opinion polls put New Democracy's lead at around 10 percentage points ahead of ruling SYRIZA, potentially giving it an absolute majority in Greece's 300-seat parliament.

"This is a critical battle," said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who stormed to power in 2015 as a radical leftist vowing to tear up the austerity rule book, only to relent later.

"We are fighting it with optimism and determination ... so that the sacrifices and hard work of our people do not go to waste," he said after casting his vote in Athens on a hot summer morning.

The snap election was called after SYRIZA suffered a defeat in European...