Lisbon, Portugal - Voters in Portugal returned to the poll on Sunday, holding their third general election in three years as the country's increasingly fragmented political landscape violates efforts to unite policies to force national issues such as immigration, housing and living costs.

But hopefully the vote could end the worst range of political instability in decades, with 10.6 million people in EU countries likely to be dashed. Polls show that the election is expected to be delivered to another minority government, bringing the Portuguese back to where they started.

"Popular polls show that there will be no significant difference from the last election results," said Marina Costa Lobo, president of the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon. She said the result could lead to another battle for the political coalition of parliament.

Over the past 50 years, two political parties have led politics in Portugal, with the central right-wing Social Democrats and the center-left Socialist Party alternately in power. They are also likely to rank first in this vote.

However, public frustration with government records has driven the growth of new alternatives in recent years. This denies a large enough party seat in the parliament to secure the majority they need for a full four-year term.

"I really don't know who to go to," said Patricia Fortes, a 47-year-old Lisbon resident. "I was tired of the main political parties, but then I felt I didn't know much about other parties."

A center-right minority government led by the Social Democrats in partnership with smaller popular parties lost a vote of confidence in parliament in March after less than a year of power, opposition lawmakers objected. This triggered an early election until 2028.

Polls show that this partnership, known as the Democratic Union, once again has a small lead for the socialists, but may not be enough to gain 116 seats in the 230-seat National Assembly of Portugal.

Voting starts at 8 a.m. GMT and ends at 8 p.m. GMT, when exit polls can be posted. Most official results are expected by midnight (2300 GMT).

In the commercial trade of the home law firm of Social Democratic Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, the political storm has sparked a vote of confidence around potential conflicts of interest. Montenegro denied any misconduct and represented re-election.

In recent years, corruption scandals have plagued Portuguese politics. This helped fuel the rise of a tough populist party, Chega (enough), whose leader Andre Ventura said he had "zero tolerance" for misconduct in his post.

But Chega shot third from 12 to 50 seats in last year's election, and recently committed a foul on what his own lawmakers claimed to be wrongdoing.

One was suspected of stealing suitcases from Lisbon Airport and selling content online, while the other allegedly forged the signature of a dead woman. Both parties resigned.

Chega's success is attributed to its demands for stricter immigration policies that resonate with voters.

Portugal has witnessed a sharp rise in immigration. According to government statistics, in 2018, less than fifteen legal immigrants were legally immigrants in the country. By the beginning of the year, there were more than 1.5 million, many of them Brazilians and Asians working in tourism and agriculture.

Thousands of undocumented. The outgoing government announced two weeks before the election that it would expel about 18,000 foreigners who reside in the country without authorization. Although such steps are routine, timing raises allegations that it tries to get a vote from Chega.

Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos, who also represented the Prime Minister, described the move as a “trump card” in Portuguese politics, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s focus on immigration policy.

The housing crisis has also sparked debate. House prices and rents have been soaring over the past decade, partly because of the influx of white-collar foreigners with rising prices.

The National Institute of Statistics said house prices rose by another 9% last year. The institute said rents in and around Lisbon, the capital, where about 1.5 million people lived last year, climbing more than 7 per cent in 30 years.

People complain that they can’t afford to buy or rent the house they come from, and they and their children have to move out to buy.

Portugal is one of the poorest countries in Western Europe, complicating the problem.

According to the Bureau of Statistics, the average monthly salary last year was about €1,200 ($1,340). The government minimum wage this year is 870 euros ($974).

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Helena Alves of Lisbon contributed.