BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary voted on Sunday in an election that is expected to usher in a center-right Fidesz government promising growth and jobs after eight years of Socialist rule and the country's near financial collapse.

Fidesz, which last ruled between 1998 and 2002, has campaigned on cutting taxes, creating jobs and supporting local businesses to give a boost to Hungary's economy which was pounded by a deep economic recession last year.
The last opinion polls showed Fidesz had a good chance of winning a two-thirds majority in the next parliament, meaning it could push through structural reforms, and that the far-right Jobbik party would get into parliament for the first time.
The Socialist government led by technocrat Gordon Bajnai since April 2009 made painful budget cuts to rein in the deficit under a deal led by the International Monetary Fund, which provided emergency financing for Hungary amid a crisis in 2008.
The budget cuts have helped stabilize Hungary's finances and regain investors' confidence but exacerbated the recession, and opinion polls showed ahead of Sunday's vote that Hungarians were overwhelmingly in favor of a change in government.
But there were voters who believed Hungary needed a left-wing party in parliament, even though the elections were expected to transform the political landscape.
Voter turnout at 5:00 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT) was 24.78 percent, lower than 27.23 percent recorded at the same time four years ago.
REFORMS IN FOCUS
There are some 8 million voters in the central European country. The parliamentary election is held in two rounds, the first on Sunday and the second on April 25.
The country's economy contracted by 6.3 percent last year, while unemployment is running at 11.4 percent -- the highest since 1994 -- which has further increased public discontent over the past Socialist governments' spending cuts and tax hikes.