People in the Republic of Ireland will find out later whether a new Irish government will be formed over the weekend.
Counting is taking place in three separate venues of the votes of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green Party members on a draft programme for government.
It is 140 days since voters went to the polls in February's general election.
No party got a majority and coalition talks were halted by coronavirus.
The leaders of the three parties and their negotiating teams reached agreement on a coalition deal earlier in June.
The results of the votes are expected at tea time.
Greens' decision crucial
It is widely expected that Fine Gael, which has an electoral college dominated by the parliamentary party, will give its approval to the deal.
Fianna Fáil's roughly 14,500 members are also expected to support the draft programme, although there was some opposition led by Éamon Ó Cuív, a grandson of the party's founder Eamon De Valera.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have their origins in the Irish Civil War almost 100 years ago and have never been in coalition together.
But most interest will be in the Greens.
The party, which has just under 2,000 members, requires a two-thirds majority to back the draft programme.
A majority of its 195 Northern Ireland members who registered to vote are believed to have opposed the deal.
Even Hollywood entered the debate among party members when film star Mark Ruffalo urged members to back the coalition deal, as it bans the importation of fracked gas.
If the deal is backed by the membership of each party, then Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin is expected to be elected taoiseach (Irish prime minister) around lunchtime on Saturday.
He will then be due to hand the job over to Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar, the current caretaker taoiseach, in two-and-a-half years time.
If it goes ahead, the Dáil (Irish parliament) vote will not take place in Leinster House, where it usually sits, because of Covid-19 and social distancing.
Instead, the vote will take place in the National Convention Centre, which has more space and will allow all 160 TDs (MPs) to gather.
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June 26, 2020 at 12:25PM
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Irish government: Results expected later on votes to approve coalition deal - BBC 中文网
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