New Democracy has a 4 percent advantage over PASOK but almost two in 10 voters are still undecided with three weeks left until the September 16 election, according to a poll conducted on behalf of Sunday’s Kathimerini.

The VPRC survey suggests that 42.5 percent of voters are intending to cast their vote in favor of the ruling conservatives, while 38.5 percent are planning to vote for the Socialists.

The results of the poll are identical to those conducted by the same company in early July.

The Communist Party (KKE) is expected to garner 7.5 percent of the vote, Synaspismos Left Coalition 5 percent and the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) 3.5 percent.

If the results next month mirror this forecast, then all five parties will have MPs in the 300-seat Parliament.

New Democracy would have a slender majority with 154 seats, then PASOK with 103, KKE with 20, Synaspismos with 14 and LAOS – for the first time – would have nine deputies.

This forecast could change substantially once the undecided voters make up their minds. The poll showed that 19 percent of the electorate has not decided whom to vote for next month.

Another factor that could give opposition parties hope of the situation changing is that 48 percent of voters think the outcome of the election is not a foregone conclusion.

Four in 10 think that Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis was wrong to call snap elections.

However, the New Democracy leader still remains by far the most popular choice for prime minister. Of those questioned, 48 percent said they preferred Karamanlis, compared to 24 percent who believe that PASOK’s George Papandreou would do a better job.

The survey was conducted last week, before the start of the fires in the southern Peloponnese and other parts of Greece. The size of the sample was 1,052 people.