Turnout for the Likud party's primary elections was unusually low on Tuesday. By mid-afternoon, only 14 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballot to elect a new party leader and central committee. Approximately 4,500 people had voted by early afternoon while125,000 Likud members are eligible to vote, in more than 150 countrywide polling stations. The party's current leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was expected to win easily against his only challenger, extreme rightist Moshe Feiglin. National elections are not due until late 2013, and Netanyahu's decision to hold the Likud primaries now has raised speculation that he intends to call a national vote closer to the time of the U.S. presidential election later this year.