Britain votes to decide the fate of Brexit, again

It's the election that will propel Britain through the exit door of the European Union...or towards a second referendum that could potentially call off Brexit.

Brits cast their ballots on Thursday (December 12) in what could be the most decisive election in a generation, to choose between two unconventional and divisive main contenders.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the snap vote after he failed to deliver Brexit by an October 31st deadline.

He blames parliamentary gridlock. In a heavily choreographed campaign, he has offered a pithy promise to "get Brexit done" as soon as January 31st.

The face of the 2016 'Leave' campaign, Johnson is likely to reap much of the Brexiteer vote.

On the other side of the ring: 70-year-old veteran lefty Jeremy Corbyn.

He has offered one of opposition Labour's most radical manifestos in decades: higher public spending, nationalizing key services, taxing the rich... and that second referendum.

He portrays Johnson's Conservatives as the party of billionaires, while Labour represents - quote - "the many, not the few".

Those views resonate with some after almost a decade of stringent austerity, but they also rattle the wary.

Polls predict a Conservative victory -- but a hung parliament is also a strong possibility.

With turnout one of several hard-to-predict factors.

A majority would let Johnson take Britain out of the EU club; though Brexit would be far from 'done'.

He's given himself a tough deadline of just 11 months to negotiate an EU trade deal.

Sterling markets are pricing in a Johnson win and the pound was up against the dollar in early trading Thursday.

Britons are wary of opinion polls after a string of failures, but they won't have long to wait.

Exit polls will emerge as voting ends late evening, with a firm result likely come Friday (December 13).