Poles vote in presidential runoff (2nd Lead)

Jul 4, 2010, 17:52 GMT

Warsaw - Poles went to the polls Sunday in a presidential runoff vote held early to find a successor to Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash in April.

Voter turnout was at 42.1 per cent by 5 pm (1500 GMT) Sunday, said the state electoral commission at a press conference.

Some 30.5 million eligible voters were to cast their ballots at around 25,000 polling stations countrywide.

Sunday's election follows a first round of voting on June 20, in which no candidate secured a majority.

The turnout of 42.1 per cent in the runoff was not much higher than it had been in the first round, when it reached 41.57 by 5 pm.

Long lines formed at polling stations on the Baltic coast, northern Poland, where thousands cast their vote during their vacations. There were also crowds in Hurghada, Egypt, another popular tourist destination for Poles, reported TVN 24.

Bronislaw Komorowski, of the centre-right Civic Platform party, having won around 41 per cent of the vote in the first round, was the favourite to win in the runoff.

His opponent Jaroslaw Kaczynski, of the right-wing Law and Justice party, received some 36 per cent in the first round. Analysts said Kaczynski, the twin brother of the late president, could still win the election after he gained ground over Komorowski in a recent debate.

Both candidates had cast their votes by the afternoon: Kaczynski in his native Warsaw, and Komorowski in Mackowa Ruda, a rural retreat in northeastern Poland where he was spending the weekend.

Polls would stay open until 8 pm, with the first exit polls to follow. Official results are expected early Monday.