Voting starts in Croatia's presidential runoff

ZAGREB - Croatian voters began to cast their ballots in the runoff of the presidential election at 7 am local time (0600 GMT) on Sunday.

Over 3.8 million eligible voters will choose their president for the next five years between incumbent President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic.

Milanovic won the first round of the election on Dec. 22, 2019, with nearly 30 percent of the votes (562,783). Among 11 candidates, Grabar-Kitarovic came second with almost 27 percent of the votes (507,628). Since no candidate obtained over 50 percent of the votes in the first round, the top two candidates are now facing off in the second round.

Polling stations will close at 7 pm local time (1800 GMT), with the first results expected at 8 pm local time (1900 GMT). Overseas Croats are also voting in nearly 50 countries.

The presidential runoff will be overseen by a record number of 24,333 observers, said the State Electoral Commission.

According to the latest poll, the race is very tight. Milanovic is getting 45 percent of the votes, while Grabar-Kitarovic has 42 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Grabar-Kitarovic is running for a second term as the candidate of the ruling conservative party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), while Milanovic is the candidate of the largest center-left political party in the country, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and is backed by the liberal opposition.

The key for both candidates is to get support from the voters of Miroslav Skoro, a right-wing independent candidate and popular singer who finished third in the first round with some 24 percent of the votes.

Skoro has urged his supporters not to vote for any of the top two candidates although his ideas are politically closer to those of Grabar-Kitarovic.

In the past week, the two candidates faced off in three TV debates. In their latest debate on Friday night, Milanovic accused Grabar-Kitarovic of mingling with corrupted people, and promised to restore the dignity and respect of the presidential office. For her part, Grabar-Kitarovic said she would continue to fight against corruption and divisions in the country.

This is the seventh presidential election in Croatia since the southeastern European country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.