Poles vote for president

WARSAW: Poles voted on Sunday in presidential elections after a lacklustre campaign focused on national security and social issues, with incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski expected to win, but not without a struggle.
The 62-year-old historian, who was elected in 2010 and is close to the governing centrist Civic Platform (PO) party, appears unlikely to secure a second five-year term without a run-off vote on May 24.
While Komorowski has focused on the national security challenges Warsaw faces amid heightened tensions with Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, analysts say his rivals are trying to appeal to disenchanted voters by pledging to lower the retirement age and to bring taxes down.
Komorowski urged Poles to get out to the ballot box as he voted on Sunday in central Warsaw. Voting got underway at 7 am with exit polls due after closing at 9 pm.
Komorowski has lost considerable steam in opinion polls — from almost 50 percent support a few months ago to less than 40 percent days before the ballot — while main rival Andrzej Duda is just shy of 30 percent backing. Warsaw construction worker Slawomir said his ballot went to Duda, a 42-year-old lawyer running for the opposition conservative Law and Justice (PiS).