Both men, Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Bronislaw Komorowski, are former anti-communist activists with conservative, Catholic upbringings. Yet they differ sharply on key issues and the outcome of the election is expected to have a significant influence on whether the country pushes through more market reforms or preserves significant welfare benefits.An election was originally set for the fall but had to be called early to replace President Lech Kaczynski, who died on April 10 in a plane crash in western Russia. The crash also killed his wife Maria and 94 others, including many high-ranking military and government officials.
The first round of voting on June 20 ended with no candidate winning an absolute majority, leading to Sunday’s runoff between Komorowski, the acting president and parliament speaker, and Kaczynski, the identical twin brother of Lech.
More than 30 million of Poland’s 38 million citizens registered to vote. The first exit polls were being released immediately after polls close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), but official results are not expected until today.
For most of the campaign Komorowski, a moderate in the governing pro-EU Civic Platform party, has been favored, largely because he is seen as a reliable choice and because his government steered Poland through the global economic downturn without falling into recession.
