Voting begins in Bulgaria\'s presidential, local run-offs

Polling stations in Bulgaria opened Sunday morning for the second-round run-off of presidential and local elections, tipped to result in victory for the ruling right-wing GERB party. GERB''s candidate for the largely ceremonial but symbolically important presidential job, former construction minister Rosen Plevneliev, 47, led the first-round ballot last Sunday with a commanding 40.11 percent of the vote. His rival in the run-off, second-placed Socialist candidate and European deputy Ivaylo Kalfin, 47, garnered 28.96 percent. Some 6.9 million Bulgarians are eligible to choose Bulgaria''s next president in a direct ballot for a five-year term. The president is the commander-in-chief of the country''s armed forces and has some legislative initiative and veto powers but his role is largely ceremonial. Bulgarians will also vote Sunday in run-offs to elect local mayors, with the GERB ahead in most of the big cities after having already won the capital Sofia and three other regional centers in the first round. Polling stations will close at 7:00 pm (1700 GMT), with the first exit poll results to be released shortly afterwards. The first partial official results are expected late Sunday.