Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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January 20, 2008

Serbian Voters Cast Ballots in Presidential Election
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1AFB9BF:A6F02AD83191E160127CB66EF072DAE8E55ED32ED25AB8F6& Election could
decide whether Belgrade will continue on pro-Western path or take
hardline stance over Kosovo province's demands for independence





A man prepares to cast his ballot in a polling station, Belgrade, 20
Jan 2008 Serbian voters are casting ballots Sunday in a presidential
election that could decide whether Belgrade will continue on a
pro-Western path or take a hardline stance over Kosovo province's
demands for independence.

Official figures show about 10 percent of the electorate had cast
ballots in the first five hours of voting.

Pro-Western incumbent Boris Tadic, who is running for reelection,
characterized Sunday's balloting as decisive for Serbia's future. He
predicted he will face ultranationalist Tomislav Nikolic in a runoff
on February 3.

The latest public opinion polls show the two front-runners in an
extremely tight race.

The two leading candidate both oppose independence for Kosovo, the
Serbian province that has been administered by the United Nations
since 1999. Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority is expected to declare
independence in the coming weeks.

Also Sunday, Serbia's Supreme Court overturned an earlier ruling by
the state election commission banning U.S. and British observers from
monitoring Sunday's poll. Twenty-three election monitors from the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and at least three
from the Commonwealth of Independent States are on hand to observe the
election.

In Serbia's political system, the president wields little power, but
Sunday's vote is expected to reflect the national mood as Kosovo
continues to dominate the election.

President Tadic spent his first term preparing Serbia for a bid to
join the European Union. Mr. Nikolic is leader of the ultranationalist
Serbian Radical Party, whose founder Vojislav Seselj is being tried
for crimes against humanity during the Balkan conflict of the 1990s.

There are seven other candidates also in the race.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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