WARSAW, Oct. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Poles went to polling stations on Sunday in a presidential run-off which pits Donald Tusk of the Civic Platform party against Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczynski.

    Nearly 30 million eligible voters started to cast their ballotsat 6:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) across the country to elect a new president to succeed outgoing Aleksander Kwasniewski, whose second five-year term expires next month.

    Stations are expected to close at 8:00 p.m. (1600 GMT).

    Tusk got 36.33 percent of the vote in the first round on Oct. 9 followed by Kaczynski of the socially conservative Law and Justice party with 33.1 percent.

    As no one secured more than 50 percent of the vote, the two candidates with the most votes will have to duel in a run-off, under the Polish election law.

    Tusk, 48, has vowed to fight corruption and unemployment, and improve the country's relations with big neighbors Germany and Russia.

    Kaczynski, 56, promises a new Poland under the banner of "moralrenewal," protecting the rights of workers and building a welfare state. Enditem