LA PAZ, Dec. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Bolivians on Sunday began casting votes in a presidential race that could pick leftist coca-leaf farmer and indigenous Evo Morales as the new leader of the Andean nation.

    Recent opinion polls showed Morales had 34.2 percent support, a commanding lead over other candidates including former President Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga. If elected, Morales will be the impoverished Andean nation's first Indian president.

    Morales has vowed to legalize coca-leaf growing for traditional uses such as tea, and pledged to nationalize the country's rich natural gas resources.

    The United States has been putting many efforts to eradicate the coca-leaf growing industry in the country, the world's third largest cocaine-producing nation after Colombia and Peru.

    The second leading candidate, former President Quiroga, wants to keep Bolivia on a free-market course and supports U.S. coca eradication policies.

    Neither candidate is expected to win a majority of the vote with five other candidates on the ballot. Without a majority, the newly elected congress would choose the president between the top two vote-winners in mid-January. The congress is often pressured, but not required, to choose the person who receives the most votes.

    Voting is obligatory for Bolivian adults, but up to 20 percent of them were undecided or planned to cast blank ballots, according to recent polls. Enditem