Uruguayans voted Sunday to elect a successor to President Jose Mujica, a folksy iconoclast whose leftist coalition is battling sharp challenges to its decade in power.
Mujica is looking to hand power back to his predecessor, cancer doctor Tabare Vazquez of the Broad Front (FA), whom polls show is likely to win the first round but face a runoff against either Luis Lacalle Pou or Pedro Bordaberry, both sons of former presidents running from the center-right.
The election may also decide the fate of Uruguay's world-first marijuana law. It legalized the drug, and aimed to establish a regulated market in which users could grow it at home, buy it from pharmacies or source it from "cannabis clubs."
The law, Mujica's landmark legislative initiative, was passed last December.
But implementation is off to a rocky start, and it faces an uncertain future.
Both Lacalle Pou and Bordaberry oppose the law.
And even Vazquez, who made anti-smoking legislation the centerpiece of his own presidency, has questioned it and said he would not hesitate to make changes.
Surrounded by supporters, Mujica -- a former leftist guerrilla famous for living in a humble farmhouse while president, and donating most of his salary to charity -- was one of the first to vote in the Cerro neighborhood west of the capital Montevideo.
He arrived in his old Volkswagen Beetle, accompanied by his wife, Senator Lucia Topolansky, vowing "The country will come out ahead."
Vazquez, 74, is trying to reprise his 2004 election victory, which ended 174 years of dominance by the South American country's two traditional parties, Bordaberry's Colorados (Reds) and Lacalle Pou's Blancos (Whites, now officially called the National Party).
"We are hoping for the best, but the people will have their say," he said on arriving to cast his ballot.
- Decade of progressive reforms -
After 10 years in power, the Broad Front has lost some of its shine with voters.
Vazquez ran as the candidate of change when he won office in 2004, cruising to victory in a single round as voters punished the two traditional parties for the region's 2002 economic crisis.
He left office with a 60-percent approval rating after getting the economy back on track, passing tough anti-smoking legislation and launching a program to give every public school student a laptop.
When Mujica took office, he took the progressive reform agenda up a notch, legalizing abortion and marijuana.
But though the FA has presided over 10 years of economic growth -- 4.4 percent last year -- and falling poverty, polls indicate it has lost about five percent of its voters, mainly because of rising crime rates, inflation and complaints about the education system.
The last polls before the elections, released Wednesday, showed Vazquez positioned to win between 43 and 46 percent of the vote.
The FA is also at risk of losing its decade-long legislative majority.
- Tight run-off predicted -
If the polls prove accurate, Vazquez would face a November 30 run-off against dynamic young newcomer Lacalle Pou, who had about 30 percent support going into Sunday's voting.
The son of a former president, Lacalle Pou, 41, shot up in the polls after unexpectedly winning the National Party primary in June, running on a platform of "positivity" and "fresh air."
"We're very happy with the campaign," he said before casting his ballot.
Bordaberry, 54, the son of a president-turned-dictator who did away with democratic rule in 1973, trailed in pre-vote polls with 15 to 18 percent.
Analysts predict that if the vote goes to a run-off, the Blancos and Colorados will put aside their historic rivalry and join forces, setting up a tightly contested race.
Besides the general election, Uruguayans are voting in a referendum on whether to lower the age at which people can be tried for serious crimes from 18 to 16.
Bordaberry has been the main backer of the initiative.
A total of 2.6 million Uruguayans are registered to vote in the mandatory elections.
Polls close at 8:30 pm (2230 GMT).
Marring an otherwise incident-free election day, police said two men were killed outside Montevideo when a party banner they were trying to hang touched a high-tension wire, electrocuting them.
Uruguayans voted Sunday to elect a successor to President Jose Mujica, a folksy iconoclast whose leftist coalition is battling sharp challenges to its decade in power.
Mujica is looking to hand power back to his predecessor, cancer doctor Tabare Vazquez of the Broad Front (FA), whom polls show is likely to win the first round but face a runoff against either Luis Lacalle Pou or Pedro Bordaberry, both sons of former presidents running from the center-right.
The election may also decide the fate of Uruguay’s world-first marijuana law. It legalized the drug, and aimed to establish a regulated market in which users could grow it at home, buy it from pharmacies or source it from “cannabis clubs.”
The law, Mujica’s landmark legislative initiative, was passed last December.
But implementation is off to a rocky start, and it faces an uncertain future.
Both Lacalle Pou and Bordaberry oppose the law.
And even Vazquez, who made anti-smoking legislation the centerpiece of his own presidency, has questioned it and said he would not hesitate to make changes.
Surrounded by supporters, Mujica — a former leftist guerrilla famous for living in a humble farmhouse while president, and donating most of his salary to charity — was one of the first to vote in the Cerro neighborhood west of the capital Montevideo.
He arrived in his old Volkswagen Beetle, accompanied by his wife, Senator Lucia Topolansky, vowing “The country will come out ahead.”
Vazquez, 74, is trying to reprise his 2004 election victory, which ended 174 years of dominance by the South American country’s two traditional parties, Bordaberry’s Colorados (Reds) and Lacalle Pou’s Blancos (Whites, now officially called the National Party).
“We are hoping for the best, but the people will have their say,” he said on arriving to cast his ballot.
– Decade of progressive reforms –
After 10 years in power, the Broad Front has lost some of its shine with voters.
Vazquez ran as the candidate of change when he won office in 2004, cruising to victory in a single round as voters punished the two traditional parties for the region’s 2002 economic crisis.
He left office with a 60-percent approval rating after getting the economy back on track, passing tough anti-smoking legislation and launching a program to give every public school student a laptop.
When Mujica took office, he took the progressive reform agenda up a notch, legalizing abortion and marijuana.
But though the FA has presided over 10 years of economic growth — 4.4 percent last year — and falling poverty, polls indicate it has lost about five percent of its voters, mainly because of rising crime rates, inflation and complaints about the education system.
The last polls before the elections, released Wednesday, showed Vazquez positioned to win between 43 and 46 percent of the vote.
The FA is also at risk of losing its decade-long legislative majority.
– Tight run-off predicted –
If the polls prove accurate, Vazquez would face a November 30 run-off against dynamic young newcomer Lacalle Pou, who had about 30 percent support going into Sunday’s voting.
The son of a former president, Lacalle Pou, 41, shot up in the polls after unexpectedly winning the National Party primary in June, running on a platform of “positivity” and “fresh air.”
“We’re very happy with the campaign,” he said before casting his ballot.
Bordaberry, 54, the son of a president-turned-dictator who did away with democratic rule in 1973, trailed in pre-vote polls with 15 to 18 percent.
Analysts predict that if the vote goes to a run-off, the Blancos and Colorados will put aside their historic rivalry and join forces, setting up a tightly contested race.
Besides the general election, Uruguayans are voting in a referendum on whether to lower the age at which people can be tried for serious crimes from 18 to 16.
Bordaberry has been the main backer of the initiative.
A total of 2.6 million Uruguayans are registered to vote in the mandatory elections.
Polls close at 8:30 pm (2230 GMT).
Marring an otherwise incident-free election day, police said two men were killed outside Montevideo when a party banner they were trying to hang touched a high-tension wire, electrocuting them.
