Zagreb, Jan 11 (IANS): Croatians Sunday voted to elect their next president from incumbent Ivo Josipovic and challenger Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, a candidate from the largest opposition party Croatian Democratic Union, in a run-off race.

In the neck-and-neck first round Dec 28, 2014, Josipovic won 38.46 percent of the vote while Kitarovic got 37.22 percent.

Latest polls showed that Josipovic was supported by 46.5 percent of the voters while Kitarovic was estimated to win 34.9 percent of the vote.

Some 3.8 million electors were eligible to vote at 6,352 polling stations, which opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m. The State Election Commission will release the preliminary results at 8 p.m.

Josipovic, 57, a former law professor and composer, is supported by 19 parties while former Croatian foreign minister Kitarovic, 46, is supported by eight parties.

The Croatian president is elected every five years and can serve no more than two consecutive terms. Josipovic, the third president of the country, took office in 2010.