Ballots Cast In Serbia's Runoff Presidential Vote

A man walks past election billboards in Belgrade that show presidential candidates Boris Tadic (right) and Tomislav Nikolic. Tadic won 26.7 percent and Nikolic 25.5 in the first round. (AFP PHOTO/ANDREJ ISAKOVIC)

Two-term President Boris Tadic voted at a downtown Belgrade polling station on May 20, calling it "a very important day for Serbia and the five years ahead because the future path of Serbia will be redefined."

Nikolic was joined by his wife, Dragica, at the polling station on May 20. A 60-year-old former cemetery manager, he has vowed to steer a pro-EU course but also warned he will not let Serbia join the bloc at any cost.

One of the country's 8,500 polling stations on May 20, when some 6.7 million people were eligible to vote.

Tadic won the endorsement between rounds of the Socialist Party that was once headed by the late Serbian strong man Slobodan Milosevic.

Nikolic is a former senior member of the Serbian Radical Party who placed second behind Tadic in both the 2004 and the 2008 presidential elections.

One of the thorny issues facing the winner will be how to proceed over Kosovo, which declared independence from Belgrade in 2008 but whose sovereignty Serbia has staunchly opposed.

Another problem is economic, with Serbia's 24 percent jobless rate among the highest in Europe.

Tadic supporters wave Serbian and EU flags at a May 17 rally. Tadic says a third term would be dedicated to European integration and economic development. (REUTERS/Ivan Milutinovic)

Tadic (left) was accompanied to a downtown-Belgrade polling station on May 20 by daughter Vanja and father Ljuba Tadic (in wheelchair). (REUTERS/Ivan Milutinovic)

Billboards from the Tadic and Nikolic campaigns when they last clashed for the presidency, in 2008.

Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) leader Nikolic alleged fraud in the May 6 first round of voting, but subsequently backed off a threat to boycott the second-round runoff.

A voter casts his ballot in Belgrade in the May 20 runoff vote.

Tadic (left) and Nikolic (center) took part in a televised debate on May 16. Their parties were neck-and-neck in parliamentary elections that accompanied the first round. (REUTERS/Radio Television Serbia Press service/Handout)