Tunisians Voting in Landmark Elections

The runoff on Sunday pits 88-year-old Beji Caid Essebsi, leader of the Nidaa Tounes party, against incumbent Moncef Marzouki, who held the post through an alliance with the moderate Islamist movement Ennahda.

The landmark second-round vote sets Tunisia apart from the turmoil of other Arab countries that went through uprisings, Al Jazeera reported.

The vote, which is taking place amid tight security and the closure of main border posts with strife-torn neighbor Libya is the first free presidential election since independence from France in 1956.

Almost 5.3 million Tunisians are eligible to vote and polling stations are open from 8:00 am (0700 GMT) until 6:00 pm (1700 GMT).

A first round held on November 23 saw Essebsi win 39 percent of the vote, six percent points ahead of Marzouki, a 69-year-old former rights activist installed by parliament two months after December 2011 polls.

The vote is the country's third in as many months, after Nidaa Tounes won an October parliamentary election, making Essebsi favourite to be the next president, but with powers curbed under constitutional amendments to guard against a return to dictatorship.

The campaign has been marked by mudslinging, with Essebsi refusing to take part in a debate with Marzouki, claiming his opponent is an "extremist".

Essebsi insists that Marzouki represents the Islamists, charging that they had "ruined" the country since the 2011 revolution which toppled veteran ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and gave birth to the Arab uprisings.

Throughout the campaign, Marzouki has accused Essebsi, who served as a senior official in previous Tunisian governments, of wanting to restore the old guard deposed in the revolution.

He has even suggested that Essebsi's camp was preparing to "win through fraud", drawing a sharp rebuke from the electoral commission.

The final result is expected to be announced between December 22 and 24.