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Europe

Slovakia could get its first female president in ballot

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    A man walks past a campaign poster for Zuzana Caputova in Bratislava, Slovakia, Friday, March 15, 2019. Caputova is one of the favorite candidates to succeed Slovakia's President Andrej Kiska in the upcoming election. Slovakia holds the presidential election on Saturday, March 16, 2019. The poster reads: "Let's stand against evil, together we can make it." (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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    Father with his son cast a vote at a polling station during the first round of the presidential election in Bratislava, Slovakia, Saturday, March 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Voters in Slovakia are selecting a new head of state in an election that could give the country its first female president.

The leading contenders are Zuzana Caputova, an environmental activist in favor of gay rights and who opposes a ban on abortion in the conservative Roman Catholic country, and Maros Sefcovic, who is a European Commission vice president.

In all, 13 candidates are vying to become the country's fifth head of state since Slovakia gained independence in 1993 after Czechoslovakia split in two.

Andrej Kiska, a successful businessman-turned-philanthropist, is not standing for a second five-year term in the largely ceremonial post.

If no single candidate wins a majority on Saturday, a runoff will be held on March 30 in this central European nation of 5.4 million people.