The commercial TV stations RTL and Nova TV on Sunday evening broadcast the first exit polls of Croatia's presidential runoff, according to which the Social Democratic Party candidate, Ivo Josipovic, leads with 64.6% of the vote, while independent candidate Milan Bandic has 35.4%.
The polls covered 9,500 voters in Croatia, excluding those who voted abroad,who said who they voted for after casting their ballots at 150 pollingstations.
These exit polls, which have a margin of error of plus or minus threepercentage points. were conducted by the Ipsos-Puls agency, the two TV stationssaid.
The State Electoral Commission (DIP) has cautioned that the exit polls donot represent the official election results, which are established and releasedonly by the DIP.
The DIP will release the official preliminary results shortly aftermidnight.
