Argentines began voting for a new president on Sunday with outgoing leader Cristina Fernandez's candidate the favorite to win despite deep divisions over her brand of leftist populism, which has driven up inflation and shackled the economy.
Opinion polls show Daniel Scioli of the leftist Front for Victory ruling party with a clear lead over his rivals, although he cannot be sure of an outright win and may be forced into a runoff vote next month. Fernandez will step down with approval ratings near 50 percent, yet her eight years in power have polarized the nation.
In the town of San Justo west of the capital, the fiery nationalist is adored by the poor and working class for generous welfare handouts and protectionist policies but reviled by others for strangling the economy.
Scioli and his main challengers all propose policy changes to kick-start growth, restore the central bank's near-empty liquid reserves, narrow a yawning fiscal deficit and tame high inflation. But they differ on the pace and depth of reform.
"Things will be different whoever wins," said 69-year-old Ofelia Conde outside a polling station in San Justo's main square, near statues of former leader Juan Peron who founded the powerful Peronist movement in the 1940s and his wife "Evita".
Scioli, a moderate within Peronism, pledges only gradual change and says he will stick with Fernandez's popular welfare programs. His rivals, center-right Mauricio Macri and centrist Sergio Massa both promise to move faster to open up Latin America's No.3 economy. To win outright on Sunday, Scioli needs 45 percent of votes, or 40 percent if he has a 10 percentage point lead over his closest challenger. Polls show him hovering near the 40 percent threshold and Macri approaching 30 percent. The election marks the end of 12 years of "Kirchnerismo" covering the presidencies of Fernandez and her late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner. They are credited by supporters with reviving growth, protecting Argentine industry and helping the poor after a massive economic crisis in 2001-02.
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