HELSINKI (AP) - Finns are casting ballots in a presidential election, with incumbent Sauli Niinisto considered the favorite to win the first round of voting in the Nordic nation.
Recent polls predict the 69-year-old Niinisto will get between 58 and 63 percent of the vote while his closest rival, Pekka Haavisto of the Greens, would garner some 14 percent.
If none of the eight candidates running Sunday achieves a majority, the top two will face each other in a Feb. 11 runoff. The post has a six-year term.
Niinisto, a former finance minister and parliament speaker, has been very popular since taking office in 2012. He is running as an independent with no association to the conservative National Coalition Party that he earlier chaired.
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(Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP). Independent candidate and current President Sauli Niinisto campaigns a day ahead of the election day at a shopping mall in Helsinki, Finland, Saturday Jan. 27, 2018. Finns are electing a new president among eight...
(Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP). People walk past the campaign posters of the Finnish presidential candidates in Helsinki, Finland, Saturday Jan. 27, 2018. The first round of the Finnish Presidential election takes place on Sunday.
(Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP). People wait to vote during the presidential election at the Helsinki City Hall in Helsinki, Finland, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. Finns are voting for a new president in the election that's expected to see the highly popu...