Croatia votes in a three-horse presidential race

Croatians cast ballots under rainy skies on Sunday in a presidential election testing the ruling conservatives before the country takes the helm of the European Union's rotating presidency. The pre-Christmas election is a showdown between three frontrunners: conservative incumbent Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, a leftist former prime minister and a right-wing folk singer threatening to peel off some of the president's traditional base.

With all three candidates close in opinion polls, the race is expected to be settled in a run-off on January 5. Two and a half hours before the polls closed, turnout was at 38.82 percent, the electoral commission said, about two percentage points higher than in the previous 2014 election.

Mihajlo Glodovic, a voter in his 60s, was one of those who braved the rain in the capital Zagreb to cast his vote for the largely ceremonial post. "I am fulfilling my duty but without big expectations," he said, reflecting a sense disillusionment with politics shared by many in the Adriatic nation.

As Grabar-Kitarovic cast her own ballot at a polling station in Zagreb, she insisted that "every vote is important... to make Croatia better and move it forward." The 51-year-old became Croatia's first female president in 2015. Backed by the establishment center-right HDZ, she has often wavered between representing the party's moderates and pandering to its nationalist faction.

In her re-election bid she has struggled to hold on to hardliners shifting to the right-wing singer turned politician Miroslav Skoro. On Friday Grabar-Kitarovic held her final campaign rally in eastern Vukovar, the town whose bloody siege by Serb forces became a symbol of Croatian suffering during its 1990s independence war.

She told the crowd she believed those who fought and died in the war "don't regret being killed since Croatia is (now) here". The comments were seen as an effort to burnish her nationalist credentials in the battle with Skoro, who has been wooing the far-right with promises to deploy troops to halt migrants at the borders and pardon a convicted war criminal.

Skoro, 57, who is running as an independent and was polling in third place during the campaign, urged voters to "do everything to return Croatia to the people" as he cast his own ballot. Meanwhile, the split on the right has carved out a space for leftist former premier Zoran Milanovic, 53, to gain traction.

He was running neck-and-neck with Grabar-Kitarovic in the latest opinion polls. In a bid to boost turnout, Milanovic said Sunday that "bad presidents are elected by good people who decide to stay at home".

Prime minister from 2011 to 2016, Milanovic was previously derided for his arrogance but is trying to make a comeback with a promise to make Croatia a "normal" country with an independent judiciary and respect for minorities. Analysts say a loss for Grabar-Kitarovic could spell trouble in next year's parliamentary elections for Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, a moderate in the HDZ party which has dominated Croatian politics for most of the past three decades.

Starting on January 1, his government will be tasked with hosting the EU's rotating presidency for a six-month term, with thorny issues like Brexit and the Western Balkans' membership bids on the agenda. Government critics speculate the election was held close to Christmas in the mainly Catholic country to take advantage of the diaspora who are home for the holidays -- and typically vote HDZ.

The presidential campaign has been light on policy ideas with many candidates instead of attacking each other with war-era grievances. "They stole the space for issues of vital importance for most people's lives, including the young who are leaving in increasing numbers," lamented Matija Horvat, a 27-year-old economist.

The government has struggled to curb an emigration exodus as huge numbers of Croatians pack their bags for better pay and professional opportunities in wealthier EU states. Many who leave also cite the culture of nepotism and corruption at home, plus poor public services, as key motivations.

A total of 3.8 million people are eligible to vote. Initial results are expected from 1900 GMT.