Tunisians have voted to pick their first directly elected president, with the two major parties expecting a run-off as the final step in the North African state's transition to full democracy following a 2011 revolution that ousted longtime ruler Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
Official results were yet to be announced, but shortly after polls closed, the parties of two front-runners said initial tallies showed they had passed to a second round run-off next month.
Beji Caid Essebsi's secularist Nidaa Tounes party said he was ahead in Sunday's election by at least 10 percentage points. Essebsi, a former Ben Ali official, and rival Moncef Marzouki, the incumbent president, were expected to be front-runners, but analysts had said neither was likely to avoid a runoff in December.