WARSAW, Poland (Reuters) -- Poles voted on Sunday in general elections expected to be won by center-right parties aiming to rid the biggest new European Union member of sleaze and relaunch reforms stalled by the ruling left.
In the 16 years since the fall of communism, no Polish government has won re-election and opinion polls indicate Sunday's election -- the first since Poland joined the EU -- will continue that pattern.
Surveys show voters, angered by high unemployment and sleaze during the ex-communist Democratic Left Alliance's four years in power, will vote in two center-right parties rooted in the pro-democracy Solidarity movement.
"It's about time somebody cleaned things up and swept out the crooks -- that's why I voted for the right," said Agnieszka Paul, 30, a bank employee in Warsaw.
About 30 million people were eligible to vote in the nation of 38 million. Polls close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) with exit polls due shortly afterwards and the first partial results around midnight (2200 GMT).
Five main parties fielded candidates in the election but surveys point to the Civic Platform and Law and Justice parties winning jointly about 60 percent and the ruling left 10 percent.
Jan Rokita, pro-business Civic Platform's candidate for prime minister, said the election would "mark the end of the post-communist era".
The Civic Platform and conservative party Law and Justice plan to rule together but have fought bitterly to clinch the lead role in the next coalition.
"Regardless of who will finally win this race between Law and Justice and the Platform, the road to change will be open," Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said after voting.
Free market issues
Financial markets believe a coalition led by the Civic Platform would more aggressively tackle Poland's pressing economic problems of unemployment, at 18 percent the highest in the EU, bloated budgets and costly social security.
The center-right parties are divided over how far to go in embracing the free market and how much welfare the former communist nation -- where wealth levels are just half of the EU average -- can afford.
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