San Salvador, El Salvador  - Salvadorans headed to the polls Sunday to elect a new president in a vote that could help the strife- torn Central American country put its violent political past behind it.

For the first time in 20 years of rule by the right-wing party ARENA, the leftist FMLN is within reach of the presidency. The election between leftist former TV journalist Mauricio Funes, 49, and right-wing former police chief Rodrigo Avila, 45, however remains too close to call, according to the latest surveys of public opinion.

Polls opened at 1200 GMT and were set to close 10 hours later. Exit poll results will be issued after voting ends, while a university research institute has designed a quick count system that is set to run parallel to the official vote count by electoral authorities.

Some 20,000 members of the security forces are set to maintain order, and some 4,000 national and international election monitors are in place around the country.

El Salvador is still recovering from the civil war that ended in 1992. dpa