LONDON (AP) — Counting was underway Saturday for votes in Ireland’s presidential election, with early tallies suggesting a significant lead for left-wing independent Catherine Connolly.

Voters were choosing between Connolly and center-right Heather Humphreys as their new president, a largely ceremonial role in the European Union member country.

The two women were the only contenders after Jim Gavin, the candidate for Prime Minister Micheál Martin’s

Fianna Fail party, quit the race three weeks before the election over a long-ago financial dispute.

Martin, who heads Ireland’s government, had personally backed Gavin as a presidential candidate. Though Gavin had stopped campaigning, his name remains on the ballot paper because of his late withdrawal from the race.

While Irish presidents r

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