VIENNA (AP) — Austria's presidential election Sunday between a left-leaning candidate and a right-wing populist is being seen as an indicator of how well other euroskeptic candidates will do elsewhere in the European Union next year.

The Austrian president's functions are largely ceremonial and past elections have merited little attention outside the country because they were decided between mainstream candidates.

This time, though, the contest is different.

Former Greens party politician Alexander Van der Bellen is pro-EU and represents liberal to left-of-center views. His opponent, Norbert Hofer, comes from the euroskeptic anti-migrant Freedom Party. His campaign message has varied from hard-line when talking to Freedom Party supporters to more moderate when trying to woo undecided voters who are disenchanted with the political establishment.

Hofer opted for a soft tone as he prepared to cast his vote Sunday, declaring that both he and his left-leaning rival are "level-headed people." And he said he wouldn't push for a referendum on Austria's exit from the EU, but would focus instead on the 28-nation bloc's positive development.

"I want to commit myself to changing this union in a positive way. And I don't want Austria to leave the European Union, that I have to say very clearly," Hofer said Sunday in his home village of Pinkafeld, south of Vienna. "(But) our strength is not to be an amorphous entity, our strength is diversity, a diverse European Union."

His comments reflected his party's modified message. With most Austrians critical of the EU but not to the point of wanting to leave it, the Freedom Party no longer suggests that Austria would be better off without Brussels. Instead, it is pushing for an EU of loosely allied members mostly sharing economic ties instead of a close political union.

Still, other populist politicians in the EU that want their countries out of the bloc have been supportive of Hofer ahead of elections they will face next year. Both far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen of France and anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders in the Netherlands tweeted their support.

Van der Bellen noted the outsize attention the election in Austria is receiving as a potential yardstick of how well Le Pen and Wilders would be doing.

"What happens here today has relevance for all of Europe," he said before casting his ballot.

Sunday's election is a rerun from May, which Van der Bellen won by less than 1 percentage point. It is being re-held following a court ruling after Hofer's Freedom Party claimed widespread irregularities.

Voters' comments reflected another tight race.

Guenther Poiker was unequivocal, saying outside of a Vienna polling station "I'm a Van der Bellen voter."

But Alexander Mautner figured that "Hofer is going to win by a very small margin."

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Associated Press video journalists Philipp Jenne, Amer Cohadzic and Eldar Emric contributed to this report.