Iraqi Kurds are going to the polls in a double election to choose a new parliament and president for their autonomous region in the north of Iraq. Some 20,000 troops have been stationed at polling stations in the region, due to open at 0800 local time (0500 GMT).Incumbent President Masood Barzani and the ruling parliamentary coalition are both expected to win re-election. President Barzani heads the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), one of the two big Kurdish parties, who were once rivals, but now partners in the ruling coalition.
There are four other candidates, but none is likely to come close.
It is the first time the president of Kurdistan is being elected directly by popular vote.
In the parliamentary stakes, the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which is led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, are fielding a joint list for the 100 seats being contested. Another 11 seats are reserved for minorities.
While the coalition is generally expected to win, the two parties' dominance is facing a serious new challenge from the Change movement, led by Noshirwan Mustafa. The movement has shaken the establishment with its demand for an end to corruption and elitism, and seems to have strong support particularly in the eastern areas, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Kurdistan.
Some of its more optimistic supporters believe it could win enough seats to team up with Islamists and leftists to deny the two big parties a majority.
| Oh boy, just what we need, an unstable Kurdish region ... |
Some 2.5 million people are registered to take part in the vote, the first since 2005.