People in Ethiopia are voting in the greatest electoral test yet for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as war and logistical issues mean ballots will not be cast in more than 100 of the 547 constituencies across the country.
The election, delayed from last year, is the centrepiece of a reform drive by Abiy, whose rise to power in 2018 seemed to signal a break with decades of authoritarian rule and led to him winning a Nobel Peace Prize the following year.
He has described the poll as "the nation's first attempt at free and fair elections".
Long lines of voters were seen in some parts of the capital Addis Ababa on Monday, while security was stepped up across Africa's second most populous country.
Military vehicles were parked in key locations in the capital.
More than 37 million Ethiopians were expected to vote.
Abiy's ruling Prosperity Party, formed in 2019 by merging groups who made up the previous ruling coalition, is widely expected to cement its hold on power.
The party that wins a majority of seats in the House of Peoples' Representatives will form the next government.
Opposition groups have accused Ethiopia's ruling party of harassment, manipulation and threats of violence that echo abuses of the past.
Some prominent opposition parties are boycotting the election, notably in the country's most populous region, Oromia.
Others say they were prevented from campaigning in several parts of the country.
"My expectation is that (the election) would hopefully, with minor difficulties, be completed in a credible way," opposition candidate Berhanu Nega, with the Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice party, said while voting.
Ethiopia's election chief Birtukan Midekssa, writing in US magazine The National Interest, acknowledged "serious challenges" but noted more parties and candidates were contesting than ever before.
Abiy is also facing growing international criticism over the war in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, sparked in part because Tigray's now-fugitive leaders objected to Ethiopia postponing the election last year while citing COVID-19.
No date has been set for voting in Tigray.
Tigray's former leaders, who are fighting Ethiopian forces and those from neighbouring Eritrea, have reported fierce new combat in recent days.
Thousands of civilians have been killed and famine has begun in what observers describe as a drawn-out guerrilla war.
International concern has been growing about the election.
The US has said it is "gravely concerned about the environment under which these upcoming elections are to be held", and the European Union said it would not observe the vote after its requests to import communications equipment were denied.
A total of 47 parties were contesting.
Australian Associated Press
