Opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich, the Social Democratic Party's Alexander Kozulin and Sergei Gaidukevich, of the Liberal Democratic Party, are running for election along with Lukashenko, the nation's president for the past 12 years.
According to Belarus' Central Electoral Commission, 6,626 polling stations have been set up for 7,020,000 registered eligible voters in the country and abroad. The vote is being monitored by more than 30,000 domestic and 1,300 foreign observers.
The election will be deemed valid if voter turnout exceeds 50%. The candidate for whom more than 50% of the ballots are cast will be declared the winner.
Voting will continue till 8 pm local time (6 pm GMT). Preliminary results are expected to be released in the early hours of Monday.
