Transdnestr, which has a largely Russian-speaking population, broke away from Moldova after a bloody war in the early 1990s. In a September 17 plebiscite, more than 97% of Transdnestr's population voted in favor of independence, and to subsequently join the Russian Federation.
The republic's 263 polling stations opened at 07:00 a.m. local time (05:00 a.m. GMT) and will close at 20:00 p.m. (18:00 p.m. GMT), the republican central electoral commission said.
Four candidates are running for presidency in the unrecognized republic: incumbent president Igor Smirnov, Supreme Council deputy Pyotr Tomaily, editor of a local opposition weekly Andrei Safonov and editor of a Communist newspaper Nadezhda Bondarenko.
The elections require more than 50% of the voters to come to the polling stations to validate the polls, the commission said.
Preliminary results will be known on December 11, the commission said.
