Tunisian voters went to the polls on Sunday to vote in the country's first free democratic election, 10 months after the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Voters will elect a 217-seat assembly, which will draft the country's new constitution, appoint an interim government and set elections for a new president and parliament.
The Islamist party Ennahda is expected to win most votes but is unlikely to gain a majority of seats in the new assembly. The centrist Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), which has focused its campaign on stopping the Islamists and keeping them out of power, is its closest rival at the elections.
Over 11,500 candidates from more than 80 political parties have registered to participate in the poll, along with some independent candidates.
Polls opened at 07 a.m. (06:00 GMT) and will close at 7 p.m. The results of the elections are expected to be announced on Monday afternoon.
There are about 7 million people of voting age in Tunisia, of whom 900,000 live abroad.
Over 600 foreign observers from the European Union, the African Union, the League of Arab States and other organizations are monitoring the elections.
The protests swept Tunisia in mid-December, forcing Ben Ali, who had ruled the North African country for 23 years, to flee to Saudi Arabia. Tunisians took to the streets again in late February, forcing Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi to resign. The Tunisia uprising set off protests around the Arab world.
