Polling booths opened across Bangladesh today as voting got under way to elect a 300-seat parliament, the country's eighth since independence in 1971.
Normally busy streets in the capital were deserted as the first voters queued up at the start of eight hours of voting.
There is heavy security across Bangladesh following one of the country's bloodiest election campaigns. Over 130 people have been killed and thousands injured in politically related violent in the weeks prior to the vote.
Some 468,000 security personnel have been mobilised to maintain order. Further measures include a shutdown of mobile phone networks and a restriction on vehicle movements.
Much of the trouble has come as a result of the fierce rivalry between the two main parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist party and the Awami League.
The election is seen as a straightforward fight by the party's respective leaders, Mr Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed, both former prime ministers and bitter rivals.
Despite the turbulent run-up to the election, the final hours before polling were marked by calm as a ban on political protests and rallies appeared to keep troublemakers in check.