Israel on Tuesday morning started a day-long general election to choose its next parliament and premiership.

Some 5.3 million Israelis, out of a total of about 7.2 million, are eligible for the vote, which began at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and lasts till 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) at the over 9,200 polling stations across the Jewish state.

Thirty-three groups are competing for a share of the 120 parliamentary seats, and they must pass the minimum threshold of two percent of votes cast in order to be represented. In the last general election in 2006, 31 parties registered to run but only 12entered the legislature.

Recent polls indicted a close match between the two front-running parties, the center-right Likud and the centrist Kadima, with the former enjoying a small edge. Trailing behind them are the ultra-nationalist Israel Beiteinu and the center-left Labor.

Preparations at polling stations started early in the morning. Voters were seen waiting at a booth in downtown Jerusalem despite cold rain, as supporters of different parties put up their banners outside.

Some 16,000 police and Border Guard officers, as well as about 2,500 volunteers and 4,500 security guards, have been mobilized to beef up security measures at polling stations and crowded sites, and the medical rescue service has also been put on high alert. The Israeli army has also imposed a full-day general closure of the West Bank.

Voter turnout is expected to be low, as the stormy weather forecast to sweep the country on the election day, a national holiday, would also sweep away the willingness of apathetic and undecided voters to take extra efforts to go to polling stations. In the 2006 election, the turnout rate is 63.2 percent, lower than in all previous ones.

After the vote ends, working staff at each polling station will count the ballots and bring the results to regional election committees, which will then vet the counts and feed the figures into the database of the Central Election Committee.

Results of exit polls will be released by local media shortly after the election is closed, and final results are expected on Wednesday morning. Official results will be published on Feb. 18.

Israel's overseas diplomatic missions have already been voting since the beginning of this month, and soldiers and other special voters at home also cast their ballots in advance. Their votes will be counted after the Tuesday polling finishes.

Following the election, President Shimon Peres will task a lawmaker, usually the leader of the party that wins the most votes, with forming a new government.

As it is all but certain that no single party would secure a majority in the parliament, the prime minister-designate has to set up a ruling coalition and thus interpartisan bargaining seems inevitable.

Till the new cabinet is sworn in, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has been serving as a caretaker leader for over four months, will remain in office.