Palestinian election day kicked off Sunday morning as nearly 1.8 million eligible voters prepared to vote for a successor to Yasser Arafat as chairman of the Palestinian Authority, amid complaints by the PA that Israel had broken its promise to ease restrictions to allow a free vote.

In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian election officials estimated that nearly 30% of eligible voters had cast their votes by 3:00 p.m.

Turnout in the West Bank has also been slow but officials are expecting the turnout to improve in the afternoon and evening hours.

Three hours after voting stations opened, PA Central Elections Committee Secretary-General Rami Hamdallah said, "Everything is going smoothly up until now. No incidents have been reported".

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