Belarusians are voting in a closely-managed presidential election that is all but certain to extend the one-man rule of Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994 and Europe’s longest-serving leader.

President Alexander Lukashenko will be running to secure a seventh term, extending his 30-year rule over Belarus.

Voting started following a period of almost non-existent election fever. In the capital Minsk, there’s an almost total absence of billboards promoting the candidates and there has been little in the way of campaigning.

MINSK -- The presidential election kicked off in Belarus on Sunday with polling stations opening at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) and closing at 8 pm (1700 GMT). Five candidates, including incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, have been registered for the presidential election.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for over 30 years, is poised to extend his rule in an election that concludes Sunday and that the opposition dismisses as a

Belarusian strongman President Alexander Lukashenko is poised to extend his rule into a fourth decade in a tightly-controlled vote where he faces no opposition.

Belarusians voted on Sunday in an election set to hand President Alexander Lukashenko a seventh term, prolonging his three-decade authoritarian rule.