MINSK - The fourth Belarusian presidential election officially started on Sunday at 08:00 am local time (0600 GMT), with the opening of some 6,000 polling stations across the country.

Ten candidates, including incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, will run in the polls.

Some 7.09 million voters have been registered for the election, which will be watched by around 1,000 international observers.

According to Belarusian election laws, the candidate who wins more than 50 percent of the vote shall claim victory. A second round of polls will be held within two weeks if no candidate passes the 50-percent threshold in the first round.

Those two candidates who garner the highest votes in the first round will enter the runoff, during which the one who polls over 50 percent of votes shall become the president.

The election will end at 08:00 pm local time (1800 GMT) Sunday.

This is Belarus' fourth presidential election since its independence in 1991.