Some 480,000 people, out of a 620,000-population, were eligible to vote at Montenegro's 1,111 polling stations, which opened at 8 a.m., the Associated Press reported.
The polling stations will be open until 9 a.m. for voters who are electing a new 81-seat-parliament.
The coalition called "For European Montenegro" led by the incumbent Pime Minsiter Milo Djukanovic is the likeliest winner of the elections.
According to surveys, it enjoys the backing of 45.1 percent of the electorate, while its main rival - the People's Socialist Party (SNP) - is supported by 18.8 percent of voters, news agencies reported.
The Movement for Changes, a former NGO, has grown into a party which has promised to fight against tycoons, introduce higher taxes for those who have acquired their wealth fast, and punish those who "plundered" Montenegro.
The only Croat political party - the Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI) has joined a pre-election coalition with Djukanovic's DPS and the SDP thus securing at least one seat in the parliament.
Back on the political scene are also Bosniaks (Muslims), whose parties withdrew from the scene during the 1990s war and distributed their votes among civic parties - the DPS, the SDP and the Liberals. Now seven small parties gathering Bosniaks, who make almost one-fifth of Montenegro's entire population, have joined into a single party, which together with the Liberal Party counts on winning a dozen parliamentary seats.
The Albanian population, which makes seven percent of the total population, has a privileged status because the election threshold for that group has been lowered from five to three percent. The candidates of five Albanian parties are expected to achieve good results in the areas predominantly populated by Albanians.
During the election campaign, the ruling coalition has claimed as its own results the declaration of the country's independence, the fastest process of international recognition and admission to the United Nations, and the forthcoming admission to NATO's Partnership for Peace programme. Construction work has started on many facilities in days before the elections. The current authorities claim the arrival of the first foreign ambassadors as their own achievement. Their optimism about election victory is based mostly on the enthusiasm of most citizens about independence, which is why the elections have been scheduled to take place during the tourist and holiday season.